The "Sugarbush Thread"

[mikec142]

Stuck on hG been 15 min now. Got one run off it though, is that a win?

I was about 2/3 of the way up at the same time. It was my first time on the new lift. I was a single, but happily was paired with three nice guys so the conversation was good. They were giving out tickets for hot chocolate when I got off the lift.

 

[solar]

Almost always ski woods alone, Silde Brook included, and find the trails more dangerous. Great if my wife can join me, like today at Mt Ellen. That said, woods today were mixed and definitely need more coverage. We saw lots of (new) knock-downs. Trails were excellent and did Exterm, Encore, Elbow, Hammerhead, Looking Good and few of the usual haunts off trail. No lift issues at all.
I get a new shoulder in three weeks and a new hip in April. This will be a short season. The shoulder injury goes back to a dislocation on Exterm in 2010, now bone-on-bone and painful.

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!”
― Hunter S. Thompson

Good luck with the new joint installations - cheers to a speedy recovery.

 

[Hawk]

I still have not seen evidence that Warren was against the project.

Anyone have any references to this? Otherwise we are just painting Warren residents as NIBYs without proof, which would not be fair.

No Lotso there is no proof that they were not just doing thier diligence. BUT i have been around Warren long enough to know there are certainly a few NIMBY's in Warren. Hippies and Coooks also. ;-)

 

[KustyTheKlown]

^i took a drive by owl farm when i was in aspen last year, and found the HST shrine randomly on my final run before moving on to summit county for the second half of my trip. i really love his connection to ski culture.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

two more random thoughts...

- i came across two horrible accidents on sunday. first was before sunrise on 100 between waterbury and the 100B turn. a flipped suv. i pulled over and ran to it but the occupants had already gotten away. i wonder if this caused any traffic for people arriving at sugarbush, which felt very quiet sunday AM. then after skiing, a car crunched against a tree across the opposite lane with airbags deployed and lots of emergency vehicles. this was on 100. not sure if still in granville gulf. but it was the 'moose patch' of thick trees with the small moose warning signs.

- flipping the tv last night i came across HGTV dream house 2022, which is a SICK house in warren. and i chuckled when the very gay male designer and black lady designer were riding the sugarbush lifts in summer, walking church street, and shopping the warren store while talking about country vibes

 

[Hawk]

Almost always ski woods alone, Silde Brook included, and find the trails more dangerous. Great if my wife can join me, like today at Mt Ellen. That said, woods today were mixed and definitely need more coverage. We saw lots of (new) knock-downs. Trails were excellent and did Exterm, Encore, Elbow, Hammerhead, Looking Good and few of the usual haunts off trail. No lift issues at all.
I get a new shoulder in three weeks and a new hip in April. This will be a short season. The shoulder injury goes back to a dislocation on Exterm in 2010, now bone-on-bone and painful.

Good luck Ducky. Get well and come back stronger. I may not be far behind with either an ankle or knee.

 

[mikec142]

It seems like they had no training And there is no one watching over them. Depending on intelligence level, I literally could train the employees for that job in 5 minutes.

I was skiing as a single both days this past weekend so the lift lines didn't affect me that much. Lincoln Peak was packed though. Both days I parked in Lot E which is pretty far back for me. On Saturday, the lot attendant boxed my whole row in. There was a car immediately in front of me and they were directing cars in behind me. Luckily I said something and a more senior guy came over and fixed it as best he could but some people had already headed up to the slopes. That must have been interesting when those folks got back to their cars.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i dont have time for that shit. i feel like my day is more or less ruined if i am not in the lot in one of the best parking spots 15 minutes before lifts spin, if not earlier.

 

[pinnoke]

Almost always ski woods alone, Silde Brook included, and find the trails more dangerous. Great if my wife can join me, like today at Mt Ellen. That said, woods today were mixed and definitely need more coverage. We saw lots of (new) knock-downs. Trails were excellent and did Exterm, Encore, Elbow, Hammerhead, Looking Good and few of the usual haunts off trail. No lift issues at all.
I get a new shoulder in three weeks and a new hip in April. This will be a short season. The shoulder injury goes back to a dislocation on Exterm in 2010, now bone-on-bone and painful.

ah, didn't know you're dealing with these chronic aches/pains and have some new parts on order. Agreed, ME was superb today (and the lifts were all fine and dandy by 10am; took first run up Inverness about 9:40). Finished a fun and tiring day with Spin Out / Lower FIS...glad I did! Not just on these, but the solitude of the small crowd combined with the beautiful whiteness of the fresh snow made for an awesome day. Enjoy your next 3 weeks as you're able.

 

[Newpylong]

Did they not make snow on Waterfall while doing Hot Shot? Shows closed.

I think they still have to do Birdland and Sunrise when Ripcord is done?

 

[mikec142]

Did they not make snow on Waterfall while doing Hot Shot? Shows closed.

I think they still have to do Birdland and Sunrise when Ripcord is done?

They were making snow on both Hot Shot and Waterfall all the way up to the Sleeper turnoff all weekend.

