The "Sugarbush Thread"

[Newpylong]

IMHO Exterminator skied much better with a manmade base (and it was available all year) because they would let it remain natural afterwards outside of a few "reset" grooms. We took advantage of this and trained GS on right afterwards. That was a tough trail due to the double fall line.

Perhaps that will come back with increased pumping capacity on ME. From what the night snowmaking supervisor told me an employee slipped and injured themselves on it and then they pulled the plug and disconnected it. There are more dangerous trails to make snow on there in my opinion.

 

[Hawk]

On a powerday at 1'+ Organgrinder is far better than exterminator. it is like 2x the length with sustained steaper pitches. I have skied it totally untracked many times. so maybe my experinece is skewed.

4 days after, I would say Exterminator. Less traffic, less wind, less snowmaking ice undernieth.

 

[BodeMiller1]

Never skied Sugarbush, hopefully this is the year - god willing....

 

[urungus]

https://www.reddit.com/r/icecoast/comments/15t90fl

 

[Smellytele]

https://www.reddit.com/r/icecoast/comments/15t90fl

Almost as crazy as building devil's tower out of mash potatoes.

 

[thetrailboss]

https://www.reddit.com/r/icecoast/comments/15t90fl

That's commitment. Or insanity.

 

[WWF-VT]

On a powerday at 1'+ Organgrinder is far better than exterminator. it is like 2x the length with sustained steaper pitches. I have skied it totally untracked many times. so maybe my experinece is skewed.

4 days after, I would say Exterminator. Less traffic, less wind, less snowmaking ice undernieth.

I'll take natural snow Exterminator over packed ice Organgrinder.

 

[SteezyRob]

A couple of Sugarbush reviews on Trip Advisor … apparently the jerries don’t like moguls

I wanted to love it but... - Review of Sugarbush Resort, Warren, VT - Tripadvisor

Sugarbush Resort: I wanted to love it but... - See 350 traveler reviews, 146 candid photos, and great deals for Warren, VT, at Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.com

I wanted to love it but...​

Review of Sugarbush Resort
Reviewed January 9, 2018
I flew up to Burlington for a weekend at Sugarbush. I'm a Mountain Collective passholder and it's the only mountain on the east coast that's a part of that program. I really wanted to love this mountain, but it has for me what are two huge and fatal flaws - wildly inconsistent trail ratings and "no easy way down" lifts. I started out with some runs served by the Gate House Express and North Lynx lifts. Blues (Birch Run) were easy for me, black diamonds (Sunrise, Sleeper Chutes, Water Fall) were slightly challenging but fun. I'm ready to expand the mountain so I take the Castlerock Connection, which is a godawful trail. It's way, way, way too flat at the top, which is a theme at Sugarbush. Lots of flats to get from one place to the other. That takes me to the Castlerock Double, which is all diamond or double diamond runs, but I figure hey, the others were good. Not so. I made the disastrous mistake of going down Middle Earth, which to me appeared to be at a 45 degree incline with moguls taller than me. I hate mogul skiing. I'm a downhill guy. It was a complete drag falling down the run and praying to make it without injury. Now, I'm sure Sugarbush's response would be: hey, there's a (small) sign that says "all runs have moguls, no easy way down". Two points on that. One: I didn't even see the sign. Two: that doesn't excuse the utterly ridiculous inconsistency in trail ratings. I understand they're going to vary from mountain to mountain, but at one resort, they should be roughly in the same ballpark, difficulty-wise. Sugarbush? I think a quote from Pulp Fiction best summarizes the situation:

"Ain't the same f--kin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same f--in' sport."

They need to seriously revise their trail rating system. I don't know if it's adding an advanced intermediate designation, moving trails from diamond to double diamond, but I know I won't ski there again unless they do something about it. And beyond that - lifts that have "no easy way down" are just poor design. Perfectly designed resorts (looking at you, Whistler) have runs for all abilities off every lift because guess what? That's what people enjoy. They don't want to constantly be pulling a map out to try and figure out where they'll be safe & have fun. They want to ski. They want to hop on a lift and have a good time.

And the final insult: the "semi-easy way down" trail I eventually took was called Troll Road. I felt like I was the one being trolled by this nonsense trail. It was super-flat and no fun at all. I basically felt like the resort designer was giving me a big middle finger because I wasn't man enough to make it down the difficult runs.

