The "Sugarbush Thread"

[steamboat1]

Some of the natural trails over at Mt. Ellen were in good shape when I skied there Thurs. Mostly on the lower mountain though. Exterminator definitely wasn't worth a repeat. Cliffs & the trail skiers left (forget the name) were both good. Best run for me was Semi Tough over at Inverness since so few had skied it. Might be worth your while to make a few runs over there.

 

[HowieT2]

Slidebrook was scheduled for 10am yesterday, opened late, then closed with passengers on it due to maintenance, then opened, then closed again with passengers on it (me this time). Last week the Summit chair had similar issues and these are by no means the only recent examples. Obviously every mountain has lift problems from time to time which is not an issue but it is the frequency with which they seem to be occurring at Sugarbush which is troubling. It's not only difficult to plan your runs for the day with unscheduled closures, but getting stuck on chairs isn't a whole lot of fun either.

dunno, i skied LP saturday and mt ellen sunday without any lift issues although I did see 2 lift mechanics on snowmobiles coming up through slidebrook as I was on the runout from lower FIS at about 11:30.
Haven't heard any talk of lift issues this season. They overhauled most of the lifts after experiencing problems two seasons ago.
But I sympathize with your plight. I got stuck on the slidebrook lift once maybe 8 years ago for about 15 minutes and it was not pleasant. way high up there and windy as all get out.

 

[HowieT2]

Some of the natural trails over at Mt. Ellen were in good shape when I skied there Thurs. Mostly on the lower mountain though. Exterminator definitely wasn't worth a repeat. Cliffs & the trail skiers left (forget the name) were both good. Best run for me was Semi Tough over at Inverness since so few had skied it. Might be worth your while to make a few runs over there.

skied semi tough yesterday, not in good shape. neither was Tumbler. surprisingly Lower FIS was very good. Need some fresh snow before the natural snow trails are good again.

 

[steamboat1]

skied semi tough yesterday, not in good shape. neither was Tumbler. surprisingly Lower FIS was very good. Need some fresh snow before the natural snow trails are good again.

They did have 3"-5" the evening before I skied them which could have made the difference. Plus the fact the mountain was empty the day I skied so they weren't skied off. Weekend traffic probably changed that. I love lower FIS but hate the traverse out at the bottom which is why I don't ski it often.

 

[cdskier]

Some of the natural trails over at Mt. Ellen were in good shape when I skied there Thurs. Mostly on the lower mountain though. Exterminator definitely wasn't worth a repeat. Cliffs & the trail skiers left (forget the name) were both good. Best run for me was Semi Tough over at Inverness since so few had skied it. Might be worth your while to make a few runs over there.

It is interesting how opinions differ. A local that I rode the lift with once on Saturday at ME said Exterminator was in great shape. I skied it and would tend to agree more with you than with him. The headwall is quite thin, but below that was decent. If you take either Bravo to the Exterminator cutoff or take Elbow to the Bravo/Exterminator cutoff you'd probably miss the worst part of Exterminator.

Skiers left of Cliffs would be Hammerhead. I thought it was in better shape than Exterminator on Saturday, but quite a few rocks and/or scraped off spots on the top 1/3 of the trail. Lower down it still had some nice snow. I posted a pic of Hammerhead in the other "Sugarbush on top" thread yesterday. That was admittedly lower down where it was already better though.

Overall most of the natural trails could use more snow. No doubt about that.

 

[rocks860]

Paradise gets a lot more traffic. Castlerock is definitely better.

Maybe I'll check it out Thursday. I don't think my legs can handle it today

 

[rocks860]

dunno, i skied LP saturday and mt ellen sunday without any lift issues although I did see 2 lift mechanics on snowmobiles coming up through slidebrook as I was on the runout from lower FIS at about 11:30.
Haven't heard any talk of lift issues this season. They overhauled most of the lifts after experiencing problems two seasons ago.
But I sympathize with your plight. I got stuck on the slidebrook lift once maybe 8 years ago for about 15 minutes and it was not pleasant. way high up there and windy as all get out.

I skied lower FIS yesterday and it was great, however I forgot how much I hate that runout. The woods off paradise have a lot of snow

 

[WWF-VT]

I skied Lower FIS multiple times this weekend - it's currently the best natural snow trail at Mt Ellen. FIS was fun on skiers right yesterday if you're a fan of man made snow. I thought Semi Tough was OK both Saturday and Sunday, Hammerhead needs more snow. I didn't bother with a bunch of other natural snow trails. Biggest disappointment is the man made and grooming that has taken the soul out of Brambles and turned it into just another fast groomer.