 

[mikec142]

I suspect I'm repeating something already said but I'm fully in the camp of just don't run castlerock, ever. I'm usually a quantity over quality person (within reason and yes that's not mistyped) but given the line that forms there when conditions are good, I don't think you lose much quantity with the chair not turning

The "don't run Castlerock ever" discussion happens a couple of times per year. I'm not going to change anyone's mind, but I couldn't disagree more. The vast majority of skiers at SB have no interest in hiking the long trail. A decent amount don't even know its an option. I did it once a few years back thinking it would be a cool thing to do with my kids. I have no interest in doing it again. The lift is there for a reason.

PS. I remember someone on this board saying if you're in half decent shape it should only take 15-20 minutes. LOL.

 

[mikec142]

i dont have time for that shit. i feel like my day is more or less ruined if i am not in the lot in one of the best parking spots 15 minutes before lifts spin, if not earlier.

I greatly prefer the two upper lots. Ideally the upper lot on the right (looking up the mountain) that's by the schoolhouse because I can ski down right to the edge of the lot at the end of the day. But as long as I'm in E or closer, I'm good.

 

[Smellytele]

From what I can tell, that ski areas can only be profitable from real estate is a myth that Les sold to us. If you go back an read ASC's last annual reports as a public company, what was killing them was very high interest rates. They publicly blamed operating expenses and the industry model, but it was borrowing above 20% that did them in. If you read Vail's more recent 10-Ks, they do in fact make their money off of the mountain product.

Some people on this forum know the actual numbers, and I accept that operating Sugarbush is different from operating, say, Breckenridge, but that notion that the entire business is driven by condo sales alone is inaccurate as far as I can tell. I'd also offer up WaWa and Wildcat as operations that don't really have real estate but appear to be profitable on their own terms.

Much appreciated . Enjoy your 3% beer and smelly lake.




@shredmonkey covered this pretty well, but when you offload on a board, you are starting at an angle that isn't straight down. With steep dismounts you are picking up speed with only one foot attached, so little bumps and double fall lines will move you quite a lot. Basically having all the weight on one foot and having it move away from you in a fall can result in very bad knee damage.

Yes, we can turn with only one foot, and yes we can balance but the ramp isn't just dangerous from a likely fall perspective, but also from a consequence perspective. I haven't been up since last Tuesday, but I'm glad about the reports that they've widened it and reduced the angle.

Also, that lift serves the SB's marquee blue trail, so it does need to accommodate everyone from advanced beginner on up.

I saw a pass get pulled for that behavior once at Grandvalira. Basically getting to the gates was a free for all and anything was tolerated, but anyone not advancing once they were past the gates was warned or had their pass pulled. That was only at one lift though.


That's not the worst idea ever.

Did you just say Wildcat? HAHAHA!

 

[Smellytele]

The "don't run Castlerock ever" discussion happens a couple of times per year. I'm not going to change anyone's mind, but I couldn't disagree more. The vast majority of skiers at SB have no interest in hiking the long trail. A decent amount don't even know its an option. I did it once a few years back thinking it would be a cool thing to do with my kids. I have no interest in doing it again. The lift is there for a reason.

PS. I remember someone on this board saying if you're in half decent shape it should only take 15-20 minutes. LOL.

I have waited longer at the CR lift then it takes to walk over there.

 

[JimG.]

i'm 39, so if you're skiing as you do at 78, god bless you lol

!!!

Only 27 years younger than me. Hoping I can still ski well at 78, keeping myself in good shape assuming I will.

 

[cdskier]

The "don't run Castlerock ever" discussion happens a couple of times per year. I'm not going to change anyone's mind, but I couldn't disagree more. The vast majority of skiers at SB have no interest in hiking the long trail. A decent amount don't even know its an option. I did it once a few years back thinking it would be a cool thing to do with my kids. I have no interest in doing it again. The lift is there for a reason.

PS. I remember someone on this board saying if you're in half decent shape it should only take 15-20 minutes. LOL.

I like the current mix of hike access early season and run the lift mid-season. I see both sides and I enjoy both options depending on my mood. FWIW, I don't know how people do that hike in 15 minutes. I'm probably more like 25ish (although I also love to stop and take pictures along the way...).

Then again, I also don't ski CR as much as I would like to as when the lift is running, the lines are often nuts if the conditions are really good. In that case, I'd rather ski other terrain rather than wait in line.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

I'd say 15 mins is very quick not reasonably quick. But then, everyone has their own notion of what is fast. I'm totally willing to admit it's a bit elitist to say, create a hurdle to filter other people (but not me)out. I'm far from the first to say that. It's kinda the same as saying don't talk openly about unmapped trees lines

 

[KustyTheKlown]

for a $99 donation to the association of africans living in vermont, ikon base pass holders can unlock their blackouts this weekend

 

[thetrailboss]

for a $99 donation to the association of africans living in vermont, ikon base pass holders can unlock their blackouts this weekend

Huh?