KustyTheKlown
Well-known member
its just one run, but next week>end is looking ... less bad
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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Hawk
Well-known member
Maybe some back side snow also?
Totally agree with the competition comment. Tough to charge $200/day for a small mountain.
I'm usually pretty cool with staying on one side or the other for the day, but the idea that I can easily go between the two is important to me.
There have been sunny March days where I've spent some time bumping it up on Castlerock and after that, I'm ready for the long cruisers at ME.
KustyTheKlown
Well-known member
I'd like to see some run to run consistency plus support from multiple models before I get excited.
A couple days ago several runs of the GFS showed a massive nor-easter for this Sunday (which had support from no one else and subsequently disappeared in more recent runs).
ceo
Active member
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I know others have said this, but without Slide Brook, Sugarbush is two completely separate ski areas and it's outright deceptive to market them as one, shuttle bus or no shuttle bus. That said, I don't think it was the best solution for connecting the two areas. Looking at OpenSkiMap, it ought to be possible to cut a trail from the top of North Lynx around the basin and connect into Lower FIS, and another trail from the top of ME to the top of North Lynx, and then you have a much more usable connection with not much more environmental impact.
Rob Katz
Active member
oh yeah that would be greattt
NewEnglander77
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I have never contemplated taking the bus. I have and would ride Slidebrook based on traffic on a given pod, lift closures and sometimes interest in a change of scenery based on conditions at the time. There were a few times this season where I definately would have gone from LP to Ellen. Also a few times I started at LP only due to lift problems at Ellen and would have moved to Ellen late monring when the lifts started running.
Its a georgeous ride on sunny March days.
Its a georgeous ride on sunny March days.
Part of the reason I have used Slidebrook pretty frequently when open is I've always been only a 1-3 day max a season skier at Sugarbush. Heck it's been five years since I've last been, hence my infrequent participation in this thread
I could definitely see a Sugarbush regular not really caring about it or feeling the need to get to both North and South on the same day. But if you only have one day, then it's really helpful to hit all of your favorites without sucking up a huge amount of time transferring.
I could definitely see a Sugarbush regular not really caring about it or feeling the need to get to both North and South on the same day. But if you only have one day, then it's really helpful to hit all of your favorites without sucking up a huge amount of time transferring.
I'll add one more reason why I believe Slidebrook is important. One of the reasons we love SB is that they have a variety of terrain. They let certain trails develop moguls while grooming others. When the snow is good, this allows for a tremendous amount of skiable terrain. However, when we haven't received a lot of snow or we've gone thru a freeze/thaw cycle, the (enjoyable) skiable terrain is seriously diminished. SB only grooms a little more than half of its trails. Thus it's important to have easy, quick access to all of the mountain.
Just thinking about LP, after a freeze/thaw, very few people are skiing anything on Castlerock, Domino, Twist, Moonshine, Spillsville, Lower Birdland, The Mall, Paradise...and those are just the natural trails. On those types of days, I'm staying away from Steins and Upper Organgrinder too. Frankly, on those types of days, Ripcord isn't that fun. Thus you're pretty limited. It's nice to be able to easily access all the long groomers at ME to add to the skiable trail count.
Just thinking about LP, after a freeze/thaw, very few people are skiing anything on Castlerock, Domino, Twist, Moonshine, Spillsville, Lower Birdland, The Mall, Paradise...and those are just the natural trails. On those types of days, I'm staying away from Steins and Upper Organgrinder too. Frankly, on those types of days, Ripcord isn't that fun. Thus you're pretty limited. It's nice to be able to easily access all the long groomers at ME to add to the skiable trail count.
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I do agree with Hawk that when its cold and you are going South to North - you freeze your ass off! Going North to South is a different story. Personally, I really appreciate when SB is running. If its crowded at South, its very nice to hop on the chair and go ski North for a few hours without having to deal with the bus. I am not a big fan of the bus - and would rather just drive myself if I want to ski there,... but that's much more of a commitment with parking and booting up and the walk up to the lift. If they ever do pull the plug in the lift (I hope to don't) it would be nice if they doubled up on the bus service during weekends.
In my time at Sugarbush, I used SBX a fair amount. In my later years (when I was in the real world), I had a Mount Ellen Plus pass and would use it on the 5 or so days I had at LP. One fact that always surprised me was Win's stat as to how 2/3 of the skier traffic never left LP.
That doesn't surprise me at all. It has all the base area stuff
I was wondering that. You go up and down at least twice on the lift.
ducky
Active member
Has there been a recent comment by the mountain regarding Slide Brook? I could not find anything. They do get slammed on social media pretty much every time they post. For me, the lift is integral to enjoying the resport's diverse terrain, without having to leave the resort to do so.
When our daughter was 8 (she's now 27), we left her at Mt Ellen with two friends, age 8 and 9, to ski on their own as they had requested. It was a first. We and the other girls' parents went off to LP and skied all over, ultimately ending up in the woods off Rumble at Castlerock. In the middle of a quiet clearing in front of an icy rock-drop, we stumbled across the girls having hot chocolate and sandwiches from their backpacks. "What are you doing here", we asked. They replied, "what are YOU doing here". They had taken the Slide Brook over. We never worried about them skiing alone again. We would not have been happy had they taken the bus alone and been in the public eye. My 2¢.
When our daughter was 8 (she's now 27), we left her at Mt Ellen with two friends, age 8 and 9, to ski on their own as they had requested. It was a first. We and the other girls' parents went off to LP and skied all over, ultimately ending up in the woods off Rumble at Castlerock. In the middle of a quiet clearing in front of an icy rock-drop, we stumbled across the girls having hot chocolate and sandwiches from their backpacks. "What are you doing here", we asked. They replied, "what are YOU doing here". They had taken the Slide Brook over. We never worried about them skiing alone again. We would not have been happy had they taken the bus alone and been in the public eye. My 2¢.
If I was a tourist & the trail map & marketing material indicted the 2 mountains are interconnected with a chairlift and I just paid $175, showed up & was told I need to ride the bus i would be a little let down. Perhaps they don't publish that the mountains are interconnected. Sure many options along the way to get a better deal, but some are still paying full price.
totally agree but that being said the ides of March has been a sweet spot for big storms
Not possible without up hill.
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Oh I know that well. My first ever real deep powder day was at Sugarbush many years ago from a storm in that time-frame. Also first time I skied CR that particular weekend. Middle Earth seemed bottomless that day.
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