This is my third season with a Mountain Collective Pass, and this year Sugarbush is on it. So I managed to spend this past weekend skiing there on Friday and Saturday for free. (Well, sort of... I mean, I didn't pay anything more... it's part of the pass... so, like free. Anyway, moving on. )
@Matt Smith was also around for the weekend, so we spent two days skiing everything that was open, and had a great time. I'd never been to Sugarbush before, so everything was new. With the r$&n the previous weekend, some of the runs were closed (including everything in Castlerock), and conditions were typically icy and scrapey. But if it wasn't good, it was "good for me" snow at least.
We got to Sugarbush around 8:30 on Friday... I love skiing on Fridays... it extends the weekend, and avoids crowds. And this was no different. Here was the bootup area when we got there :
Busy, right? The slopes were likewise pretty empty - no lift lines to speak of. We stayed on the Lincoln Peak side all day. It was a bit overcast but we had hopes the sun would show up... it never did. The top was a bit foggy, but never got really low vis. The runs were generally in good shape, though got more scraped off throughout the day. Anywhere you could see grey cat tracks was sure to be icy ("visible cat tracks" should be added to the "How to Spot Ice" thread!), but you kind of got used to it after a while. All in all it was a beautiful day, and we got in a bit over 20K vertical, with a lot of fun runs, before retiring to the bar.
Views from the Lincoln base :
First lift ride:
Matt loving being out skiing as always - I don't know many folks who like being on skis more :
Me up near the peak somewhere :
The views from the peak were sort of not there on this day :
Loved the sign at Castlerock, even though it was closed. You can buy it on a T-shirt :
Frosted trees near the top... I took a bunch of these. It just feels like winter :
The next day, Saturday, we decided to spend on the Mount Ellen side (the Slidebrook chair between them wasn't open). We started out with some sunshine! A couple of lifts were on wind hold though, but they did open later in the day. We started on Inverness where they were also holding some races (tweens or teens it looked like). We watched a few of the racers later, and some of them could really rip. Impressive to see.
We spent quite a bit of time around the top, and found some decent runs. Conditions were what you'd expect, but it was still lots of fun. We finally found some liftlines in the late morning - maybe 5 minutes or a bit more, the biggest lines I've waited in this year. Between that and a crowded cafeteria, I realized again why I like Fridays more. Just under 20K vert. on Saturday, and we were done in time to watch the Kitzbuhel downhill in the bar.
Morning sunshine, though it wouldn't stick around :
Matt starting another successful ski day :
Me at Mount Ellen :
Another lift ride in the sun :
My view of my skis - and stickers :
Views from the top :
Racers :
Later in the day, there was still some sun, but not on the mountain :
I was talking to Matt before lunch about whether or not folks seemed to be leaving skis off the racks more, when we came upon this after lunch (with Matt lamenting it just above the sign) :
My ski tracks from both days :
@Matt Smith was also around for the weekend, so we spent two days skiing everything that was open, and had a great time. I'd never been to Sugarbush before, so everything was new. With the r$&n the previous weekend, some of the runs were closed (including everything in Castlerock), and conditions were typically icy and scrapey. But if it wasn't good, it was "good for me" snow at least.
We got to Sugarbush around 8:30 on Friday... I love skiing on Fridays... it extends the weekend, and avoids crowds. And this was no different. Here was the bootup area when we got there :
Busy, right? The slopes were likewise pretty empty - no lift lines to speak of. We stayed on the Lincoln Peak side all day. It was a bit overcast but we had hopes the sun would show up... it never did. The top was a bit foggy, but never got really low vis. The runs were generally in good shape, though got more scraped off throughout the day. Anywhere you could see grey cat tracks was sure to be icy ("visible cat tracks" should be added to the "How to Spot Ice" thread!), but you kind of got used to it after a while. All in all it was a beautiful day, and we got in a bit over 20K vertical, with a lot of fun runs, before retiring to the bar.
Views from the Lincoln base :
First lift ride:
Matt loving being out skiing as always - I don't know many folks who like being on skis more :
Me up near the peak somewhere :
The views from the peak were sort of not there on this day :
Loved the sign at Castlerock, even though it was closed. You can buy it on a T-shirt :
Frosted trees near the top... I took a bunch of these. It just feels like winter :
The next day, Saturday, we decided to spend on the Mount Ellen side (the Slidebrook chair between them wasn't open). We started out with some sunshine! A couple of lifts were on wind hold though, but they did open later in the day. We started on Inverness where they were also holding some races (tweens or teens it looked like). We watched a few of the racers later, and some of them could really rip. Impressive to see.
We spent quite a bit of time around the top, and found some decent runs. Conditions were what you'd expect, but it was still lots of fun. We finally found some liftlines in the late morning - maybe 5 minutes or a bit more, the biggest lines I've waited in this year. Between that and a crowded cafeteria, I realized again why I like Fridays more. Just under 20K vert. on Saturday, and we were done in time to watch the Kitzbuhel downhill in the bar.
Morning sunshine, though it wouldn't stick around :
Matt starting another successful ski day :
Me at Mount Ellen :
Another lift ride in the sun :
My view of my skis - and stickers :
Views from the top :
Racers :
Later in the day, there was still some sun, but not on the mountain :
I was talking to Matt before lunch about whether or not folks seemed to be leaving skis off the racks more, when we came upon this after lunch (with Matt lamenting it just above the sign) :
My ski tracks from both days :
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