The "Sugarbush Thread"

[cdskier]

So basically the majority of the top of the mountain has been closed with HG, NL, NRX, and Summit on hold today. I'm guessing that there will be a ton of untracked stuff just waiting. If you were first chair tomorrow, where would you head first? What would your plan of attack be?

Castlerock has been running so even though there have been free refills, it might not be as pristine as the other places.

Paradise would probably be my choice at LP...I timed it right last year after a storm when HG was running sporadically due to some issues. I caught HG in one of the very small windows it was running and the run I had down Paradise was one of my top runs of all time.

At ME, Black Diamond would probably be one of my choices.

BTW, MRG's snow report now says 20"+ so far. We're already well beyond most earlier forecasts with no signs of stopping any time soon. The snow on top of my truck in my condo parking lot looks pretty deep too, although I haven't actually been outside today beyond going on my deck.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

It’s been snowing lightly and not sticking in nyc area. Just looking real pretty outside the window. No accumulation here and two feet in ski country is the perfect fucking storm. Yay for March.

 

[HowieT2]

I guess I'll respond to this as I am the original poster. Couple of reasons why I'd be happy to hire a guide and/or hesitant to venture into Slidebrook on my own without enough knowledge.

1. The obvious issue is I could get lost. It's like 2000 acres or something. I have zero point zero desire to find myself in a position where I have to take my skis off and hike out.

2. Considering I've only read about doors 1,2, and 3, I'd be pretty psyched just to learn what type of terrain they lead to.

3. I could get hurt and would like to have someone with me who would know what to do.

4. Maybe learning about the three doors would give me the confidence to try some more off the beaten path stuff.

5. I consider myself a good skier. Certainly good enough to get down 99.9% of the inbounds stuff at Sugarbush. However, I wouldn't exactly call myself an outdoorsman. I'm not skinning or touring. Frankly I think the hike from Heaven's Gate to Castlerock kinda sucks. So the idea of blindly going off piste with no idea of what I'm facing sounds like a bad idea to me.


I'm sure I could come up with a dozen more reasons.

Side note, around 35+ years ago (pre cell phone), I was skiing with a friend at Stowe. We had flown up to BTV from NJ and were staying with my Uncle. He drove us to the mountain each morning and would hang out in the lodge while we skied all day. Towards the end of the day, we were heading down the mountain and my buddy saw a couple of sets of tracks leading off the trail into the woods. We decided we would follow them as assumed it would be a fun adventure. This was before resorts maintained their gladed areas. After a while, we realized that we were lost and no where near the trail we had left. The snow was deep and we were forced to take off our skis and post hole every step forward. It was also getting darker at that point. Eventually after an hour or so of wandering around, we ended up a mile or two down the access road in someone's backyard. We knocked on the door and the guy kindly put our gear in the back of his pickup and drove us back up to the lodge where we tapped my uncle on the shoulder from behind at around 5:30pm. I'm sure he was out of his mind with worry. We laughed about it afterwards, but when it was happening, it wasn't that funny, especially as 15 year old kids.

you dont need to explain yourself. you are being a responsible adult. good on you.

 

[HowieT2]

Paradise would probably be my choice at LP...I timed it right last year after a storm when HG was running sporadically due to some issues. I caught HG in one of the very small windows it was running and the run I had down Paradise was one of my top runs of all time.

At ME, Black Diamond would probably be one of my choices.

BTW, MRG's snow report now says 20"+ so far. We're already well beyond most earlier forecasts with no signs of stopping any time soon. The snow on top of my truck in my condo parking lot looks pretty deep too, although I haven't actually been outside today beyond going on my deck.

agree on paradise.

 

[djd66]

If HG is closed because of wind and CR is open - it might be the day to hike backwards to HG.

 

[cdskier]

If HG is closed because of wind and CR is open - it might be the day to hike backwards to HG.

I just wouldn't want to be the one to have to lead the way through all that fresh snow...

 

[Hawk]

It was done today for sure.

 

[WinS]

Best day of the year for me. Those that left when the power went out missed some awesome skiing. I sat in the GH lodge with a coffee and had some fun chats. . When Bravo opened it ran half speed and every other chair for a while, so I waited and hopped on GH for two runs. Bravo went to speed and the line cleared. Everything was great today, but my favorites were Steins, Twist/Moonshine, Domino and CR Run to LCR to Bailout to Lower Ripcord. The only I did was Eden to end the day. There will be lots of fresh powder tomorrow and probably Thursday too. I suspect the winds will be rough again tomorrow.

