The "Sugarbush Thread"

[NYSnowflake]

Between the temperatures, energy costs, labor issues, and lack of water, making snow at Sugarbush sounds like trying to sail between Scylla and Charybdis.

 

[cdskier]

Ouch, more mechanical issues on Bravo? - seem to be piling up this season...,tough start to the holiday week.

I was at ME this morning so missed out on the Bravo issues, but looking back at the webcam looks like it was down from pretty early on this morning and even as of 4pm they still appeared to be working on it. Hope it is back up for tomorrow.

 

[Smellytele]

Just wondering do other major VT ski areas have the issues with GMP or does sugarbush just have some crazy weird deal with them?

 

[NYSnowflake]

Anyone know what the problem is with Summit Lift at Mt. Ellen and if it will be back up and running again soon?

 

[cdskier]

Anyone know what the problem is with Summit Lift at Mt. Ellen and if it will be back up and running again soon?

It was loading as of a little after 1PM this afternoon and ran the rest of the day as far as I know.

 

[NYSnowflake]

It was loading as of a little after 1PM this afternoon and ran the rest of the day as far as I know.

Thanks! It must have started right after I left.

 

[jdr14]

I got caught on Super Bravo yesterday for 20+ mins and again this morning for about the same. Feels like Bravo has been having issues all season. But this was a particularly bad weekend. Anyone know what the deal is? Time for a new lift? Or short handed lift maintenance team?

 

[SkiTheEast]

I got caught on Super Bravo yesterday for 20+ mins and again this morning for about the same. Feels like Bravo has been having issues all season. But this was a particularly bad weekend. Anyone know what the deal is? Time for a new lift? Or short handed lift maintenance team?

I know it was a sheave issue a few weeks ago. Don't know what the specific issue yday and today was but overall probably a little of each - suspect the shortage (and maybe overall experience) of lift mechanics and the fact its been the workhorse of the mountain for almost 30 years (and wear and tear that comes with that).

Mentioned this earlier but if they are thinking of replacing any of the lifts I'd hope the appropriate planning is being done now. I posted an article a while back about the backlog at Poma and Doppelmayr for years to come given supply chain issues (and Vail buying all the lifts).

 

[cdskier]

I know it was a sheave issue a few weeks ago. Don't know what the specific issue yday and today was but overall probably a little of each - suspect the shortage (and maybe overall experience) of lift mechanics and the fact its been the workhorse of the mountain for almost 30 years (and wear and tear that comes with that).

I'm not sure when the snow report was actually updated with this info (I swear it wasn't there at the end of the ski day), but here's the info on what happened with Bravo today per the snow report:

"Today an electrical component for Super Bravo's drive went down. We were luckily able to pull that component from Slide Brook, which will allow us to run Bravo tomorrow, pending any winds affecting operations."

 

[Hawk]

A lot of unhappy people yesterday. Due to the lift lines I rode single most of the day and heard it on the lift pretty much every ride. Lift issues, Ice, lack of snowmaking, lines. People were not happy that I rode with. Whatever. I sounded like people were not used to this kind of thing.
You have to look at the bright side. Maybe numbers will go down and we can have the place back. Just a thought.

 

[hovercraft]

A lot of unhappy people yesterday. Due to the lift lines I rode single most of the day and heard it on the lift pretty much every ride. Lift issues, Ice, lack of snowmaking, lines. People were not happy that I rode with. Whatever. I sounded like people were not used to this kind of thing.
You have to look at the bright side. Maybe numbers will go down and we can have the place back. Just a thought.

Welcome to the era of the cheap season pass. Not sure how or when it gets better.

 

[1dog]

Just wondering do other major VT ski areas have the issues with GMP or does sugarbush just have some crazy weird deal with them?

America’s Power Grid Is Increasingly Unreliable

Behind a rising number of outages are new stresses on the system caused by aging power lines, a changing climate and a power-plant fleet rapidly going green

www.wsj.com

 

[machski]

America’s Power Grid Is Increasingly Unreliable

Behind a rising number of outages are new stresses on the system caused by aging power lines, a changing climate and a power-plant fleet rapidly going green

www.wsj.com

Except VT already toots itself as a totally green grid.

 

[HowieT2]

Welcome to the era of the cheap season pass. Not sure how or when it gets better.

Have the skier visits gone up appreciably?

 

[cdskier]

Have the skier visits gone up appreciably?

Can't speak to overall skier visits, but honestly for a holiday weekend I thought it was kind of uncrowded. The lots at ME still had several empty rows when I left there yesterday. And when I drove past Lincoln Peak on my way back to my condo it looked like cars were only just starting to park in lot F yesterday. All weekend I never waited in more than a 5 minute line (and most time it was well under that...although I guess I also lucked out a bit picking ME yesterday instead of LP with Bravo being down most of the day).