Sugarbush could be a really great mountain. They need to address what's noted above. And a final note: better signage for the Castlerock Pub. I had to walk around the outside of the building to find it, and I'm not the only one. People near me were commenting about how they would have eaten here if they had known about it. They need a sign at the stairs with a giant down arrow and a sign that says "beer this way".

Date of experience: January 2018

***********************

WORST SKI RESORT IN THE USA. NOTHING IS GROOMED, HUGE MOGULS EVERY INCH OF THE MOUNTAIN
Mar 2023
WORST SKI RESORT IN THE UNITED STATES, and they don't answer their phone number for lodging. DO NOT GO HERE!!!! BROKEN AND OUTDATED LIFTS, NOT GROOMED AT ALL, 100% MOGULS, not kid-friendly. Do NOT believe any review more than ONE green circle.

I've been skiing for 45 years, been to 40 resorts at least- California, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Germany, Austria. First time skiing in Vermont. Had a great day at Killington 45 miles away. Then went to Sugarbush. First of all, this tiny town has very limited lodging. We called their main lodging phone number at 6 p.m. and no one answered for the rest of the night (recorded messages- CLOSED). Really? -you close your phone lines for lodging and your resort at 6 p.m. or earlier, and have no one to answer the phone? No lodging in Montpelier either. We ended up staying the night in Burlington, Vt. which was 1 hour and 15 minutes away. We drove here the next morning. 2nd- we got a bad parking spot, and there is no tram, shuttle bus to bring you up to the ski resort entrance like some other resorts do. 3rd- Rude employees! 4th- Been skiing 45 years, and been to 40 ski resorts, and this is the first resort I ever been to that they do NOT groom any run at all. As a result, 100% of the runs have huge moguls, ice, sloppy snow, and at the bottom of the runs... huge ruts, and ripples. We saw many, many kids crying because of the moguls, and adults were NOT HAVING FUN AT ALL slowly weaving in-and-out of the non-stop moguls. We saw a big grooming fleet off to the side just sitting there, and obviously they do NOT have employees to run them and groom nightly like every resort does, or they are cheap and lazy. 5th- there is a very long connecting lift called "Slide Brook Express Quad" that connects the left side of the resort (Lincoln Peak Village) with the right side of the resort (Mt. Ellen Base). It was Saturday when we were there, and it was extremely crowded, and we heard that this lift supposedly never runs because it's broken. Seriously? The lifts at this resort were mostly old, and slow. Just a few Express lifts and the employees do NOT know how to run lift lines! 6th- been skiing 45 years, so I know the difference between a "blue square intermediate" run and a "black diamond expert" run. Several of the blue square runs were mis-labeled (on purpose probably to attract families with kids, or learners). I know the difference, and these should be black diamond expert runs (again- huge moguls).

Why on earth would you come to this horrible ski resort, when Killington is only 45 miles away and has nothing but groomed runs, a huge terrain park, express lifts, and helpful and nice employees. DO NOT GO TO SUGARBUSH!

Written March 14, 2023

Average Reddit users
How would they fare at mad river glen

 

[thetrailboss]

Average Reddit users
How would they fare at mad river glen

"Dude, I was so upset at Mad River Glen. They leave the moguls out too long. Their groomers are always broken. My lift was broken because it only had ONE seat! Where were the other three or five? And the lifties and employees all had long hair and smelled!"

 

[tumbler]

Don't know how to link it but SB did a spoof on not buying tickets at the window on IG.

 

[Newpylong]

Sugarbush, Vermont on Instagram: "Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades! Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps t

771 likes, 14 comments - sugarbush_vt on August 18, 2023: "Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades! Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps that have been...

www.instagram.com

More details on Ellen. Looks like as expected the pump upgrade is on the Inverness system. I am still confused where the extra water is going to come from to supply those pumps. That is a very small pond, guess they are banking on a good refresh rate early season. I think they pump sub 1,000 GPM right out of there right now.

