# Sugarloaf 4/19/11



## BackLoafRiver (Apr 19, 2011)

An amazing day today at Sugarloaf.  They are operating under "spring conditions operations" which, essentially, means only Spillway (long side), The Superquad, and Timberline (conditions dependent) were running.  King Pine and Whiffletree were a no go. They are rumored to spin again on Friday.

Got on the lift at 8:30 and did the usual warm-up stuff.  They picked up 2 - 3" in the past couple of days.  Skidder, Comp Hill, and Kings looked like they had been left ungroomed for 2 days.  Skidder and Comp were roped off so I headed straight for Kings landing on my second run. Huge mistake.  Needed about 5 hours before it would be enjoyable. (I came back to it later for some of the best turns of the day)

Almost everything ungroomed was roped off until around 2:00.  

The groomers were their usual selves. Gondi was in spectacular shape.  Almost run of the day material.  Since it was one of two advanced trails open, it got the most traffic from 9 - 1.  Hayburner didn't see quite so much and skied exceptionally well.

Around 11:30, lift ops started pulling the chairs off Spillway west.  As I rode up the lift with a long time Sugarloafer, we commented that it was bittersweet to see it taken down today.

Sugarloaf is still buried although, some stuff is showing signs of being game-over. For instance, Binder from the top was out of commission and I would be amazed to see it open again this year.  Cinder Hoe from the top was dicey at best.  Skiers right was all rock but you could negotiate a little patch of snow to get to the good stuff.  Even Timberline was showing exposed rock in several places.  

Double Bitter stayed roped off all day as did Scoot.  They did drop the rope on Glancer around noon and it was surprisingly soft and delicious. (I think I was the second person down after the ropes fell)

All in all, spectacular day.  Looking forward to Friday!!!!  Now, for a few pics:

Gondi:






Looking up:





From Tote Extension: (SkiMaine, this was the woman who was pissy with us last weekend)















Here you can see the chairs being loaded on the back of the groomer:


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## wa-loaf (Apr 19, 2011)

BackLoafRiver said:


>



:sad:


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## speden (Apr 19, 2011)

Looks pretty sweet with no one on the trails.  Hope it wasn't as windy as it was on Saturday.

I think the new Spillway lift is going to be a really nice upgrade.  Hopefully everything goes smoothly putting it in.


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## BackLoafRiver (Apr 19, 2011)

speden said:


> Looks pretty sweet with no one on the trails.  Hope it wasn't as windy as it was on Saturday.



Not only was it a ghost town but winds were a non-factor. Truly awesome day.


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## TheBEast (Apr 19, 2011)

Coverage looks out of this world for April 19th!!


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## BackLoafRiver (Apr 20, 2011)

TheBEast said:


> Coverage looks out of this world for April 19th!!



Agreed.  I can only imagine how King Pine is looking after days of being left alone.


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## Nick (Apr 20, 2011)

Wow looks awesome, I wish I were there. Great pics!


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## Vortex (Apr 20, 2011)

Helps confirm my decision to be here Friday.


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## snowmonster (Apr 20, 2011)

I hear there's a chace of snow at the Loaf today up to Thursday. Wow!


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## polski (Apr 20, 2011)

BackLoafRiver said:


> An amazing day today at Sugarloaf.



Couple questions - how warm did it get, and any thoughts on best source of weather forecast for the mountain? I'm all but certain to be there Friday with my boys; the only thing that gives me any pause whatsoever is the latest NWS forecast bumped high temps down to the low 40s for Kingfield (other forecasts vary a little). I'm figuring on maybe 10 degrees colder at the summit which could mean highs around or barely above freezing, but it's supposed to be sunny all day so with solar gain I'm thinking surfaces should soften even higher up (dependent on exposure) as the day progresses. Appreciate any thoughts ...


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## Angus (Apr 20, 2011)

I was looking at the webcam today and it was snowing at the base with the upper portions of the mtn. socked in.


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## BackLoafRiver (Apr 21, 2011)

polski said:


> Couple questions - how warm did it get



It was nice. Probably mid-40's by noon. It was definitely nice enough to ski in my softshell and not worry about the temp.



polski said:


> any thoughts on best source of weather forecast for the mountain?



I use multiple sites, noaa, weather underground, and snowforecast have been the favorites.  (Truthfully, I rely mainly on Snowforecast all winter long)  They are calling for temps in the 40's tomorrow which should be prime.

The webcam is showing snow right now. (and lots of it) Tomorrow could quite possibly be amazing.


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## polski (Apr 21, 2011)

BackLoafRiver said:


> I use multiple sites, noaa, weather underground, and snowforecast have been the favorites.  (Truthfully, I rely mainly on Snowforecast all winter long)  They are calling for temps in the 40's tomorrow which should be prime.


Thanks, very helpful - even if it supports my suspicion that the top (snowfields) might not get above freezing tomorrow even in the afternoon. C'mon, solar gain ...


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