benski
Active member
Is the problem that they switched to the lower mountain to take advantage of temperatures before finishing Heavens gate combined with putting the snow-guns in the middle of the downspout?
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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Hawk
Well-known member
Well they got plenty of water yesterday and the rivers were flowing really good on Sunday so they can take that excuse off the list. Time to open the upper mountain.
Hey Fellas, glad to see the annual snowmaking debate lives on. Hope to be up in a few weeks.
Please tell me they didn't really run out of water and that one was just an unsubstantiated rumor...
Still no mention in the report of any upper mountain opening plans. Pretty cool that the Swiss team will be using Spring Fling tomorrow morning for World Cup training though.
benski
Active member
There making plenty of snow on Steins and I hear Lower Downspout>Coffee Run so they are plenty able to make snow.
I think the rumor them running out of water thing is complete BS,... although Hawk seems to know everyone and everything - so i guess i will have to believe what he says
Just shut down... temps bumped up to above 30 degrees. But prior to that, we got some good base on Lower DS/Lower Jester/Coffee Run. Still will require more runtime, though. Same with Stein's. We also had some guns on VHT going, which we needed to get locked in before Bravo/HG opens. DS and Jester all pushed out so hopefully they should be opening any time now. They may be waiting on VHT to get a final groom after we made snow on it in order to have an escape route out of Bravo/HG. Below HG down to the bottom will still require a few more days of runtime, depending on temps. We also started on First Time.
Hope everyone on here has a Happy Thanksgiving and that we can get rid of these freeze/thaw cycles soon!
Hope everyone on here has a Happy Thanksgiving and that we can get rid of these freeze/thaw cycles soon!
Hawk
Well-known member
I personally can not verify the running out of water rumor. I did not go down to the pond. But the person I spoke to is pretty well connected and On Saturday morning the temps were in the lower 20's and they were only running a couple of guns at the bottom and at the bottom of HG.. What are the reasons for that? I can only think of two. No water or they did not send out the snow makers for some other reason. Money, rest, Mechanical reasons. My guess is the Water. Either way I hope there is more terrain on Thanksgiving or it will be awfully crowded.I think the rumor them running out of water thing is complete BS,... although Hawk seems to know everyone and everything - so i guess i will have to believe what he says
Sounds like Snowgun-gate,... Did you meet with your source in the Claybrook underground parking garage? Does he go by the name of DeepSnow?
I am just busting your chops,... who the frick knows. It is really early and I would prefer if they preserve the snowmaking budget for when it is consistently cold.
Hawk
Well-known member
Your right. It's mostly just conversation while I wait to head back up on Thursday night. As always, we all just have to understand that they will never be a great snow making mountain. It's not in their DNA.
Yea...sort of works well with my usual schedule of not making it up there until December most years anyway. I wish the snow-making situation would change, but the roadblocks seem to require some rather significant investment to overcome.
CoolMike
New member
For the Bush it's more than just the snow making that is the problem. Sugarbush is weirdly bad at grooming. The trails they do groom are often icy and chunky. There is almost never decent corduroy even if you are in line for first chair. The grooming problems extend out to snow resurfacing and preservation after bad weather or rain as well.
Sugarbush does weird stuff that no other mountain does with their snow making as well. For example, they let the snow "cure" for days and days - sometimes a week. At this point is a huge frozen mound of ice that needs to be tilled and groomed repeatedly and will never be as good as a freshly blown and groomed trail. Some people say the idea is to let the moisture drain out. Think about this logically...its winter (or nearly winter), the ground is frozen (or nearly frozen), do we really expect the moisture to drain in any meaningful way?
Imagine how amazing Sugarbush would be if they were able to create and maintain snow as well as Sunday River. Keep in mind that they get double the snow on average at the bush!
I love Sugarbush and have skied there more than 60 times in the last 3 years but variable conditions on snow making trails is something that frequent skiers there simply need to get used to. Some days at the Bush you just gotta game plan your day - ie: hit Downspout early to get to HG then a handful of laps and then jump over to North Lynx once the sun warms up the south face slopes a little to hit the some bumps, and so on.
Sugarbush does weird stuff that no other mountain does with their snow making as well. For example, they let the snow "cure" for days and days - sometimes a week. At this point is a huge frozen mound of ice that needs to be tilled and groomed repeatedly and will never be as good as a freshly blown and groomed trail. Some people say the idea is to let the moisture drain out. Think about this logically...its winter (or nearly winter), the ground is frozen (or nearly frozen), do we really expect the moisture to drain in any meaningful way?
Imagine how amazing Sugarbush would be if they were able to create and maintain snow as well as Sunday River. Keep in mind that they get double the snow on average at the bush!
I love Sugarbush and have skied there more than 60 times in the last 3 years but variable conditions on snow making trails is something that frequent skiers there simply need to get used to. Some days at the Bush you just gotta game plan your day - ie: hit Downspout early to get to HG then a handful of laps and then jump over to North Lynx once the sun warms up the south face slopes a little to hit the some bumps, and so on.
Letting the snow cure in whales is a pretty common practice at a lot of ski areas, so there must a reason for it. Almost everywhere I ski does this
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Jully
Active member
It is definitely a real thing, but I feel like I've anecdotally noticed that it has become less frequent in recent years or at least the cure time has decreased at a number of areas.
Could the new low-E guns have something to do with it?
I think I remember hearing this last year in this thread too, lol, but the complaint was that SB lets their snow sit for longer than most areas do? Letting snow drain for a day or two versus a week at SB?
Last edited:
doublediamond
Active member
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Yes, new low-E guns make drier snow meaning less time needed for draining the snow.
Correct me if I'm wrong -- haven't been to Sugarbush in a few years -- but aren't they a bit behind the curve with adoption of low-E guns?
Correct me if I'm wrong -- haven't been to Sugarbush in a few years -- but aren't they a bit behind the curve with adoption of low-E guns?
jimmywilson69
Well-known member
They actually have quite a bit of snow logic tower and ground guns as well as HKD low E guns.
That's the exact opposite of what was said a couple weeks ago in this thread when we had the discussion on "wet" snow coming out of the guns at SB.
Yes, they've added a ton of low E guns in the past several years.
slatham
Well-known member
Newpylong
Well-known member
Air Hog, Mid E, Low E, fan - all can be made to make wet or dryer snow by the snow maker or weather conditions.
Letting piles leach is most certainly a thing. The water not only drains in the traditionally way that you would think but it also evaporates. You don't have to if you want base snow but if you push out a fresh pile it will usually set up like a glacier. 24 hrs is usually enough but of course that varies like anything.
Letting piles leach is most certainly a thing. The water not only drains in the traditionally way that you would think but it also evaporates. You don't have to if you want base snow but if you push out a fresh pile it will usually set up like a glacier. 24 hrs is usually enough but of course that varies like anything.
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