The "Sugarbush Thread"

[tumbler]

Back to ASC days snowmaking stopped at Presidents’ Day vacation. Would maybe do the 5 coldest nights. Snowmaking is expensive

 

[slatham]

It appears that you guys still don't understand this place. They blow every trial as least once, go back an hit the ones that need fixin and then they blow Steins, spring fling, snowball and coffee run. And then it is over. Since we did not get a bunch of warm ups and R#*%, they did not have to go back and fix a lot. We got cold and they finished early. No surprise because this has been the deal for the last 20 years. Wishing and bitching is not going to get you any more. Trust me.

I think many (not all!) areas have this same philosophy, with the obvious exception of a pre-Presidents day thaw/freeze where most areas (like 99%) would resurface, some of the big guns extensively. Are you saying they would do nothing even if a bad thaw/freeze occurred right before the Presidents holiday?

 

[djd66]

Hey, let’s just go with there will not be a thaw until April and Sugarbush got it right. My guess is, if they needed to do some resurfacing in the next 2 weeks, they would. Stay positive!

 

[cdskier]

I think many (not all!) areas have this same philosophy, with the obvious exception of a pre-Presidents day thaw/freeze where most areas (like 99%) would resurface, some of the big guns extensively. Are you saying they would do nothing even if a bad thaw/freeze occurred right before the Presidents holiday?

They've done that a handful of times after they were "done"...but it would have to be a very substantial thaw and not just a run of the mill thaw/freeze cycle. SB has not used snowmaking to "re-surface" trails in years after thaw/freeze events. They prefer to make what they believe is enough depth to allow them to then rely on grooming to resurface trails. Nothing new here...has been this way for years.

 

[Castlerockrisk]

Pretty funny about the irony of the Sugarbush’s snowmaking. The snow that they make is like a 7-11 Slurpy and when the guns shut down it becomes polished porcelain, and despite the poor snow quality it’s ironic that there is disappointment when they shut it down. I will do the snow dance and hope that the inches will continue to accumulate. On a positive side the porcelain is resilient to warm ups and usually provide us with a late season.

 

[Getskied]

Pretty funny about the irony of the Sugarbush’s snowmaking. The snow that they make is like a 7-11 Slurpy and when the guns shut down it becomes polished porcelain, and despite the poor snow quality it’s ironic that there is disappointment when they shut it down. I will do the snow dance and hope that the inches will continue to accumulate. On a positive side the porcelain is resilient to warm ups and usually provide us with a late season.

1000%. At this point there is enough porcelain to get the mountains through to their intended closing dates barring a worst case scenario so it’s hard to argue for more porcelain (except to extend the post season touring, which I‘m guessing management doesn’t care a whole lot about).

 

[Hawk]

Guess your the expert.

I'm just speaking from 20+ years of experience and conversations with various snowmakers and ops people. So my 2 cents, they do not blow the best snow in the world anyway. It's base snow at best. Once everything is covered I hope that mothernature kicks in. Which by the way is the mountain's position. People keep ignoring the fact that most years we get 2 or 3 big dumps and all is forgiven. With the influx of newer people to Sugarbush, people expect that we are like other mountains. We are not. Never have.

 

[vtboarder]

Saw this this morning on Bloomstink, not behind a paywall for me but ymmv:

Indy pass

 

[vtboarder]

A friend from VA has a condo at Timberline in WV. Since new owners took over about four years ago they completely revamped the snowmaking system. From what he's said, they are pretty much making snow throughout the season - including early March. Lot of water available but believe multiple sources.

 

[Lotso]

Obviously, if they get a massive meltdown ahead of Prez Week or during it, they will fire up to connect the dots if they lose enough. But making snow on trails you know you will not have as part of your plan post-February is a waste of money. Groom well to get a surface, rather than spending multiple times the dough on adding snow that will be gone a few weeks later.

Honestly I don't know why they announced an end to snowmaking for the season. Just stirring up the already grumpy audience... shush, already.

