The "Sugarbush Thread"

[KustyTheKlown]

There’s a lot of J1s around too. Most lifts are swarming with South American kids.

Uhhh so, there’s one entrance to the woods to skiers right on the long traverse over to Inverness. No tracks. Would I be making a bad creeky play there?

 

[slatham]

How familiar are you with sugarbush’s usual snowmaking plan? Birch is usually very late in the plan. There are numerous other routes they haven’t touched yet with snowmaking that are typically earlier in the plan than North Lynx terrain. Based on where they’ve made snow so far and what they still have left I have no reason to think Birch would have been touched by now under any normal circumstances. Maybe if they didn’t run out of water and were further ahead with other trails it would be coming up soon…but even that’s not a guarantee.

Yes that’s a good point given the water issues they had. It’s hard to keep track of all the issues lol.

To be clear I am a huge fan of the ‘Bush with family just down the road. I do however think they have a management issue.

 

[Lotso]

Lower Fis was fantastic, well worth the traverse out. Inverness lift re-opened. Walt's was big fun, as was the t-bar track and right of that on Inverness.

 

[Steveskio]

There's a big difference between Paradise and Upper CR/ME vs the lower elevations of Castlerock that are more-so the issue on CR.

Also, where do you get that the Mansfield Snow Stake is almost double the average? It is 10" above average for this time of year (about 35% higher than average). It is still under 40" overall. Let's not pretend we have mid-winter depths out there. We don't.

I take issue with people claiming staffing issues with no basis for that claim simply because a couple lifts aren't running that have other logical reasons for not running. There's a lot of valid criticisms of SB so far this year...but CR and NL not running aren't two of them...

Fair enough CD. It was double b4 the rain and warmth. After skiing it, there is certainly a lot of snow, even down low.
Great day today, even Steins was a worry free rock day!

 

[Newpylong]

There is not enough snow to run CR lift right now it would be trashed in an hour. Also not a shot they would be making snow on North Lynx this early regardless of circumstances.

 

[ducky]

There’s a lot of J1s around too. Most lifts are swarming with South American kids.

Uhhh so, there’s one entrance to the woods to skiers right on the long traverse over to Inverness. No tracks. Would I be making a bad creeky play there?

That can be really good. Big rock (10') to jump or go around near the entrance, then break slightly right. Comes out on the NR Traverse eventually but you can stay in a while.

 

[Cheetah440]

CR would be beat to death if they opened the lift right now. Absolute death. It’s good that it’s closed. The hike is worth it. The terrain would lose its jazz in 15 min if the lift was open. Some good things require work/the people who work deserve the rewards.

I love hiking to CR, always such a treat

 

[SurfMoon]

There’s a lot of J1s around too. Most lifts are swarming with South American kids.

Uhhh so, there’s one entrance to the woods to skiers right on the long traverse over to Inverness. No tracks. Would I be making a bad creeky play there?

Can be good but yes creeky indeed, ended up knee deep in water in that region on a negative 10+ deg day. Boots froze solid on the slide brook lap back to my vehicle at South.

 

[nhskier1969]

Killington may have sold for $150 million but they have antiquated lifts overall (aside from S6 and Northridge) and their snowmaking system is vastly behind the times. Nothing new about either of those systems at K. On a new lift basis, Sugarbush actually has more newer lifts than K right now!

Killington has a much better lift system than Sugarbush. Most of Killington's main lifts are newer except for superstar which is being replaced at the end of the year. If Sugarbush wants to charge the same price as the big resorts in the Northeast, they need to up their game.

 

[WinS]

I should have added that the castle rock logic does not apply to North Lynx, though their communication makes it seem like it’s a treat to be able to hike to.

NL is still due for final inspection from the State. I understand there were a few minor issues that needed fixing.

 

[WinS]

CR would be beat to shit if they ran the lift. At least through yesterday as I am not there today.

A lifty told me they actually have more lifties than usual right now and some want more days. Also, when they promote hiking, they have patrol up top at CR and NL. So it's not staffing.

This is correct.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

a local on a lift yesterday told me they were taking parts off of slide brook to patch GMX, which may explain the activity around slide brook some poster mentioned a few days ago?