 

[cdskier]

Biggest disappointment is the man made and grooming that has taken the soul out of Brambles and turned it into just another fast groomer.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that thinks that.

 

[Newpylong]

Has something changed with Brambles recently? They always used to make snow on the lower 2/3 and groom the snot out of for slalom.

 

[tumbler]

It wasnt closed as often for racing as it is now.

 

[dlague]

I skied lower FIS yesterday and it was great, however I forgot how much I hate that runout. The woods off paradise have a lot of snow
View attachment 18738View attachment 18739

The run out is a work out! When you get out of the woods then you have to go up or ski to the very slow double which serves as a great resting point.

 

[djd66]

dunno, i skied LP saturday and mt ellen sunday without any lift issues although I did see 2 lift mechanics on snowmobiles coming up through slidebrook as I was on the runout from lower FIS at about 11:30.
Haven't heard any talk of lift issues this season. They overhauled most of the lifts after experiencing problems two seasons ago.
But I sympathize with your plight. I got stuck on the slidebrook lift once maybe 8 years ago for about 15 minutes and it was not pleasant. way high up there and windy as all get out.

I rode slidebrook on Sunday around 1ish the lift stopped for 15 minutes. Made 1 run at my Ellen and then decided to head back as conditions at south were much better. On the ride back the lift stopped again for about 15-20 mins. I was with my 11yo daughter - and we were freezing! Not sure why the issue was, but I don't think I will be riding that lift anytime soon. I wish the slidebrook chair had bubbles or were a gondola. Discussions during the wait were about the probobility of a lift evac. (I had the pleasure of being in the heavens gate evac with my son 2 years ago). I have not had many issues with the lifts at Sugarbush, but I hope they get these issue worked out.

 

[rocks860]

Huh I rode it at maybe 1130 and had no issues. I don't think slidebrook has ever stopped when I've been on it

 

[thetrailboss]

I skied Lower FIS multiple times this weekend - it's currently the best natural snow trail at Mt Ellen. FIS was fun on skiers right yesterday if you're a fan of man made snow. I thought Semi Tough was OK both Saturday and Sunday, Hammerhead needs more snow. I didn't bother with a bunch of other natural snow trails. Biggest disappointment is the man made and grooming that has taken the soul out of Brambles and turned it into just another fast groomer.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that thinks that.

Has something changed with Brambles recently? They always used to make snow on the lower 2/3 and groom the snot out of for slalom.

Yes, what did they do to Brambles?

 

[WWF-VT]

Has something changed with Brambles recently? They always used to make snow on the lower 2/3 and groom the snot out of for slalom.

You must be thinking of a different Brambles. GMVS just started snowmaking on Brambles last year -IIRC. It used to be all natural snow with just some blow over from Inverness. It gets a lot of sun and used to be all soft moguls with limited traffic off the Inverness chair.

 

[thetrailboss]

I skied Lower FIS multiple times this weekend - it's currently the best natural snow trail at Mt Ellen. FIS was fun on skiers right yesterday if you're a fan of man made snow. I thought Semi Tough was OK both Saturday and Sunday, Hammerhead needs more snow. I didn't bother with a bunch of other natural snow trails. Biggest disappointment is the man made and grooming that has taken the soul out of Brambles and turned it into just another fast groomer.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that thinks that.

Has something changed with Brambles recently? They always used to make snow on the lower 2/3 and groom the snot out of for slalom.

You must be thinking of a different Brambles. GMVS just started snowmaking on Brambles last year -IIRC. It used to be all natural snow with just some blow over from Inverness. It gets a lot of sun and used to be all soft moguls with limited traffic off the Inverness chair.

I know that they widened and graded the lower 2/3 of it several years ago. They may have made some snow on it using the shared line with Inverness. But obviously it has been a while since I skied it. I'm talking about 2000-2004 and then 2007-2011 timeframe. I want to say it was regraded and widened in 2004 or so.

 

[tumbler]

Been making snow on Brambles for a long time, drag the hoses through the woods. It was every year back in the 90's but maybe they took a few years off. Used to make snow on Hammerhead too dragging hoses through the woods from Cliffs. Bravo headwall also but there is now a pipe through the woods. I ran into it along with hoses last weekend.....Surprise!!

 

[cdskier]

You must be thinking of a different Brambles. GMVS just started snowmaking on Brambles last year -IIRC. It used to be all natural snow with just some blow over from Inverness. It gets a lot of sun and used to be all soft moguls with limited traffic off the Inverness chair.

Yes, here's some pics from 2014 when I really liked it and thought it had great character (although clearly this was not a day where it saw limited traffic based on my second pic)

 

[thetrailboss]

SRO just posted this photo on FB: