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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
nhskier1969
Active member
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- Feb 1, 2016
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I know we are beating a dead horse here but if SB decided to open the top first, they could have managed the water situation better. With more snowmaking hours at the top, SB could have run fewer guns running for a longer period of time. If they used this strategy to begin with SB could have rationed the water over a longer period of time and give the pond time to refill as they are using it.
Again this is all management.
Again this is all management.
This is also why MRG can open lifts on thin cover and SB can't as much without at least 1 snow-making route covered. The amount of people at SB would ski the trails off in no time. I'd also argue MRG pretty much only has people that know conditions can be sketchy since that's essentially their brand. SB will always have at least some people that expect trails to be fully covered and in good conditions if they're open (especially being on a multi-mountain pass).
The same problem we've been talking about for days...barely any water...
For sure...apples and oranges, just remarkable to see the contrast. Hope more terrain opens soon at SB, with or without rocks...
And if water was an issue, why were they blowing on upper organ grinder a few weeks back?
Maybe this is what we need to make snowmaking water infrastructure upgrades a higher priority in the master plan...
And they officially confirmed the ponds are below operating levels and even posted photos of the ponds...
www.facebook.com
Sugarbush Resort
5-7" already this morning and it's still snowing! We've dropped ropes on most of Gate House and now have 22 trails open. We'd love to open more but are in a holding pattern for now. Why's that? As...
www.facebook.com
Transparency is a good thing. Hope they bounce back soon without a washout.And they officially confirmed the ponds are below operating levels and even posted photos of the ponds...
Sugarbush Resort
5-7" already this morning and it's still snowing! We've dropped ropes on most of Gate House and now have 22 trails open. We'd love to open more but are in a holding pattern for now. Why's that? As...
Yes...about time. I suspect they also had no choice with it being abundantly visible to everyone that there's no on-going snowmaking even with ideal temps...
slatham
Well-known member
Thanks. Obviously aware of low water I just hadn’t heard it definitely impacting snowmaking, essentially since 1) they haven’t converted much water 2) I thought Lincoln had more than ME and 3) ME is blasting as I type with several routes covered from what this page has reported. I might be making the wrong assumption that the snowmaking ponds started the year full. All the ponds in SoVT are holding ponds so they started the season full. The issue is recharge. Again, sugarbush hasn’t used much water so I have to assume they started the year with ponds low. Do they only fill the MRV pond in fall based on Mad River flow levels?
I like the transparency, and I guess I missed the comments from a week or so ago.
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Pond at ME seems to recharge faster, but I have no factual evidence, just seems that way. The Mad is low...
Cheetah440
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I wonder how long the E light was flashing. Maybe they figured they could get snowball and fling open before running out. They are in deep shit now, 1” of rain isn’t going solve this issue I wouldn’t think.
I was thinking Pushover Chute FTW.
Cheetah440
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Maybe we can get a little bump line goingI was thinking Pushover Chute FTW.
Burke is open with 17 trails.
If folks did not have the ability to ski other places then I would expect more pitchforks out. As a Sugarbush skier at heart I’m sad.
If folks did not have the ability to ski other places then I would expect more pitchforks out. As a Sugarbush skier at heart I’m sad.
machski
Well-known member
How exactly. Whether you run all your guns to cover a run at once or half, you still pretty much need the same acre-feet of snow on to cover the trail. That means the same overall water draw. I guess if you have a limited refill inflow this might have worked IF they had continuous snowmaking hours to do so. Even up high in November, they didn't. So not sure this plan of yours would have produced the better results you think it might have.
They've converted a decent amount of water compared to the pond size most likely. They did already make snow on OG as well as a bit on Jester. Plus the GH terrain and starting SB/SF. The pond capacity even if full is only 25M gallons (and I'm not sure it was actually full at the start of the season). IIRC, LP can pump somewhere around 4-4.5K GPM. If my math is right, that means a full pond with no refill gives you roughly 100 hours of snowmaking. I'm pretty sure they had more than 100 hours of snow-making so far (although likely running at less than full capacity so not draining it quite as quickly as my math running at full capacity would yield).
In terms of when they refill, I don't believe there is a restriction on timing, but instead based on flow in the Mad River. As long as the river flow rate is above the mean February flow rate (or something like that), they can refill. If the river is below that level, they can't divert from the river to the pond.
I get the issues they are dealing with as far as water shortage. From the limited operational cameras on Mt Ellen, it looks like they are able to blow snow there and the upper Mtn is open. (as I have posted previously - what’s up with Walt’s camera frozen in 1 position???) Given the issues, they should open Ellen up early to the general public immediately. Passholders contribute way more revenue than GMVS.
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