Also replacing the existing pipes and adding a pair on the western side. I am guessing the first new valve house is near the bottom to cross the new pipe across to skier's right and the second will be at the top to either dead head or send water down North Ridge Expressway.

sugarbush_vt​

Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades!​

​

Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps that have been installed at the Mt Ellen pond pumphouse will allow us to pump over 2,000 gallons of water per minute to the trail! That means we’ll be able to finish snowmaking on Inverness earlier in the season, which will allow us to move to other areas of the mountain & open the rest of Mt Ellen earlier than in years past!​

​

Inverness Project Stats:​

* 20,000 feet of new pipe​

* Air & water hydrants on both sides of the trail. Over 100 in total.​

* 40 new HKD KLiK tower snow guns​

* 2 new valve stations​

 

[thetrailboss]

Sugarbush, Vermont on Instagram: "Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades! Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps t

771 likes, 14 comments - sugarbush_vt on August 18, 2023: "Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades! Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps that have been...

www.instagram.com

More details on Ellen. Looks like as expected the pump upgrade is on the Inverness system. I am still confused where the extra water is going to come from to supply those pumps. That is a very small pond, guess they are banking on a good refresh rate early season. I think they pump sub 1,000 GPM right out of there right now.

Also replacing the existing pipes and adding a pair on the western side. I am guessing the first new valve house is near the bottom to cross the new pipe across to skier's right and the second will be at the top to either dead head or send water down North Ridge Expressway.

sugarbush_vt​

Capital Projects Update #3: Inverness Snowmaking Upgrades!​

​

Next up on our list of multi-million dollar capital investments we’re making this off-season are upgrades to the snowmaking system on Inverness! New pumps that have been installed at the Mt Ellen pond pumphouse will allow us to pump over 2,000 gallons of water per minute to the trail! That means we’ll be able to finish snowmaking on Inverness earlier in the season, which will allow us to move to other areas of the mountain & open the rest of Mt Ellen earlier than in years past!​

​

Inverness Project Stats:​

* 20,000 feet of new pipe​

* Air & water hydrants on both sides of the trail. Over 100 in total.​

* 40 new HKD KLiK tower snow guns​

* 2 new valve stations​

I'm curious to know if this is being funded by GMVS AND Alterra or just GMVS?

 

[mikec142]

Bumps slow me down and are less dangerous than a slick groomer. You will have a better chance to stop sliding on bumps not so much a slick groomer.

Although neither are fun, give me the icy bumps over the icy groomer. A slick, groomed OG can be really treacherous.

 

[Hawk]

I had a video that I can't find of me and my friend on upper OG taking turns sliding on our edges, with our skis going perpendicular to the fall line seeing how fast we could slide. It was astonishingly fast. LOL

 

[mikec142]

I had a video that I can't find of me and my friend on upper OG taking turns sliding on our edges, with our skis going perpendicular to the fall line seeing how fast we could slide. It was astonishingly fast. LOL

I had that happen on the steep part near the bottom of Upper OG. The problem was it wasn't intentional.

 

[doublediamond]

Any idea where the two new valve stations are? With 2 it’s possible to connect the main side with the Inverness side … one valve house at each end of the connection.

 

[Newpylong]

From a design perspective they won't connect the two water distribution systems.

I'm told there's one stabbed off the upline to bring the new pipe over to skier's right the other at the top to deadhead or send water down NR Express.

 

[Jssc200]

Hello! Would appreciate any leads on ski houses for the 23-24 season around Killington or Sugarbush/MRG. Mid 30s professional guy living in NYC. Would drive up on the weekends. First full season back on the East Coast in a while and want to make the most of it!

 

[Mak]

Hello! Would appreciate any leads on ski houses for the 23-24 season around Killington or Sugarbush/MRG. Mid 30s professional guy living in NYC. Would drive up on the weekends. First full season back on the East Coast in a while and want to make the most of it!

Consider a ski club. There are a number of them in the Valley. Here's one:
Sterling Ski Club

Its not luxury but it's fun and inexpensive. It's more like a Hostel than a house share. Bunk rooms etc.

 

[Jssc200]

Consider a ski club. There are a number of them in the Valley. Here's one:
Sterling Ski Club

Its not luxury but it's fun and inexpensive. It's more like a Hostel than a house share. Bunk rooms etc.

Thanks! I’ve heard of others like Miramar but this seems like it has an easier membership process.