# Sugar Bush, Mt Ellen - 2/10/2010



## Grassi21 (Feb 10, 2010)

Not sure why...  but we got a late start this morning.  2knees and I were booted up by around 11 I think.  Flurries all day, visibility at the peak was rough at times.  The surface was nice just about every where.  Some of the steeper bumped up trails looking kinda gnarly.  2knees hit a few of the gnarlier trails while I cruised an adjacent trail.  Bumps and snow were real nice on the Cliffs and Bravo.  We cruised around a bit but ended up lapping those liftline bumps after lunch.  2knees highly recommends the chili.  Bumped into Bush Mogul Master.  Good to see him.  We wrapped kinda early due to sore legs and a healthy hangover.  Just lazing around the Golden Lion before grabbing some grub tonight.  Reinforcements are arriving tonight to kick up the partying.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

Glad you guys enjoyed it.  Sorry we never actually crossed paths on the mountain for a few runs, but it was good to see you there.

Cliffs was absolutely off the hook today.  Especially the bottom 2/3 of the trail.  Unbelievable.  Bravo and Encore were both great as well.  Tumbler was also very nice, but needs a little traffic.  Still some bones sticking out as well.  Exterminator, unfortunately, is not skiing well.  It's hard and scratchy, with some ledge showing.  It need snow.  Everything else is nice, though.

Did you ski "Joe's Cruiser," Grassi?  I spent an entire grooming shift pushing whales out and trying to cover some rough spots on skiers' right.  Looked like it came out pretty nice, just curious how you thought it skied.


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## marcski (Feb 10, 2010)

Grassi21 said:


> Not sure why...  but we got a late start this morning.  2knees and I were booted up by around 11 I think.  Flurries all day, visibility at the peak was rough at times.  The surface was nice just about every where.  Some of the steeper bumped up trails looking kinda gnarly.  2knees hit a few of the gnarlier trails while I cruised an adjacent trail.  Bumps and snow were real nice on the Cliffs and Bravo.  We cruised around a bit but ended up lapping those liftline bumps after lunch.  2knees highly recommends the chili.  Bumped into Bush Mogul Master.  Good to see him.  We wrapped kinda early due to sore legs and a healthy hangover.  Just lazing around the Golden Lion before grabbing some grub tonight.  Reinforcements are arriving tonight to kick up the partying.



Nice, I might be hitting the Bush on Saturday.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

BTW, how did our bumps compare to Killington????????


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## 2knees (Feb 10, 2010)

i was shocked how good the bumps were under the north ridge chair.  bravo had some hairy spots but the rest was just super soft with awesome natural lines.  i would highly recommend ellen to anyone.  hit bravo woods and went way off the beaten path.  tons of deep in there but i got in a little over my head.

great day, albeit short.  was looking for you bmm but never got synched up.


later fooooos


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## Grassi21 (Feb 10, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Glad you guys enjoyed it.  Sorry we never actually crossed paths on the mountain for a few runs, but it was good to see you there.
> 
> Cliffs was absolutely off the hook today.  Especially the bottom 2/3 of the trail.  Unbelievable.  Bravo and Encore were both great as well.  Tumbler was also very nice, but needs a little traffic.  Still some bones sticking out as well.  Exterminator, unfortunately, is not skiing well.  It's hard and scratchy, with some ledge showing.  It need snow.  Everything else is nice, though.
> 
> Did you ski "Joe's Cruiser," Grassi?  I spent an entire grooming shift pushing whales out and trying to cover some rough spots on skiers' right.  Looked like it came out pretty nice, just curious how you thought it skied.



I did cruise down Joe's.  Thumbs up from me.  I didn't notice any rough spots.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

Grassi21 said:


> I did cruise down Joe's.  Thumbs up from me.  I didn't notice any rough spots.



Cool... that's what I wanted to hear!