 

[ducky]

Saw this this morning on Bloomstink, not behind a paywall for me but ymmv:

Indy pass

Firewall

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Saw this this morning on Bloomstink, not behind a paywall for me but ymmv:

Indy pass

Just paste link at 12ft.io to circumvent most paywalls

West Virginia needs to make snow all season. It’s not a straight comparison.

I went to snowshoe once when I was a dc college student

 

[Carl_Greig]

Saw this this morning on Bloomstink, not behind a paywall for me but ymmv:

Indy pass

Archive link, bypass paywall. https://archive.ph/vJLzQ

 

[ducky]

Archive link, bypass paywall. https://archive.ph/vJLzQ

Thanks. There is hope.

 

[WinS]

I'm sorry, but for a resort of Sugarbush's stature, January 31st is WAY too early to declare snowmaking over for the reason.

Sugarbush budgets the gallons needed for each trail. This is not news. This year the month of January was consistently cold and a new policy with Green Mountain Power allowed them to operate without any curtailments. As a result the budgeted depth for all the trails was reached by the end of January. In fact, it is my understanding that more gallons were pumped than last year. This is noticeable on a number of the trails, especially at LP where the goal in to keep skiing into the first week of May on Spring Fling, Snowball and Stein’s. And yes, as Hawk mentioned, Mother Nature is kicking in. I just back from Utah and the skiing s better here, although they are now getting some needed refresh. The forecast here this week is looking good,

 

[Cheetah440]

Sugarbush budgets the gallons needed for each trail. This is not news. This year the month of January was consistently cold and a new policy with Green Mountain Power allowed them to operate without any curtailments. As a result the budgeted depth for all the trails was reached by the end of January. In fact, it is my understanding that more gallons were pumped than last year. This is noticeable on a number of the trails, especially at LP where the goal in to keep skiing into the first week of May on Spring Fling, Snowball and Stein’s. And yes, as Hawk mentioned, Mother Nature is kicking in. I just back from Utah and the skiing s better here, although they are now getting some needed refresh. The forecast here this week is looking good,

The long range looks really good for the MRV. Let’s hope Utah gets going, headed there for first time in 2 weeks. Looks like they just got a foot+. Praise Ullr !!

 

[VTSkiBike]

We've had an amazing first have of the season and constant natural snow (it snowed AGAIN last night) and people are complaining about snow making? WTF?

 

[1dog]

We've had an amazing first have of the season and constant natural snow (it snowed AGAIN last night) and people are complaining about snow making? WTF?

'cause we're Americans and spoiled by excess - I include myself in this much of the time - ' why are there 18 workers in the parking lot but the mtn. is short of help in other critical areas'? We play in one of the most expensive sports there is, highly weather-related, rich, poor and everyone in between, we're out there enjoying ( or trying) nature and sliding down slippery white stuff ( as one comedian said ' try NOT too'!)

I guess its a good sign - we have nothing else to worry about. Snow was AMAZING this week- Sunday finished on SLideBrook w my kid in ( mostly unbroken ) dense powder on Door #1 then left - Elevator? ( I've been skiing here forever and still don't always recall names of cut trails,, never mind woods)

And look! Who needs 'polished porcelain' ( great quote):

National Weather Service

forecast.weather.gov

 

[VTSkiBike]

'cause we're Americans and spoiled by excess - I include myself in this much of the time - ' why are there 18 workers in the parking lot but the mtn. is short of help in other critical areas'? We play in one of the most expensive sports there is, highly weather-related, rich, poor and everyone in between, we're out there enjoying ( or trying) nature and sliding down slippery white stuff ( as one comedian said ' try NOT too'!)

I guess its a good sign - we have nothing else to worry about. Snow was AMAZING this week- Sunday finished on SLideBrook w my kid in ( mostly unbroken ) dense powder on Door #1 then left - Elevator? ( I've been skiing here forever and still don't always recall names of cut trails,, never mind woods)

And look! Who needs 'polished porcelain' ( great quote):

National Weather Service

forecast.weather.gov

I can't say I've given a thought to the number of parking attendants. The only thing I'm looking at is snowfall and upcoming storms.

 

[Hawk]

Here's my forecast for This Friday. Maybe you should come?