The "Sugarbush Thread"

[cdskier]

Actually had a nice day Saturday on the natural and Sunday got better as the snow fell. Low expectations were exceeded.

Yup...agreed. I only wish that snow fell a little earlier on Sunday so I could take more advantage of it. The natural terrain was surprisingly good and skiing better than the groomers (with the exception of any groomed runs that you were one of the first dozen or so people down...then they were decent).

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Will also add that on Sunday the gf’s reaction to mount Ellen was “why didn’t you take me here yesterday.” She didn’t even ski Sunday (she never does two days in a row bc her hip hurts her). She doesn’t know what she’s doing on skis, but the girl has a proper sense of vibe

Loves mad river, magic, platty, Pico, and a-basin

Hates Lincoln Peak, Stratton, Killington, copper

She recognizes that old school is cool and that bells and whistles are for the tourists

That’s rad. Now I’ve just got to get her skiing competently

 

[slatham]

Will also add that on Sunday the gf’s reaction to mount Ellen was “why didn’t you take me here yesterday.” She didn’t even ski Sunday (she never does two days in a row bc her hip hurts her). She doesn’t know what she’s doing on skis, but the girl has a proper sense of vibe

Loves mad river, magic, platty, Pico, and a-basin

Hates Lincoln Peak, Stratton, Killington, copper

She recognizes that old school is cool and that bells and whistles are for the tourists

That’s rad. Now I’ve just got to get her skiing competently

She’s a keeper (possible issue with the comment on Copper, but hey nobody’s perfect)

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Nah, copper sucks. It’s stratton of the west

 

[cdskier]

Skied Lincoln peak Saturday - awful. Crowded. Icy. The gate house line was a shitshow at 10 am. RFID problems and a huge line with many chairs going up empty.

Skied Mount Ellen Sunday - excellent. Groomers skied top notch. High elevation and even lower (semi tough) woods skied awesome. Steady snow beginning at 11 am helped a lot. North ridge quad broke down. Was stuck on chair for 15 min or so. They got us all off and then closed it down. But that got me skiing top to bottom 2350 vert runs until summit went down for wind. At that point I started skiing Inverness and semi tough woods

You skied those in reverse! ME should be Saturday when LP is crowded and LP is better on Sunday when it has less people.

Actually Saturday wasn't too bad at LP relatively speaking in terms of crowds. I hit Gate House maybe around 9:15 to head up to North Lynx and didn't wait more than a minute or two. Did a couple runs up on North Lynx and then went back over to the Super Bravo side. Even at 11 the wait at SB was only a few minutes meanwhile the Valley House chair was virtually ski on.

It was a bit surprising how many people started showing up by 10 though. I thought maybe the thaw/freeze event would keep more people away.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

we were with another couple taking advantage of January learn to ski deals. They needed to be at LP Saturday.

Sacrifices for socialability

 

[machski]

It was a bit surprising how many people started showing up by 10 though. I thought maybe the thaw/freeze event would keep more people away.

That is probably because New Englanders are busy next weekend and wanted to get out on the "off" weekend (you know, Patriots and all).

Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[crazy]

Nah, copper sucks. It’s stratton of the west

What? Have you been to Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail, Steamboat, or Beaver Creek? Copper is much more chill and less pretentious than ANY of the mountains that I just listed. It's corporate, sure, but it has character, and is less crowded than lots of the other Front Range mountains.

 

[gregnye]

What? Have you been to Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail, Steamboat, or Beaver Creek? Copper is much more chill and less pretentious than ANY of the mountains that I just listed. It's corporate, sure, but it has character, and is less crowded than lots of the other Front Range mountains.

I agree with you. Copper is definitely a better vibe than anything vail, with exception of A-basin of course. But right now on A-zone it's cool to hate on Copper. Just check out the Skiing on the cheap thread. That's ok with me. Y'all don't need to come. Just more mountain to myself.

 

[mfi]

I had that exact experience with my ex when she was first learning to snowboard, complete breakdown screaming how much she hated me for taking her down a green at mount Ellen, it’s super rough. At least most of the people around you probably understood what was going on


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Its why when I went looking for another potential wife I kept it simple: must ski, please send pictures of skis and boots for evaluation

 

[skiur]

yep, was trying to take a few laps with my beginner girlfriend before striking off on my own for the rest of the day. it was clear that a bunch of gaper types had no clue how RFID worked. but it was still frustrating to see empty chair after empty chair going up. i get that you need to police for theft of services, but with a backlog like that, and annoyed people yelling out at every empty chair leaving the station, i'd think the customer service perogative is to move the line, not check for passes.

your lift ops manager was there and i asked him 'whats up with the empty and underloaded chairs' and his response was that people dont know how to use the rfid.

So this was on the bunny hill? I can see getting pissed with empty chairs going up on regular lifts but at the bunny hill its just something that is going to happen.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Not the bunny hill. High speed quad that accesses blue and green terrain and is a required lift to access two other lifts that serve expert terrain

 

[cdskier]

Not the bunny hill. High speed quad that accesses blue and green terrain and is a required lift to access two other lifts that serve expert terrain

Two? I'd say one. North Lynx. There's no other lift above Gate House that services terrain at Lincoln Peak that you HAVE to take Gate House to get to.

But I agree chairs shouldn't be going up empty...although at the same time I think that was just bad luck for you as I rarely see that happening.

 

[TheArchitect]

The forecast is saying it's going to be pretty windy on Sunday. When it comes to wind holds at SB is Mt Ellen better than Lincoln?

 

[cdskier]

The forecast is saying it's going to be pretty windy on Sunday. When it comes to wind holds at SB is Mt Ellen better than Lincoln?

Depends on the direction and speed of the wind. I've seen times where ME has many lifts on hold and LP has none and I've seen times where LP has lifts on hold yet ME is fully open.

 

[TheArchitect]

Depends on the direction and speed of the wind. I've seen times where ME has many lifts on hold and LP has none and I've seen times where LP has lifts on hold yet ME is fully open.

It may change but right now it looks like winds from the west or southwest.

 

[WWF-VT]

It may change but right now it looks like winds from the west or southwest.

You just don't know what might be affected by winds - need to look at the lift reports on Sunday AM.

 

[Skrn]

We were at Sugarbush for the first time last weekend and loved it. Coming up this weekend again. We had good experience skiing higher elevation trees, like exterminator woods, bravinator woods, etc... All other wooded area marked on trail map seem to be at mid or lower mountain, where condition was less ideal. Are there any other unmarked wooded area at upper mountain? Many thanks.

 

[WWF-VT]

We were at Sugarbush for the first time last weekend and loved it. Coming up this weekend again. We had good experience skiing higher elevation trees, like exterminator woods, bravinator woods, etc... All other wooded area marked on trail map seem to be at mid or lower mountain, where condition was less ideal. Are there any other unmarked wooded area at upper mountain? Many thanks.

Sounds like you skied Mt Ellen and yes there are other marked/unmarked woods options at both LP and Mt Ellen. With new snow expected this week even mid and lower mountain options should be in play.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Two? I'd say one. North Lynx. There's no other lift above Gate House that services terrain at Lincoln Peak that you HAVE to take Gate House to get to.

But I agree chairs shouldn't be going up empty...although at the same time I think that was just bad luck for you as I rarely see that happening.

Was referring to slide brook. not a critical lift, but you do need to use gatehouse to access it