The "Sugarbush Thread"

[djd66]

Wish the webcams could be fixed/realigned. No need to hide things at ME. It would be great to see snowmaking progress.

Its honestly childish that they turned off the Cams.

 

[thetrailboss]

Its honestly childish that they turned off the Cams.

In fairness, does anyone know why the cameras ae deactivated? Is it something electrical or something broken?

 

[Carl_Greig]

In fairness, does anyone know why the cameras ae deactivated? Is it something electrical or something broken?

 

[djd66]

In fairness, does anyone know why the cameras ae deactivated? Is it something electrical or something broken?

I would agree, Its unfair for me to assume it was intentional,.... however it seems strange that Watl's cam previously would pan and now it is locked pointed at the mountains. In addition, around the same time - about 5 or 6 cameras went "off line" As far as why they are offline - who knows? My theory is they didn't want the general public viewing the skiing that is going on off of the Summit chair.

Like a lot of the people on here, I like to check out and see the progress on the Mtn, unfortunately, we are back to the old days of no cameras.

 

[tumbler]

Glad they are opening bravo tomorrow and the natural trails on the snowball side. Should be a much better weekend than the last one. Hopefully the trend will continue in the right direction. Glass is half full...

 

[1dog]

Thanks for the write up, great feedback. Sounds like for a quick hit 3 days hard to go wrong really. Just hard to beat the convenience of a direct flight from Boston and under an hour from airport versus many CO options.

and if elevation affects you- 2000-3000' additional in CO. . makes a world of difference - especially the 1st day or two.

Three things that are almost impossible to beat in the 'Tah compared to CO.
Distance from airport as you mention, elevation difference, and most importantly- snow quality and frequency. Like the Greens, Wasatch is lower but grabs the storms 1st ( lake doesn't hurt either), and while I loved every trip to 14,000 summits, I've never had a poor snow quality trip to Utah in almost 40 years.

As TB stated succinctly, worth catching them all, each canyon 30-45 mins from airport or 1 hour from each other. Can't do that in CO either.

Amber appears to have done a good job at Solitude , my least favorite of the 4 in BCC/LCC but it beats DV where trees are short and mostly accessible from Empire Canyon. Most of rest of them are Aspen tree/good spacing but many sun-facing some part of the day which can mean sticky. . . She won''t mind the food at the Peruvian/Alta (if you can even get a night or two this late).


Oh , yeah, never forget an eastern 'intermediate' obtains super-powers when faced with dry/ice-less/quiet snow. Her confidence level will increase quite a bit I would imagine.


Solitude lots March '23:

 

[thetrailboss]

I would agree, Its unfair for me to assume it was intentional,.... however it seems strange that Watl's cam previously would pan and now it is locked pointed at the mountains. In addition, around the same time - about 5 or 6 cameras went "off line" As far as why they are offline - who knows? My theory is they didn't want the general public viewing the skiing that is going on off of the Summit chair.

Like a lot of the people on here, I like to check out and see the progress on the Mtn, unfortunately, we are back to the old days of no cameras.

“My henchmen have adjusted the stream to only show the EPIC conditions at Stowe! Enjoy the view! You’re welcome!”

 

[Cheetah440]

and if elevation affects you- 2000-3000' additional in CO. . makes a world of difference - especially the 1st day or two.

Three things that are almost impossible to beat in the 'Tah compared to CO.
Distance from airport as you mention, elevation difference, and most importantly- snow quality and frequency. Like the Greens, Wasatch is lower but grabs the storms 1st ( lake doesn't hurt either), and while I loved every trip to 14,000 summits, I've never had a poor snow quality trip to Utah in almost 40 years.

As TB stated succinctly, worth catching them all, each canyon 30-45 mins from airport or 1 hour from each other. Can't do that in CO either.

Amber appears to have done a good job at Solitude , my least favorite of the 4 in BCC/LCC but it beats DV where trees are short and mostly accessible from Empire Canyon. Most of rest of them are Aspen tree/good spacing but many sun-facing some part of the day which can mean sticky. . . She won''t mind the food at the Peruvian/Alta (if you can even get a night or two this late).


Oh , yeah, never forget an eastern 'intermediate' obtains super-powers when faced with dry/ice-less/quiet snow. Her confidence level will increase quite a bit I would imagine.

View attachment 63794
Solitude lots March '23: View attachment 63792View attachment 63793

Oh man that is so sick.

 

[ducky]

“My henchmen have adjusted the stream to only show the EPIC conditions at Stowe! Enjoy the view! You’re welcome!”

View attachment 63799

Didn't he retire? He sat next to me on a streetcar in New Orleans right after they bought Stowe and we had a nice chat.

