# Sugarbush 3/8-3/10/20



## Zand (Mar 8, 2020)

Arrived at South around noon on a beautiful sunny day and parked in a lot I never knew existed. However it was a beautiful day for a ride in the "jitney" and upon arriving at the base I saw lines were very short.

Unfortunately things weren't as soft as I hoped unless you skied stuff in direct sun. Started with Spring Fling which was very scratchy. Moved over to Eden which was also very slick and quite thin as well...surprised at all the crap areas after skiing terrific coverage at Killington 6 days ago. I thought Killington being 30 inches ahead of Sugarbush in the snow reports was just bad measurement but I guess it's for real.

Headed up Gatehouse for some North Lynx laps in the sun. Actually a small line at a chair I usually have to myself. Did one run on each trail. Sunrise had nice bumps for most of it, the best of the three. Morning Star was extremely thin with lots of bare spots but fun bump lines. Birch Run was groomed last night so by 1:30 it was widely spaced corn bumps and lots of people who should've stayed on Gatehouse.

Headed down to Castlerock and found a 10 minute line or so. First run down Middle Earth was actually decent...kept it in the sun by hugging skiers left. Slick in the shade but not terrible. Castlerock Run was similar, maybe even slightly better.

Took Bypass over to Heaven's Gate and it was evident just skiing the bottom that it was a lot more icy over there. At the top Paradise was roped shortly after 3 so I took a groomed Ripcord. The left side had some loose snow and there were scattered powder bumps, but it was very scraped otherwise.

Went back to Castlerock for one more run down CR. Roped at Troll Road and Cotillion was rock solid so took the weenie route to the bottom.

Looks warmer tomorrow so hopefully the stuff that doesnt get direct sun softens up. May head up to MRG for a couple hours in the afternoon as after 2:00 tickets are $35. Hopefully the rain holds off for a bit Tuesday.


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## bdfreetuna (Mar 9, 2020)

Hows the base up in those trees?


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## Zand (Mar 9, 2020)

3/9

Started at 9:15 with a run down the frozen cord of Birdland to lower Organgrinder. Moved over to Gatehouse and skied the already softening groomers, while a dip down Sleeper Chutes showed that the sun hasn't gotten to the bumps yet.

Hopped the Slide Brook right at 10 to see if the north facing stuff was frozen over and it was actually decent. North Ridge was down which meant awkwardly lapping top to bottom but groomed runs were nice PP up high and soft down low. Black Diamond and Exterminator were more than doable. Sure they were slick but just enough snow from the weekend and enough softening today to make them okay.

At 11:15 I figured the sun was fully baking South so I headed back to Castlerock. Simply put, it was off the hook. Rumble and Liftline were terrific. Thin in spots down low and I'm not sure how long the bottom by the lift is going to make it, but some sweet skiing. The one drawback is the warm snow was really killing any chances of making it down the run out without pushing a lot.

At 12:30 I decided to head over to MRG, grab lunch and then ski 2-4 for $35. They had a decent crowd today and temps were pushing 60 by then. First run down Chute to Liftline was full of nice soft bumps in the sun. Hit Paradise next which was out of the sun and hardened up, but edgeable. Thin in spots and ice flows everywhere, but still so much fun. Went across onto Canyon which had amazing sun baked bumps. 3rd run was a big bumped Cat Bowl to Lynx/Beaver which were sweet. Fall Line was next which was similar to Paradise although Creamery had softer bumps. Finished up with Chute to Glade. Chute was out of the sun by then, but Glade was still soft and still has a ton of snow.

Hoping to get a few hours in tomorrow before the rain. No idea what to expect conditions wise...will be warm but cloudy so not sure how the snow will respond or what part of the hill will be the best.


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## Zand (Mar 9, 2020)

bdfreetuna said:


> Hows the base up in those trees?



Honestly the only trees I've skied this trip was Eden and it was bad. Real thin, probably nothing left after tomorrow. Better coverage by Steins where it faces more north. Upper mountain and Ellen looked fine. Not sure Castlerock Chair will make it past tomorrow.


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## Zand (Mar 10, 2020)

Woke up feeling pretty beat from yesterday, so kind of took my time getting dressed and the car packed up. Finally went up at 10 with temps in the 50s already and cloudy skies. Was amazed at how much snow they lost overnight...Birdland and Sunrise were showing huge bare spots where they were totally covered yesterday. Started with a run down a soft corny Downspout to Heaven's Gate. As I got to around tower 11, the lift stopped for a good 3-4 minutes. The wind was really whipping and it also started raining. Finally got started back up and I was getting off they were clearly on the phone in the lift shack which I assumed meant it was going on wind hold. Therefore, had to get my Paradise run in. Mostly nice soft bumps for the entirety of it other than a couple swaths of dirt or ice flow.

With the rain continuing to fall off and on I decided to take advantage of an empty Castlerock for a little bit. Would be surprised if that chair opens after today, coverage is quickly disappearing down low and lots of bare spots opening up higher up. Started with Middle Earth which had beautiful soft bumps and a huge ugly spot on the straight shot. The trail back to the chair where the sharp corner is was literally about 18" wide and gravel otherwise. They had some shovels there to fill it in. Hit Rumble next...mens tee was closed but coverage was decent below that. Much stickier down low with very little traffic to ski the snow in. Cotillion to the bottom had fun bumps. Next run the rain started to pick up so decided to do one more and call it quits. Took Castlerock Run which had real fun bumps up high, then got real ugly further down. Hit Bailout as I got real sick of the slog out of the lower runout the last couple days. Nice cruise down lower Downspout to the bottom in the rain.

Intended on checking out more Valley House stuff today...Stein's and the Mall must've been a blast. No idea how coverage is on Twist and Moonshine but unfortunately just didn't have it in me to ski in the rain. Real bummer getting weather like this with no refresh in sight.


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