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## thetrailboss (Feb 10, 2010)

Bravo skied well on Saturday, but I did not venture down Exterminator.  I agree with the assessment about Bravo Woods.  Some nice lines in there.  Glad you had a good day.  Did you guys ski FIS or Lower FIS?


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## riverc0il (Feb 10, 2010)

2knees said:


> i was shocked how good the bumps were under the north ridge chair.  bravo had some hairy spots but the rest was just super soft with awesome natural lines.  i would highly recommend ellen to anyone.  hit bravo woods and went way off the beaten path.  tons of deep in there but i got in a little over my head.
> 
> great day, albeit short.  was looking for you bmm but never got synched up.
> 
> ...


Sounds like conditions have improved a lot since last weekend. Good to hear!


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## thetrailboss (Feb 10, 2010)

riverc0il said:


> Sounds like conditions have improved a lot since last weekend. Good to hear!



I skied Saturday with Edd and was pleasantly surprised at how well the natural runs had filled in.  Lower FIS had some good snow on it.  Encore was the scratchiest, but by Encore standards it was not bad at all.  

Hope you guys liked the vibe at Mount Ellen.  It is pretty laid back...


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## hiroto (Feb 10, 2010)

Where would I find easier bumps at Sugarbush?   Spending the president week there and like to have my daughter try some bumps.   I remember bottom half of Morning Star was nice and easy last year.  Anywhere else you guys recommend?


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## o3jeff (Feb 10, 2010)

Where are the pics? Video?;-)


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## thetrailboss (Feb 10, 2010)

hiroto said:


> Where would I find easier bumps at Sugarbush?   Spending the president week there and like to have my daughter try some bumps.   I remember bottom half of Morning Star was nice and easy last year.  Anywhere else you guys recommend?



For low angle stuff, try Which Way.  Last weekend half of Elbow was kind of bumped up.  They let one side of Lookin Good bump up last season--not so much this season.  

Paging BMM....


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

hiroto said:


> Where would I find easier bumps at Sugarbush?   Spending the president week there and like to have my daughter try some bumps.   I remember bottom half of Morning Star was nice and easy last year.  Anywhere else you guys recommend?



Very nice low-angle moguls on Which Way.  It is also half groomed, so it's easy to bail out of the bumps if necessary.

We're leaving half of Lookin' Good ungroomed as well, so we'll see if that bumps up over the weekend.  That would be another good learning area if it does bump up.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

Hmmm, do I hear an echo? :wink:

Guess we were posting at the same time!


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> For low angle stuff, try Which Way.  Last weekend half of Elbow was kind of bumped up.  They let one side of Lookin Good bump up last season--not so much this season.
> 
> Paging BMM....



Elbow unfortunately did not bump up nicely.  It has been over-tilled, and the snow is worn out.  Even if we got 16" of natural, we wouldn't get nice bumps on that trail right now.  We groomed it last night, and it came out pretty good.

We haven't groomed skiers' left of Lookin' Good in a couple weeks, but it just doesn't want to bump up.  The natural snow we got last week was too light, and in general people just like to go kinda straight down it, so the skiers aren't making enough turns to form bumps.  Maybe this weekend.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 10, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Hmmm, do I hear an echo? :wink:
> 
> Guess we were posting at the same time!



Great minds think alike.  I will say that the effort to leave some of Elbow untouched was nice.  The skiing at Ellen has been consistently good despite the relatively low snow year we are having.  Everything above say the base of North Ridge has been good; everything off of the Summit Quad has been great.  Glad that you guys ironed out Walt's Way.  That is a nice alternative but man was it real shallow for most of the season and those waterbars were nassssssstttty.  

Hope that Brambles is open this weekend.


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## Edd (Feb 10, 2010)

Saturday was my first day at Mt Ellen.  I was too lazy to post a TR but TrailBoss was a great guide.  It was a nice Saturday with good conditions and I barely waited more than 3 chairs all day.  I loved Lower FIS, Bravo, the Bravo Woods, and I actually thought the ungroomed half of Elbow skied nicely.  I dug the vibe there; my kind of hill.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> Great minds think alike.  I will say that the effort to leave some of Elbow untouched was nice.  The skiing at Ellen has been consistently good despite the relatively low snow year we are having.



