The "Sugarbush Thread"

[shadyjay]

I'm so glad I held off before purchasing a $49 Mt Ellen ticket for Thursday 3/12. I'd be pretty ticked off to only be able to ride the few trails off Sunny Q and basically just North Ridge Expressway to SS (Inverness closed until the afternoon for racing, unsure about conditions on Walt's and Semi... two great trails, if the snow is there). Yeah, I get it, buyer beware and all that, but still, something told me to wait... glad I did. A friend even offered me a free ticket for tomorrow... nope. Not wasting my time. Will save my energy for Friday at Lincoln, and endulge in some "valley" activities for tomorrow.

Stowe today (3/11) was a lot of fun, and stayed mostly dry. Super soft snow that was a lot of fun, but the loss of coverage in recent days is pretty substantial. Guess next year I'll try to schedule this trip for February, as this is 2 years in a row of getting skunked out of the "goods". Still fun though, regardless, and better than being at work!

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Stratton has going to the top:

The Shooting Star HS6 - which almost never runs on a 'normal' midweek. It runs as low as 550ft/min to 770ft/min
The URSA HS6 - which is the workhorse and mostly out of the wind - it runs in the 850ft/min range
The Gondola - which is not running 25-40% of the time due to wind. It runs similar speed to the AMEX which is in the 700ft/min to 800 ft/min, I never ride the gondi.
The Snow Bowl HSQuad (not six) - which is also down for wind issues almost as much as the gondi - it also runs in the 850ft/min range

Once in very blue moon, somebody must make a mistake and they crank the Snow Bowl HSQ up to 1000ft/min. You really notice it and everybody on the lift talks about it.

Midweek at Stratton is excellent.

That’s my scene now, the difference versus weekends/holidays is incredible. We’ve had some guests/family on weekends, fortunately there’s a shuttle bus, but what a zoo.

Several years Pre-covid, I was a weekend warrior with a western trip every year or two. Now I just wish I was 20 years younger skiing midweek all winter.