Win - any insight into the bait and switch for holiday hours yesterday? was quite annoyed to pull into lincoln peak, park next to your spot, put on my boots, and then realize lifts werent going to spin, to then rush over to mellon. pretty big tidbit to be wrong about in the PM report on 12/23

 

[WinS]

a local on a lift yesterday told me they were taking parts off of slide brook to patch GMX, which may explain the activity around slide brook some poster mentioned a few days ago?

Win - any insight into the bait and switch for holiday hours yesterday? was quite annoyed to pull into lincoln peak, park next to your spot, put on my boots, and then realize lifts werent going to spin, to then rush over to mellon. pretty big tidbit to be wrong about in the PM report on 12/23

I was confused about Holiday hours too. I guess this year they begin today and go through New Year’s. It is also a bit confusing knowing the Ikon blackouts vs a local area’s Holiday definition is you have the base pass. My drive over from Shelburne yesterday have longer than normal due to the weather, so I was happy to see lifts starting at 9am but when I saw the long line at Bravo and figured I won’t get first tracks I moved over to Gatehouse and had two really nice untracked runs there. I did not have a lot of time so I did not get up HG but I found that Lower Snowball was not skied and had some really nice untracked powder around 9:30am. Unlike the trails with snowmaking there was no crust underneath.

It is not unusual to borrow a part from Slidebrook is there is a part backlog. Slide Brook and GMX are similar Dopplemayr lifts, and SB is not ready to go. But I think the ground over we have many get this running sooner that thee past few years. Let’s hope the Sunday/Monday weather is like the first rain that hardens the base rather than melting the snowpack.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

thanks!

ya, the snow reporter said 8 AM in the 12/23 PM report and i was already out the door before they posted in the morning

ellen skied incredibly yesterday tho! half speed gmx was a bit of a bummer as i was racing the clock to get home for xmas eve

i was always gonna head for exterminator for first tracks because elbow > exterminator > whatever gives you imo a longer more interesting powder run, but it was still a little painful seeing the first 2 then 5 then 10 people hit FIS from the lift. i was prob 15th chair up summit. i dont think ive ever skied exterminator like that. almost perfectly smooth. no other tracks. calf deep fluff. amazing. its in my pic above

 

[Lotso]

I was confused about Holiday hours too. I guess this year they begin today and go through New Year’s. It is also a bit confusing knowing the Ikon blackouts vs a local area’s Holiday definition is you have the base pass. My drive over from Shelburne yesterday have longer than normal due to the weather, so I was happy to see lifts starting at 9am but when I saw the long line at Bravo and figured I won’t get first tracks I moved over to Gatehouse and had two really nice untracked runs there. I did not have a lot of time so I did not get up HG but I found that Lower Snowball was not skied and had some really nice untracked powder around 9:30am. Unlike the trails with snowmaking there was no crust underneath.

It is not unusual to borrow a part from Slidebrook is there is a part backlog. Slide Brook and GMX are similar Dopplemayr lifts, and SB is not ready to go. But I think the ground over we have many get this running sooner that thee past few years. Let’s hope the Sunday/Monday weather is like the first rain that hardens the base rather than melting the snowpack.

Thanks, Win. Always love the insight and honesty. Is CR for the reasons Newpylong and others suggest? If so it makes sense; it would just be nice for people to be told that, rather than have the time and space to suppose it's mechanical/staff related.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

im not sure how much i am shooting the messenger, but i got grievance with whoever's job it is to write the snow report

 

[Lotso]

im not sure how much i am shooting the messenger, but i got grievance with whoever's job it is to write the snow report

Join the club. It can be painful. Today's is pretty benign by comparison. The untruths though are also tough. HG a one-minute ride? Remember the 'most trails and terrain open in the east" a week or so ago? 2-4" of fresh when it was a dusting?

And they botched Riemergasse again...

 

[HowieT2]

Castlerock run yesterday. Enjoyed the hike and definitely needed the exercise but there looked to my untrained eye to be plenty of snow to run the lift. I didn’t take pics of middle earth when i was there Monday but it seemed to be good to go prior to additional snowfall.
Paradise had good coverage even with the lift served traffic.
great day yesterday. Best holiday conditions in many years. Merry Xmas

 

[ducky]

Many years ago I started bringing beers to lifties on Christmas Day. One year I skipped it and Steve at the top of GMX (now MRG double) pops his head out and says, "what, no beer?" MRG is closed today so can't make the trip over just for Steve, but may hit GH for a few laps and spread the love.

 

[Rob Katz]

merry christmas everyone!