It all comes down to snow management.  The right decisions are being made (for the most part :wink: ).  It's only getting better.



> Glad that you guys ironed out Walt's Way.  That is a nice alternative but man was it real shallow for most of the season and those waterbars were nassssssstttty.
> 
> Hope that Brambles is open this weekend.



Yeah, those waterbars will probably get some summer attention this year.  But Walt's is definitely pretty nice now.  My colleague, Larry, did a really nice job on it last weekend with very little snow to work with.

Not sure whether Brambles will be open or not.  It depends on the GMVS race schedule.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 10, 2010)

Edd said:


> I actually thought the ungroomed half of Elbow skied nicely.  I dug the vibe there; my kind of hill.



Unfortunately, the wind got the better of the entire trail.  The bumps were too widely spaced to catch snow and fill it in, so it got extremely hard.  To be honest, I'm actually the one who suggested it be groomed.  And I rarely suggest that anything with any bumps should be groomed!  So that should be enough proof that it was really not in good shape.  That trail is a great bump run under the right conditions, but now isn't the time.

Glad you liked it at Ellen.  I'm more than happy to call it "home."


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## Grassi21 (Feb 10, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> For low angle stuff, try Which Way.  Last weekend half of Elbow was kind of bumped up.  They let one side of Lookin Good bump up last season--not so much this season.
> 
> Paging BMM....





BushMogulMaster said:


> Very nice low-angle moguls on Which Way.  It is also half groomed, so it's easy to bail out of the bumps if necessary.
> 
> We're leaving half of Lookin' Good ungroomed as well, so we'll see if that bumps up over the weekend.  That would be another good learning area if it does bump up.



Which Way for sure.  To bad I found those bumps on my last run.  Nice low angle for a gaper like me to rip.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 10, 2010)

madskier in the house.  looks like mrg tomorrow.


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## madriverjack (Feb 11, 2010)

Could you guys let me know how chute to canyon is at MRG?


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## Grassi21 (Feb 11, 2010)

madriverjack said:


> Could you guys let me know how chute to canyon is at MRG?



when are you aiming to hit mrg?  i might not be able to post something up until this evening.


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## madriverjack (Feb 11, 2010)

Maybe Saturday?


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## Grassi21 (Feb 11, 2010)

madriverjack said:


> Maybe Saturday?



cool.  so if i forget to post something up tonight PM me for a report.


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## ts01 (Feb 11, 2010)

This report reminded me of the "let the bumps be bumps" policy I read about but never got to sample at Mt. Ellen last year.  Same deal this year?


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 11, 2010)

ts01 said:


> This report reminded me of the "let the bumps be bumps" policy I read about but never got to sample at Mt. Ellen last year.  Same deal this year?



Same deal.  Lots of bumps.  Good bumps.  The bumps don't get groomed! (<-- barring unusually horrible circumstances, which fortunately we have not had in the past two seasons!).


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## ts01 (Feb 12, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Same deal.  Lots of bumps.  Good bumps.  The bumps don't get groomed! (<-- barring unusually horrible circumstances, which fortunately we have not had in the past two seasons!).



Cool - sign me up! Hope to be there Sunday and a maybe a midweek day.   Fair to assume crowds will be smaller at Mt. Ellen this Sunday than MRG?  I figure it's better to save MRG days for midweek during Prez week, could be major backup on the single chair.  

Another Sugarbush Q since you people know things: Slidebrook - can you ski in from Ellen or do you have to come in from Lincoln?   And either way hows the cover? I know no major dumps lately but still, frequent small snows and cold temps are encouraging.


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## WWF-VT (Feb 12, 2010)

ts01 said:


> Another Sugarbush Q since you people know things: Slidebrook - can you ski in from Ellen or do you have to come in from Lincoln?   And either way hows the cover? I know no major dumps lately but still, frequent small snows and cold temps are encouraging.