 

[Kingslug20]

When i was out west I saw an article that a norovirus causing the shits was sweeping thru the nyc area

Mine was cheese..

 

[Kingslug20]

I'm thinking Ellen tomorrow..

 

[ingsy]

I did Ellen today. Got there at 1 and hit up Inverness, semi-tough, Walt’s and encore. Semi tough was closed up top. but the cut in was open off Inverness The skiing was awesome, very forgiving and I had a blast. I suspect the power issue earlier helped keep the crowds down.

 

[ducky]

Patrol took care of it a little while ago! (This looks like the patroller I rode HG with on one of my rides this past Sunday morning)

View attachment 57477

Chris Rambone

 

[WinS]

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

 

[thetrailboss]

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

As in Win is buying the first round at CR Pub?

 

[jimmck]

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Giving most of the groomers the night off?

 

[SteezyRob]

I guess I'll respond to this as I am the original poster. Couple of reasons why I'd be happy to hire a guide and/or hesitant to venture into Slidebrook on my own without enough knowledge.

1. The obvious issue is I could get lost. It's like 2000 acres or something. I have zero point zero desire to find myself in a position where I have to take my skis off and hike out.

2. Considering I've only read about doors 1,2, and 3, I'd be pretty psyched just to learn what type of terrain they lead to.

3. I could get hurt and would like to have someone with me who would know what to do.

4. Maybe learning about the three doors would give me the confidence to try some more off the beaten path stuff.

5. I consider myself a good skier. Certainly good enough to get down 99.9% of the inbounds stuff at Sugarbush. However, I wouldn't exactly call myself an outdoorsman. I'm not skinning or touring. Frankly I think the hike from Heaven's Gate to Castlerock kinda sucks. So the idea of blindly going off piste with no idea of what I'm facing sounds like a bad idea to me.


I'm sure I could come up with a dozen more reasons.

Side note, around 35+ years ago (pre cell phone), I was skiing with a friend at Stowe. We had flown up to BTV from NJ and were staying with my Uncle. He drove us to the mountain each morning and would hang out in the lodge while we skied all day. Towards the end of the day, we were heading down the mountain and my buddy saw a couple of sets of tracks leading off the trail into the woods. We decided we would follow them as assumed it would be a fun adventure. This was before resorts maintained their gladed areas. After a while, we realized that we were lost and no where near the trail we had left. The snow was deep and we were forced to take off our skis and post hole every step forward. It was also getting darker at that point. Eventually after an hour or so of wandering around, we ended up a mile or two down the access road in someone's backyard. We knocked on the door and the guy kindly put our gear in the back of his pickup and drove us back up to the lodge where we tapped my uncle on the shoulder from behind at around 5:30pm. I'm sure he was out of his mind with worry. We laughed about it afterwards, but when it was happening, it wasn't that funny, especially as 15 year old kids.

appreciate the thoughtful response.
i don't want to be argumentative as from your perspective slide brook may seem more daunting than it would after having skied it. of course hire a guide if you want to, and there's obviously no downside to that except the money, which i just don't think is worth it relative to slide brook's simple layout. you also wondered if you could get cliffed out and definitely not, i don't know if there are even many cliffs back there.

The thing you always neglect to understand is that the forum consists of all kinds of skier. They are all not all "top" sliders like yourself so maybe things might be a little tougher for them. In genreal those of us that really like to ski in the woods don't go sending the general public into anywhere. People tend to get hurt. Just a thought.

haha "top slider" thats a good one. also, were the 3 doors always called that or did they used to have individual names? (slip and slide?)

 

[Kingslug20]

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Free...cookies???
I'm easy...

 

[WWF-VT]

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Castlerock Run and Middle Earth groomed

 

[WinS]

Castlerock Run and Middle Earth groomed

You got it. If there are a few inches on top it will be sweet. It skied beautifully yesterday if you turned in the powder pillows but this will smooth out the crust and set it up beautifully for days ahead. Just don’t get there ahead of me and hopefully the winds do not interfere. They are blowing.

 

[tumbler]

I'm sure Danny did CR & ME last night.

Meet Sugarbush’s ‘King of the Corduroy’

Daniel Paquette, one of the groomers at Sugarbush, has been on the job for 33 years and could be called the King of the Corduroy.

www.wcax.com