To Hawk's point, I do feel bad for people that pay for one big ski vacation a year and ended up being here. Regulars know what to expect at SB after a thaw/freeze. Other people I'm sure expect what you see at many other resorts with all the snow-making and resurfacing photos that are popping up non-stop in my social media feeds. This may sound odd, but like Hawk, I also wouldn't be too upset if things like this cause numbers go down a bit.

On the bright side today, the first few runs at 9AM on North Lynx on Sunrise and Birch were fantastic. I had second chair up NL behind Win. Best runs of the day. Everything else off HG, SB, VH was not great at all. The wind really scoured a lot of the work the groomers put in on the trails on that side.

 

[HowieT2]

Can't speak to overall skier visits, but honestly for a holiday weekend I thought it was kind of uncrowded. The lots at ME still had several empty rows when I left there yesterday. And when I drove past Lincoln Peak on my way back to my condo it looked like cars were only just starting to park in lot F yesterday. All weekend I never waited in more than a 5 minute line (and most time it was well under that...although I guess I also lucked out a bit picking ME yesterday instead of LP with Bravo being down most of the day).

To Hawk's point, I do feel bad for people that pay for one big ski vacation a year and ended up being here. Regulars know what to expect at SB after a thaw/freeze. Other people I'm sure expect what you see at many other resorts with all the snow-making and resurfacing photos that are popping up non-stop in my social media feeds. This may sound odd, but like Hawk, I also wouldn't be too upset if things like this cause numbers go down a bit.

On the bright side today, the first few runs at 9AM on North Lynx on Sunrise and Birch were fantastic. I had second chair up NL behind Win. Best runs of the day. Everything else off HG, SB, VH was not great at all. The wind really scoured a lot of the work the groomers put in on the trails on that side.

rain followed by a hard freeze is always going to result in unhappy skiers especially on a holiday week whether its at sugarbush or anyplace else. I'm pretty unhappy sitting at home after bailing on the weekend. That being said, could be worse, could be this guy. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...fers-frozen-penis-mass-start-race-2022-02-20/

 

[WinS]

I got caught on Super Bravo yesterday for 20+ mins and again this morning for about the same. Feels like Bravo has been having issues all season. But this was a particularly bad weekend. Anyone know what the deal is? Time for a new lift? Or short handed lift maintenance team?

There are multiple things that can cause a mechanical or electrical problem. Certainly, being short staffed can impact servicing and repairing, but I do not think that has been the issue. As far as I can tell in speaking with the Sugarbush team the lift problems are unrelated. For example, a week or so ago, Bravo was experiencing Rowe faults of tower 12. Something like that can be challenging to diagnose. A Doylemayr electrician came here for a few days and it took him some time to figure it out. He also worked on the spacing issue they were having with Gatehouse. The Bravo problem was she the E-Brake (emergency break would not release. They finally found that insufficient voltage was getting the the connector which release the brake and that the connector was the issue. The connector from Slidebrook was brought over and put into Brsvo. A $5 part caused the breakdown. As far as replacing lifts, with the exception of Summit and Inverness and the new lifts like Sunny-Q, Village and Valley House, the other lifts have have new had drives put in during the back decades along with new communication lines, new tower wiring and in the case of Bravo a new gear box. Doing this type of maintenance can allow lifts to function well for decades. Other than towers and chairs, the lifts can essentially be new.

The weather volatility this winter has also be tough on the lifts. Temperature extremes, icing, and wind cause problems.

 

[shadyjay]

The second decisiom is getting the staffing. The snowmakers who stay around are working lifts now. Also control room personnel have to be brought back. A few years ago we turned snowmaking back on later than this. I believe Shady was here and one of the 4 or so we pulled fro lifts for a couple of days of snowmaking. If I were betting I would out it at 50/50 with the focus on some of the spring trails where it is not as deep as past years and where there are towers.

Yeah I remember that. I remember setting it up and then working day crew for like a day or two. It was weird making snow in the daytime, actually being able to see where the snow was going, and able to get something to eat in the cafe.

I'm still holding out for a good March this year.... preferably the second week of March ;-)

 

[hovercraft]

Have the skier visits gone up appreciably?

I don’t have hard data but from experience it sure feels like it.

 

[Newpylong]

Just wondering do other major VT ski areas have the issues with GMP or does sugarbush just have some crazy weird deal with them?

Yes they do, Killington has had considerable shutdowns (and purchased through curtailment) several times this year.

I can't speak to GMP but our Demand charges worked differently with the NH utilities. We could operate on two commercial "long load" rate types: Regular Demand and Optional Determination of Demand. The first one took your highest percentile (utilization) over the past year and the second one used your highest percentile over the past month (but then also wacked you with a 20% rate increase). So what we would do is be in normal Demand billing during snowmaking season because we knew we would be at peak utilization anyway. Then it didn't cost us more in Demand just to turn the snowmaking on for 15 minutes month to month.

In the off-season we switched to Optional Determination so we weren't hit with Demand charges for the prior months where the high HP equipment was on but now isn't.

Commercial high voltage electric billing is a royal PITA to figure out sometimes.