# Sugarbush - 12/12/08



## Greg (Dec 12, 2008)

*Date(s) Skied: *Friday, 12/12/08

*Resort or Ski Area: *Sugarbush, Vermont

*Conditions: *8-ish inches of new snow with a breakable crust. Freezing mist to start, then snow showers, then clouds and a small bit of sun. Cool and breezy.

*Trip Report: *Got to the Golden Lion with Grassi and Brian around 11:30. A bit over 5 hour drive, not bad considering the weather. Wet roads until Greenfield, MA, then sleet, then freezing rain. Didn't seem much snow until we got up 89 a bit.

Woke up to around 8 inches of snow. Didn't notice the crust until I went out to the car. Doh! Got to the mountain about 20 of and booted up. We learned Bravo was down due to icing. As soon as we got out we noticed everyone heading up to Valley House. Saw a few boarders hit Mall on the ride up and it was obvious the crust was pretty brutal. Took the traverse to Heaven's Gate and then we all struggled down Jester. Further down on Downspout we found some decent snow where the crust had been busted up.

We decided to hit the gatehouse lodge and wait it out for the human groomers to due their thing. I ended up eating breakfast and lunch about 30 minutes apart. I was fueled up with no plans to return to the base. We heard Heaven's Gate then went on windhold. They were working on Bravo a good part of the day (heard reefer took a ride on it), but it was mostly offline so it was just Valley House and Castlerock much of the day.

Rode up VH, took the traverse to CR. Did CR Run which was great by the time we got over there (close to noon). All broken up and nice snow. Grassi wasn't feeling it though so he headed down. Brian and I then did Middle Earth, Rumble, and CR Run again. Then hooked up with ALLSKIING and reefer and did CR Run again and then finished out CR on Rumble. Some waiting at the CR chair which slowed the pace a bit. I still feel like I got my fill and had a very satisfying day. Bad start, great finish. All the trails skied pretty damn good. Lots of fun, but there are a lot of water bars showing up. Be careful. Solid base down and the snow bonded well.

We were able to score a final run down the Mall. We were the last few chairs so Brian, Dave, Keith and I had it to ourselves. Perfect powder bumps. I was loving this run and a great way to finish out the day. Long drive back, but no issues. Thanks for the great company guys. I'll have a little vid in a few.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 12, 2008)

I like safety...


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## Greg (Dec 12, 2008)

*Video*

Nothing too impressive, but it'll give you the idea:



Gonna finish chugging this beer, then off to bed!


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## BushMogulMaster (Dec 13, 2008)

Dude.  I was there today.  I wish I knew you were on the hill.......

Oh well.  Next time.


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## JD (Dec 13, 2008)

Sounds challenging.  Way to make the most of it.


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## o3jeff (Dec 13, 2008)

Glad you made the best of it. Definitely looked like you had to stay alert or it would be all over.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 13, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Glad you made the best of it. Definitely looked like you had to stay alert or it would be all over.



I was quite alert.  I wanted to make sure Brian and Greg were safe.  So periodically I would take a spill to break up the crust and see what the surface conditions were like under said crust.  The most frustrating part of falling so many times on the first run was that I would end up in a pile of powder that was covered in the crust I just busted through.


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## Greg (Dec 13, 2008)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Dude.  I was there today.  I wish I knew you were on the hill.......
> 
> Oh well.  Next time.



Indeed. Next time. It didn't occur to me to PM you to see if you were skiing.



JD said:


> Sounds challenging.  Way to make the most of it.



Challenging is fun! I love picking my way through thin cover. Actually, the cover was pretty good.



o3jeff said:


> Glad you made the best of it. Definitely looked like you had to stay alert or it would be all over.



Once the crust broke up, it was fine. Just a little rough the first few hours.


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## o3jeff (Dec 13, 2008)

Way to be a team player Grassi!:-D


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## bvibert (Dec 13, 2008)

Great day!  It wasn't the pow day we were expecting, but once that crust got broken up the snow was actually really good.  All of us struggled a bit on that first run, but everyone was skiing well after that.  Good cover for the most part, though rumble had a bunch of rocks starting to poke through.  I kinda wish we had a chance to hit liftline, but we ran out of time.

I felt like I skied well most of the day despite a couple of double ejections, including a slightly embarrassing one on a water bar in front of an audience.   I was getting a bit sloppy the last few runs due to worn out legs, but it was all good.  A very satisfying day!

Thanks for putting the video up Greg, it doesn't do the conditions justice though.


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## BLESS (Dec 13, 2008)

the falls were the best part of video.  no offense.


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## bvibert (Dec 13, 2008)

BLESS said:


> the falls were the best part of video.  no offense.



Yeah, ALLSKIING and Reefer were nice enough to add some bonus entertainment value...


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## ALLSKIING (Dec 13, 2008)

Great day yesterday......After seeing whats its like today just made yesterday even better. Thanks for the vid Greg!


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## reefer (Dec 14, 2008)

Glad I met up with you guys! Turned out great! Thanks for the vid. Had even a better day Saturday with my buddy Chris! He pushed me harder than I would have pushed myself after being beat up Friday..............More to come later. Must leave for Christmas Party.......................


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## bvibert (Dec 15, 2008)

Nice pictures reefer.  That's quite the motley looking crew in the third pic. :lol:


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## downhill04 (Dec 15, 2008)

Greg what skis were you on? They looked like they had a lot of flex.


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## bvibert (Dec 15, 2008)

downhill04 said:


> Greg what skis were you on? They looked like they had a lot of flex.



He was on his Dynastar Legends.


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## downhill04 (Dec 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> He was on his Dynastar Legends.



Is that what he was on the day we were at Killington?


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## Greg (Dec 16, 2008)

downhill04 said:


> Is that what he was on the day we were at Killington?



Yes. I wouldn't consider them overly soft....


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## downhill04 (Dec 16, 2008)

Greg said:


> Yes. I wouldn't consider them overly soft....



I just noticed one of your first few turns they seemed to flex quit a bit. It could also have been them trying to break through the crust you guys mentioned.


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