Slidebrook - can get in from Lincoln Peak or Mt Ellen. I would not take a trip until there is significant new snowfall.


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## hiroto (Feb 12, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Very nice low-angle moguls on Which Way.  It is also half groomed, so it's easy to bail out of the bumps if necessary.
> 
> We're leaving half of Lookin' Good ungroomed as well, so we'll see if that bumps up over the weekend.  That would be another good learning area if it does bump up.



Thanks you for all the suggestions.  I'll definitely check it out.  Hopefully we'll get a dump toward the end of next week.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 12, 2010)

ts01 said:


> Cool - sign me up! Hope to be there Sunday and a maybe a midweek day.   Fair to assume crowds will be smaller at Mt. Ellen this Sunday than MRG?  I figure it's better to save MRG days for midweek during Prez week, could be major backup on the single chair.



We'll very likely have more skiers at Ellen than Mad River, but they'll spread out much better and lift lines will be shorter.  The low capacity single and doubles over there can't keep up with our network of quads.  Not saying that as a :uzi: toward MRG... I love the place.  But I can't stand the lines at the single!


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> We'll very likely have more skiers at Ellen than Mad River, but they'll spread out much better and lift lines will be shorter.  The low capacity single and doubles over there can't keep up with our network of quads.  Not saying that as a :uzi: toward MRG... I love the place.  But I can't stand the lines at the single!



I'd rather have the line at the bottom than the added congestion on the trails... 

Not to say that Ellen is crowded on the slopes (I wouldn't know), I just like the uphill capacity to downhill capacity ratio at MRG. 

Then again; most times I've skied MRG there hasn't been much, or any, wait.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 12, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I'd rather have the line at the bottom than the added congestion on the trails...
> 
> Not to say that Ellen is crowded on the slopes (I wouldn't know), I just like the uphill capacity to downhill capacity ratio at MRG.
> 
> Then again; most times I've skied MRG there hasn't been much, or any, wait.



Ellen spreads the traffic out very nicely.  It has to be a REALLY busy day for it to feel crowded.

You must not have ever been at MRG on a holiday weekend!  The line for the Single can be treacherous.  Seriously.  It's the place to go mid-week.  Great vibe, not much skier traffic, etc.  But busy days, not fun IMO.


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Ellen spreads the traffic out very nicely.  It has to be a REALLY busy day for it to feel crowded.
> 
> You must not have ever been at MRG on a holiday weekend!  The line for the Single can be treacherous.  Seriously.  It's the place to go mid-week.  Great vibe, not much skier traffic, etc.  But busy days, not fun IMO.



I would never go there on a holiday weekend.  I never go anywhere on holiday weekends, or most any weekends for that matter.  I much prefer taking days off from my desk job and going mid-week.  Weekends are for working my fun job, and skiing at the institution.


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## ts01 (Feb 12, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback on this - wish I could pick my days but the days pick me so it's Ellen on Sunday  then MRG midweek.


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## BushMogulMaster (Feb 12, 2010)

That'll be best anyway, I think.  Ellen will be busy, but the liftlines will move quickly.  And you'll enjoy MRG more during the week.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 14, 2010)

BushMogulMaster said:


> Ellen spreads the traffic out very nicely.  It has to be a REALLY busy day for it to feel crowded.
> 
> You must not have ever been at MRG on a holiday weekend!  The line for the Single can be treacherous.  Seriously.  It's the place to go mid-week.  Great vibe, not much skier traffic, etc.  But busy days, not fun IMO.



+ 1.  Ellen, though set up for more skiers, does not have them.  Folks stick to LP.  MRG on the other hand is notorious for long lines on busy holidays and week periods.  Yesterday at ME, it was busy and I was still able to ski on and ski off all day.


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## 2knees (Feb 17, 2010)

Bravo woods, off the luge run.  the only photo i took.


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