 

[Lotso]

I would agree, Its unfair for me to assume it was intentional,.... however it seems strange that Watl's cam previously would pan and now it is locked pointed at the mountains. In addition, around the same time - about 5 or 6 cameras went "off line" As far as why they are offline - who knows? My theory is they didn't want the general public viewing the skiing that is going on off of the Summit chair.

Like a lot of the people on here, I like to check out and see the progress on the Mtn, unfortunately, we are back to the old days of no cameras.

Same old same old this morning. Allyn's has a frozen wiper blade but you can make out guns going on Deathspout. Nice view of the sky above the Long Trail on the Walt's one.

Views look great at Stowe, Killington, Stratton and other competitors...er, resorts. Too bad Sugarbush is missing out on some free marketing, but so be it. If anything, turn off the NRX one that shows the chairs and excavator frozen in time...

 

[kingslug]

less crowds/no one else skis the trees or harder trails

And there ya go...

 

[kingslug]

Not anymore.

The trees are pretty devoid of people...but then you have to get back on trail...with..the hordes..

 

[kingslug]

If you get a rental with shitty tires (which is common) and don't want to bother with chains, take the bus. BCC you can park right at the bottom at the big parking lot. LCC is tougher...I like to park at the station next to the Sandy Walgreens and pick it up there because they don't really stop near the mouth of the canyon. Bus is free with Ikon if you have that.

And nice and empty at 7am...

 

[Cheetah440]

Not a bad first day out here, Mall and Lixis have a ton of snow not skiing awful, good challenge actually. whales on Snowball and Fling abound and already blown tons. Took a few laps on GH, horrid. Classic dust on crust. Thank god they opened Bravo today, salvaged our first weekend.

 

[vtboarder]

BCC is a different animal. It is more laid back. SR-190 rarely closes. Unfortunately, with Alterra buying Solitude and making it the only unlimited IKON option, the traffic and parking at Solitude have gotten bad. Lodging and dining options in BCC are limited. I'd call it rustic. I consider Brighton to be a better ski area than Solitude. Brighton sits higher and gets more snow, almost as much as Alta. Brighton has night riding--now close to 300 acres of it--and that opens up a lot of options for when you ski. Brighton also has more low angle terrain for beginners and intermediates and great trees. The layout is better and all areas are served by high speed lifts. Finally, the vibe is really good and the employees and crowd are friendly. It is a locals place and is quite underrated IMHO. Solitude used to be the quiet locals place. Honestly, it is in a spot that is not great for skiing and has an odd layout.

Brighton is far better than Solitude for a snowboard only or mixed group. As you said, odd layout and a few too many flats. Can't speak to the amenities, been a few years since out there. Also second the rec for Wolf/Canyons/PC/whatever they call it today. Good place to keep everyone happy and secure.

 

[vtboarder]

and if elevation affects you- 2000-3000' additional in CO. . makes a world of difference - especially the 1st day or two.

Been to Copper and surrounding areas a few times and that elevation kills my sleep for a couple days.

Besides the B/L CC and PC environs, Snowbasin and Power Mtn. are not too distant a drive from Kimball Junction. Do *not* go to Powder Mtn on a warm day with a board, you'll be hating life.

If you've not been out that way before and have the time and/or coin, do a side trip up to Big Sky. Drive is 5-6 hours in good weather. Definitely a mountain well worth the effort to get to. Enormous amount of terrain and something for the little ones to the cliff/chutes crowd.

 

[djd66]

Is 9:00 am the new regular opening time for weekends? It had always been 8:00 AM and early ups at 7:30

 

[cdskier]

Is 9:00 am the new regular opening time for weekends? It had always been 8:00 AM and early ups at 7:30

I hope this is just an early season thing and goes back to normal weekend hours soon. Maybe they are waiting until they have more terrain off SB and/or HG accessible? Those were usually the 8am lifts.

 

[WinS]

I hope this is just an early season thing and goes back to normal weekend hours soon. Maybe they are waiting until they have more terrain off SB and/or HG accessible? Those were usually the 8am lifts.

My guess is that the 8am Bravo weekend and Holiday time will begin once HG opens and early-up then too. I also suspect GMX with still new 8am every day.

 

[Blurski]

Not a bad first day out here, Mall and Lixis have a ton of snow not skiing awful, good challenge actually. whales on Snowball and Fling abound and already blown tons. Took a few laps on GH, horrid. Classic dust on crust. Thank god they opened Bravo today, salvaged our first weekend.

2nd that, they did blow some silky snow on SF, mall skied great.