The "Sugarbush Thread"

[teleo]

From VR

"Sugarbush representative Margo Wade, the resort’s director of planning and compliance, reported that resort parent company Alterra is funding two new lifts next summer. Those lifts are Heaven’s Gate at Lincoln Peak and Northridge at Mount Ellen. Wade said it was going to be a hustle to complete permitting for the two projects."

Not really new news, but good to hear they're moving forward.

 

[Newpylong]

Not that it matters, but I'm probably in the minority in that I go back and forth on replacing North Ridge first. Part of me would actually want to replace the Summit Quad. All of NR can be skied from it but the thing is a slug and always has been. The length is there for a HSQ but the downhill capacity may not be. Perhaps a carpet loader so the speed can be increased. This has the benefit of also putting the lift front and center outside the Glen House and the top of GMX. The downside is to lap anything below Glen House and above NR requires a run to the base. I don't know... Food for thought. If the NR is mechanically as poor as folks say it's a moot point anyway as it has to come out.

 

[cdskier]

Not that it matters, but I'm probably in the minority in that I go back and forth on replacing North Ridge first. Part of me would actually want to replace the Summit Quad. All of NR can be skied from it but the thing is a slug and always has been. The length is there for a HSQ but the downhill capacity may not be. Perhaps a carpet loader so the speed can be increased. This has the benefit of also putting the lift front and center outside the Glen House and the top of GMX. The downside is to lap anything below Glen House and above NR requires a run to the base. I don't know... Food for thought. If the NR is mechanically as poor as folks say it's a moot point anyway as it has to come out.

I'm not seeing a need for Summit to be replaced until it mechanically needs to be...I'll take a new and reliable NRX any day over a new Summit lift. The vast majority of ME's terrain can be accessed from 1 single lift when NRX is running. The capacity to the summit is fine with the current lift with amount of terrain from up there. Maybe being a little faster would be nice, but an HSQ would also be more susceptible to wind issues at the summit than the fixed chair.

 

[slatham]

Ok people, I have a friend who worked lifts at Sugarbush who claims North Ridge was a double before being replaced by HSQ/GMX. Liftblog says it was a triple. What say you?

Edit. Ski map.com settled it. Double.

 

[cdskier]

Ok people, I have a friend who worked lifts at Sugarbush who claims North Ridge was a double before being replaced by HSQ/GMX. Liftblog says it was a triple. What say you?

Edit. Ski map.com settled it. Double.

New England Ski History is also a good site to check things like that...

North Ridge Double - Sugarbush - NewEnglandSkiHistory.com

 

[doublediamond]

Why is Summit so painfully slow?

 

[thetrailboss]

Ok people, I have a friend who worked lifts at Sugarbush who claims North Ridge was a double before being replaced by HSQ/GMX. Liftblog says it was a triple. What say you?

Edit. Ski map.com settled it. Double.

Double.

 

[xlr8r]

Original North Ridge was a double, and I think it was a Poma Teardrop in the same style as Sheehan at Middlebury and Chair 2 at Saskadena 6

 

[MadPadraic]

Part of me would actually want to replace the Summit Quad. All of NR can be skied from it but the thing is a slug and always has been.

Maybe being a little faster would be nice, but an HSQ would also be more susceptible to wind issues at the summit than the fixed chair.

Why is Summit so painfully slow?

This of course won't happen, but dream big: replace both GMX and Summit in one go with either a 3S gondola or a Funitel with a mid-mountain stop.

More realistically, I hope that they take this opportunity to get rid of the double fall line in the North Ridge maze.

 

[teleo]

This of course won't happen, but dream big: replace both GMX and Summit in one go with either a 3S gondola or a Funitel with a mid-mountain stop.

If your gonna go there, might as well extend it all the way down the access road and create a world cup men's downhill

 

[Tin Woodsman]

If your gonna go there, might as well extend it all the way down the access road and create a world cup men's downhill

Don't need to go that far. All WC downhill requirements are met just by going down to German Flats Rd.


Buuuut as long as we are talking crazy, let's just put the base at the Hyde Away on Rt. 17.

 

[MadPadraic]

Don't need to go that far. All WC downhill requirements are met just by going down to German Flats Rd.


Buuuut as long as we are talking crazy, let's just put the base at the Hyde Away on Rt. 17.

Point of clarity, isn't German Flats road where the Mt Ellen Access road starts? That's how I think of it anyway.

I love the idea of going down to the Hyde Away. We'd need a snowboard bridge over Mill Brook Road, and this new lift should top out somewhere well above Ivernness. This is such a no-brainer that Alterra has to do it.

 

[Tin Woodsman]

Point of clarity, isn't German Flats road where the Mt Ellen Access road starts? That's how I think of it anyway.

Nope - you were right. I think the wording of your post confused me for a sec.

 

[mikec142]

Hoping that the forecasted rains don't cause too many problems.

 

[HowieT2]

Hoping that the forecasted rains don't cause too many problems.

any first hand reports would be much appreciated.

 

[TSQURD]

Only a few breaks in a steady rain since early afternoon yesterday. The Mad River in Warren was high and moving fast, but I didnt see any damage in my travels.

 

[mikec142]

Looks like a ton of damage by Ludlow and Londonderry. Also saw some ugly pictures of outside of Prohibition Pig and downtown Montpelier. My uncle told me exit 11 on 89 South is underwater.

 

[TSQURD]

Any idea of going on here? We were roughly following the Village snowshoe trail.



The black line shows roughly where the clearing is:


Looking at the tax parcels. I believe we were approximately where the red dot is. That is Sugarbush property, but the other side of the black boundary line is not.

 

[Hawk]

Hard to say without looking at exactly where this is. One possible thing base on what they have been doing on that flank is a new fresh water well. There are about 5 locations I have seen up there already. They added a couple when they built the Gadd Brook and Rice Brook units.

 

[Hawk]

So next weekend it the big Gravel Grind ride weekend with a concert from Zach Nugent. I think these guys do one of the best jobs covering the dead. Zach has the Jerry style nailed better then almost anybody. Saw them recently at the Cabot in Beverly, MA and they ripped the roof off. Worth seeing. I know this is not the music thread but it is Sugarbush news.

I don't own a gravel bike but plan to do a big PMC training ride on the road and maybe a MTB ride. Details are on the Sugarbush web page.