# Sugarloaf - Brackett Basin - 4/3/2011



## snowmonster (Apr 4, 2011)

*Date(s) Skied: *4/3/2011

*Resort or Ski Area: *Sugarloaf

*Conditions: *One foot of snow fell 2 days before and Timberline and King Pine lifts were windheld the day before (and today). Temps between 20 and 31 degrees. High winds at the summit. 

*Trip Report: *I just had to make up for my absence at the AZ summit the week before and hit Brackett Basin before the season was out. The day before, I skied at Sunday River and mined the one-foot of fresh snow that SR received (Aside: first tracks in Blind Ambition were unbelievable.). On Sunday, I headed for the Loaf just to ski in Brackett Basin. I stuck to that plan and didn't bother with the snowfields (accessed by a cat) or the other trails. 

I got to the Loaf at around 1030 and both the King Pine and Timberline chairs were shut due to windhold. The Superquad had a very long line and I took that, headed down Narrow Gauge (great conditions) to the T-bar and cut across the mountain along the goat path until it connected to the Spillway cross cut. I took that until the intersection with Hard Tack then dipped past some trees (nice windblown powder) and into the trail into Brackett Basin. Because I didn't want to ski into Cant Dog, I continued on the traverse until I got to the ski boundary sign. I jumped into the glade and it was amazing. 

The glade changed character as you went down. From really wide and mellow to tight and steep. There were lots of lines in there and an afternoon would not be enough. The snow was deep enough though cut up and bumpy in some parts. There were saplings sticking out to trip the unwary though (I had to help out a kid who snagged a ski and lost her gear as she slid down). The snow quality was amazing since it was soft and deep in spots. The run emptied out into a well-spaced low angle birch glade where I cut back to the windheld King Pine chair. I descended to the Whiffletree quad, took the Lombard crosscut to Spillway East then the Spillway cross cut to Brackett Basin. I repeated this about 6 times and tried to squeeze in as many runs as I can. The glades are named Birler, Edger and Sweeper. I didn't see the signs because I probably dropped in below them but it didn't matter. I tried to drop in at different points along the crosscut to sample different variations. There was one variation near the boundary where it was so tight, I was virtually bushwacking. Lots of snow in there. I would recommend hitting it before the season's out.

Side note: I never met so many interesting lift mates. From an 80+ year old who first skied the Loaf in 1947 (before the resort when they had to hike in from Route 27) to a 12 year old swimmer training for the Olympics. Then, there was the 7-year old who insisted on following me into Brackett despite my telling him that he shoudn't. He would hang back then, when I wasn't looking, follow me. It was unnerving knowing that I was somehow responsible for the kid so I watched out for him. He was an excellent skier though!

Brackett Basin made me love the Loaf even more!

You've been warned:










Near the boundary (perhaps, Sweeper):













From the entrance nearer Cant Dog (I guess this is Birler):









Can't wait for the expansion to Burnt Mountain. There's some glades in there already!





Beware The Cliff:





The middle glade (perhaps, Edger):


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## Edd (Apr 4, 2011)

Gawd, what a great report!  Can't wait to hit that..


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## roark (Apr 4, 2011)

Nice, can't wait for the expansion either . 



snowmonster said:


> From the entrance nearer Cant Dog (I guess this is Birler):



Nope, birlier is a bit of a hike from Cant Dog, down a short rabbit hole and up quite a few 10-15 ft. sidestep climbs. At least a 10 min. traverse from the Cant Dog entrance. Doesn't join back to the main Cant Dog line until you're nearly at King Pine. I'd say you're likely still in Cant Dog there, just expanded from years past.








> There were saplings sticking out to trip the unwary though (I had to help out a kid who snagged a ski and lost her gear as she slid down).



This brings up my major complaint about the area (even including parts of Cant Dog) - stumps galore! Given the snow depth there's no excuse, some serious clean up needs to be done.


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## snowmonster (Apr 4, 2011)

Edd said:


> Gawd, what a great report!  Can't wait to hit that..


It's as good as advertised. Go hit it!



roark said:


> Nope, birlier is a bit of a hike from Cant Dog, down a short rabbit hole and up quite a few 10-15 ft. sidestep climbs. At least a 10 min. traverse from the Cant Dog entrance. Doesn't join back to the main Cant Dog line until you're nearly at King Pine. I'd say you're likely still in Cant Dog there, just expanded from years past.
> 
> This brings up my major complaint about the area (even including parts of Cant Dog) - stumps galore! Given the snow depth there's no excuse, some serious clean up needs to be done.


I could've used a guide then. I didn't want to keep hiking and end up being "that guy" that needs to be rescued from somewhere in the back.

The need for clean up is the problem with new glades. I got tripped up badly at Casablanca last year by stumps. There was actually a patroler doing some stump work just before I took my header. I'm pretty sure Brackett will get better and mellow out with time. Be safe out there.


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## roark (Apr 4, 2011)

snowmonster said:


> I could've used a guide then. I didn't want to keep hiking and end up being "that guy" that needs to be rescued from somewhere in the back.



I hit it late on Sat during the AZ weekend. I was definitely taking the next left when I hit Birler, for the same reason!


snowmonster said:


> The need for clean up is the problem with new glades. I got tripped up badly at Casablanca last year by stumps. There was actually a patroler doing some stump work just before I took my header. I'm pretty sure Brackett will get better and mellow out with time. Be safe out there.



Funny, I almost posted a comparison with Casablanca (where I hit NOTHING) the day prior


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## TheBEast (Apr 4, 2011)

Outstanding.....oh how I wish the Loaf wasn't an 8 hour drive away.....


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## snowmonster (Apr 5, 2011)

^ 8 hours? I'm assuming you meant round trip, right? Where in MA do you live?


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## thetrailboss (Apr 5, 2011)

I love how the warning sign makes it clear that there is no grooming in the glades!  :lol:


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## wa-loaf (Apr 5, 2011)

TheBEast said:


> Outstanding.....oh how I wish the Loaf wasn't an 8 hour drive away.....





snowmonster said:


> ^ 8 hours? I'm assuming you meant round trip, right? Where in MA do you live?



Yeah, maybe 6 from western MA. Def not 8, that's the drive from NYC.

Way to get some Snowmonster!


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## TheBEast (Apr 5, 2011)

snowmonster said:


> ^ 8 hours? I'm assuming you meant round trip, right? Where in MA do you live?



Okay 6 hours but that's without traffic or any stops.  Either way it's a hall for anything less than 3 days.  2 little ones at home don't give me the kind of free time for that length of a trip at least at this stage of the game of life.


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## marcski (Apr 5, 2011)

Tack on at least another 3 hours round trip for me down in the northern NYC burbs!  Looks beautiful though.  What is the vertical of those glades, Birlier, Can't Dog and Bracket Basin as a whole?


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## from_the_NEK (Apr 5, 2011)

marcski said:


> Tack on at least another 3 hours round trip for me down in the northern NYC burbs!  Looks beautiful though.  What is the vertical of those glades, Birlier, Can't Dog and Bracket Basin as a whole?



I believe the current set of open glades is somewhere around 1000'-1100' of vert. Once they get to the top of Burnt Mtn, they should have some runs of at least 1500'.


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## bigbog (Apr 5, 2011)

TheBEast said:


> Okay 6 hours but that's without traffic or any stops.  Either way it's a hall for anything less than 3 days.  2 little ones at home don't give me the kind of free time for that length of a trip at least at this stage of the game of life.



More like 7+hrs...quite the haul just to get out skiing.  ...and state gov't people laugh when anything other than Portland to Boston by highspeed rail is talked about.


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