Sugarloaf 4-17-13

[Ride Delaware ?]

Sunday River closed midweek operations this past Sunday the 14th, so I decided to take the 1.5 hour trip north to take advantage of my New England Pass and the deep snow that Sugarloaf had gotten this season. I would not be disappointed.

 

I Woke up around 6:15, threw my gear in the Jeep, and went over to my friends place to pick them up about 6:55. The thermometer on my car read 47 degrees. They decided to cook some pancakes for breakfast, so we didn't get to our next pickup point until 7:45. By the time we got his gear situated, it was about 8:05. We stopped at the McDonalds in Rumford for some coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and an Orange Hi-C. Following an uneventful trip, and a pit stop just outside of the Sugarloaf access road, we arrived there somewhere around 9:45 to 42 degree temps. We booted up in the 3rd parking lot, and since we had just missed the shuttle, we decided to walk. I was surprised to see so many cars there on a Wednesday.

 

We hopped on our first chair at about 10:30. Normally I would consider this late since I try to get to the mountain when lifts open, but the first thing I noticed on the way up the SuperQuad, was the amount of ungroomed closed terrain with an iced glaze on top. Most of the open mountains have reduced their grooming budget, so this is no surprise. The sun was out and was only blocked by a few intermittent clouds, so I figured that it would soften up quickly. It was a little windy and chilly up top, and it was clear that it had gone below freezing up there. We headed to the right down to the Timberline lift, and headed up.

 

I don't have a Sugarloaf trail map, and I can't remember the trail names, so don't look for a ton of detail in that regards. We decided to take a cruiser top to bottom. Sugarloaf has a 2,500' + sustained vertical, so the cruisers there have good speed and pitch. I was amazed at how much snow is there. They have about as much snow as we had at SR 3 weeks ago. Amazing what an hour farther north will do for your snowpack. The trails that were groomed had seen enough sun that they were super soft, edgeable, and super creamy. They had a surprising amount of ice flows to dodge, but next to no bare spots, so it was pretty easy riding. On our way back up the quad, we noticed that patrol was opening some of the lower elevation ungroomed stuff, so we decided to hit that. It was a little firm on the top, but once it saw some traffic to break up the top layer, it was soft and sugary as well.

 

After a few laps on that lower mountain stuff, we headed to the Spillway quad and went to the top just below the true peak. We wanted to take Timberline, but it was on wind hold, and would remain so the rest of the day.

 

We talked to a patroller that told us that there was a groomed path to skiers right, but most of the trails off it were closed still because they hadn't softened up. We went that way, but they had closed the groomed trail so that they didn't have to close all the trails off of it. We ducked the rope and stayed on the groomed trail back to the Spillway. When we got to the top, patrol was just dropping that rope and we went that way again, this time hitting ungroomed terrain. We found a pretty narrow mogul run that had well shaped soft bumps. It may have been an old lift line, because it was straight as an arrow. That was a bunch of fun, and it didn't push my ankle too much. After lapping that 3 times, we decided we were ready for some lunch.

 

We headed down to the mid-mountain lodge which is on skiers left on the outside of the mountain, and the place was hopping. They had a grill and beer stand set up outside, and the deck was packed. We went inside to use our credit cards and go to Bullwinkle's Bistro, and it was packed to. The cafeteria was relatively dead. Come to find out, it is Maine's school vacation week, so they had a good turnout. After a Geary's H.S.A and a turkey club, both of which were delicious, and decently well priced for a mountain bistro, we headed out to lap the mountain some more. It was about 45 degrees mid-mountain, and by now everything was open.

 

We went up the SuperQuad again and hit several tree chutes off of some ungroomed trails. Coverage was pretty fantastic, but the chutes were tight. Afterward we hit several cut glades that were the ROTD for me. I don't know why, but nobody but my crew was in there. The snow was soft and forgiving, the trees well spaced, and coverage was practically midseason. I didn't see any bare spots until I got to the very bottom of the mountain. Our last run was a t2b run off Spillway down some moguls. It was getting challenging at the end of the day since the sun was dropping, and all the bumps in the shade started to harden up. It was pretty trivial overall, but it deserved to be noted nonetheless.

 

I was hoping to hit the new Brackett Basin, but it wasn't open early, and with only the lifts in the middle of the mountain open midweek, it was tough to get back to lifts after you exit. Overall, it was a fantastic day. It's tough to beat good snow, good temps, good food, and good friends. We left about 5 after a parking lot brew and pulled into home around 7 since we took the scenic route that loops around and goes by Saddleback. I am thinking of going back up on Friday if the weather conditions allow. If it weren't 1.5 hours away and I didn't have PT, I would be there every day. I think we arrived right at the right time too. If we had gotten there earlier, then nothing would have softened up and terrain would have really been limited. I'll have to remember that if I go Friday.

 

[moe ghoul]

Livin the dream, good to see you healed up quick for spring skiing. Maine is such a long f'in drive, even from my house in VT its about 4.5 hours.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Livin the dream, good to see you healed up quick for spring skiing. Maine is such a long f'in drive, even from my house in VT its about 4.5 hours.

 

SR is about 3 hours from the Bush. I don't think there is a more direct route to SL, so I'd imagine it still takes about 4.5 from there. With SB, Stowe, and K-Mart still running daily, there's no reason to go to Maine. Plus it sounds like you had a great last weekend/first season. I'll have to hit you up next season to try out Smuggs.

 

The healing has been slow but steady, but I got cleared two weeks ago to resume bump riding. I still have some PT to go to get rid of the weakness and impact pain, but hopefully the rest it will get over the next couple weeks will help.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Ride Delaware ?

[moe ghoul]

Sounds good, hopefully we'll have another good snowfall next year.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Sounds good, hopefully we'll have another good snowfall next year.

 

Sugarbush hit it's annual snowfall average, but I believe Smuggs and Stowe were both below theirs. Lets hope everybody hits them next season.

[Johnny Law]

Loaf still going strong. Nice work dude.

[PASKIINGSUCKS]

Awesome TR, love that place.

 

 

 

Sidenote: If any PASR people think they may get up there before they close this year I have two free lift ticket vouchers I could give away for free, hell I'll even pay for a stamp. Couldn't make it up this year and don't wanna see em go to waste. PM me if you want em.

Also I think those woods in the last few pics are the same as in my icon behind the rabbit ha.