Sugarbush

Just spent Monday-Tuesday & Wednesday in beautiful Sugarbush Vermont . Never
have I experienced 6-12 inches of ungroomed fresh powder in my life like
this . Tuesday & Wednesday it snowed all day long . Wasn't cold and just a
little windy & foggy on Wed.

Was kinda hard at 1st getting used to the powder . But after a little while
I was doing much better and it was cool skiing in snow so different than
what I was used to . Very unique mountain , very spread out layout & I found
most of the trials harder than most other mountains in Vermont . I liked it
a lot.

Last 2 or 3 years I have been going skiing a lot for me , last year about 18
days , this year 15 so far with at least 5 to go . Going myself I have been
practicing moguls a lot and improving a lot . Loads of off season and during
season conditioning and the combination of stronger legs and practice I'm
real close to getting the hang of the moguls . But my over all technique &
control has improved a lot with it . But I didn't notice it myself too much
as it happens gradually . But the past 3 days were sweet .

My good friend from high school tried to get me & some friends into skiing
about 25 years ago . I tried it occasionally a few times a year but nothing
serious and everyone else gave up . But my friend needed someone to drag
along and I was a good candidate . You see he started when he was a little
kid like about 10 or so and went regularly and was considered really good .

He had his fun with me , threw me to the wolves , took me down much more
difficult terrain than I could handle and entertained himself watching me
bounce down the mountain with my head & ass , all in good fun of course .
But I tried and tried like a faithful puppy to keep up and drag along and be
a good ski buddy .

So as fate would have it , he's been very busy with life,wife,kids yadda
yadda etc etc and hasn't gone skiing much the last 2 or 3 years . Well after
my 5 year break from skiing and my new found love for exercising , I have
gotten bit by the bug big time and like I said have been going a lot . So my
ski buddy finally decided he could break away and join me on at least one
trip this year .

But now the tables were turned , no longer was I the follower , the tag a
long , the student following the teacher . Now I was a real skier . I
started hearing little comments . Hey why are your skis faster than mine , I
must have to get my skis waxed . All of a sudden I could keep up with total
control and form and he noticed a major improvement since the last time we
skied together . We went in the terrain park and I flew over jumps that I
used to go around . He had a garage sale on his landing .He kept telling me
to slow down , he couldn't keep up . His legs were on fire & mine were tree
trunks .

After the 1st day he just flat out admitted he was blown away , couldn't
believe how much I improved and how disappointed he was with himself for
getting out of shape and that he wants to start working out again . We both
have very competitive personalities and have a friendly rivalry as far as
keeping in shape athletically .

So anyway , it took me 25 years , but I finally got there , and getting
there was half the fun . For now , I am a champion , a legend in my own mind
, and am loving skiing more than ever . And if fate decides to turn the
tables again , I'll just tell my friend , it's not who's better that matters
, it's all in fun . And he of course will say ' your full of **** '

Ron - NY wrote:
Just spent Monday-Tuesday & Wednesday in beautiful Sugarbush Vermont
. Never have I experienced 6-12 inches of ungroomed fresh powder in
my life like this . Tuesday & Wednesday it snowed all day long .
Wasn't cold and just a little windy & foggy on Wed.


The "Bush" is among the most beautiful mountains in the U.S. Overlooking
Lake Champlain, the runs vary from steep bump shoots to wandering steep &
deep trailers. Great town and restaurants go right along. It's in the top 3
in the northeast for sure but for shear beauty, it ranks nationally.

Ron - NY wrote:
Just spent Monday-Tuesday & Wednesday in beautiful Sugarbush Vermont
.. Never
have I experienced 6-12 inches of ungroomed fresh powder in my life
like
this . Tuesday & Wednesday it snowed all day long . Wasn't cold and
just a
little windy & foggy on Wed.

You suck. We left Vermont on Sunday and experienced no freshies. Stowe
did have a big ol' cloud hovering over it, but all it did was lightly
flurry. My best powder day was actually at Camelback in January where
we had 16 inches during the day...

Jeff

Schmoe wrote:
Ron - NY wrote:

Just spent Monday-Tuesday & Wednesday in beautiful Sugarbush Vermont
. Never have I experienced 6-12 inches of ungroomed fresh powder in
my life like this . Tuesday & Wednesday it snowed all day long .
Wasn't cold and just a little windy & foggy on Wed.



The "Bush" is among the most beautiful mountains in the U.S. Overlooking
Lake Champlain, the runs vary from steep bump shoots to wandering steep &
deep trailers. Great town and restaurants go right along. It's in the top 3
in the northeast for sure but for shear beauty, it ranks nationally.



Do they have much in the way of easy terrain? I'm planning a trip to VT
for Christmas '05 and my wife doesn't like to venture off the greens.

Do they have any XC there as well? We'll all probably do a little Xc'ing
too if they do.

Chuck wrote:
Schmoe wrote:

Ron - NY wrote:


Just spent Monday-Tuesday & Wednesday in beautiful Sugarbush Vermont
. Never have I experienced 6-12 inches of ungroomed fresh powder in
my life like this . Tuesday & Wednesday it snowed all day long .
Wasn't cold and just a little windy & foggy on Wed.



The "Bush" is among the most beautiful mountains in the U.S. Overlooking
Lake Champlain, the runs vary from steep bump shoots to wandering steep &
deep trailers. Great town and restaurants go right along. It's in the top 3
in the northeast for sure but for shear beauty, it ranks nationally.




Do they have much in the way of easy terrain? I'm planning a trip to VT
for Christmas '05 and my wife doesn't like to venture off the greens.

Do they have any XC there as well? We'll all probably do a little Xc'ing
too if they do.

The combination of SB South and SB North has all of the
terrain that you could possibly want. Both areas
(connected by the Slide Brook Express quad chair which
will take you in either direction) have green runs
from the top. SB North (the old Glen Ellen) is a bit
more of a cruiser's heaven while SB South has the nifty,
old Diamond runs from Castle Rock and trails like
Paradise and Stein's Run. North Does have FIS which
is an old-style Black off the top.

At South, the older Valley House Chair has the good stuff
and you can get to Castle Rock from there. The new
Quad to the right as you are facing up the hill accesses
another lift further up and the start of Slide Brook
Express and has loads of blues and greens down.

The lift in the middle accesses the terrain previously
served by the old gondola which is now gone, but the
trail names (Gondolier) suggest its presence. Those
trails are fairly steep, wide and fun. Some are blue,
others are black, but generous enough that they would
be blue if not bumpy or too icy.

Guided back country (eastern woods type) skiing can be
had in the Slide Brook Area between SB North and South.

If you like the idea of real old-school skiing, don't
miss Mad River Glen, in the same valley. Two lifts,
one single chair, one double chair, no snowmaking,
no grooming to speak of, not very many people on the
hill at the same time, no snowboards, boundary to boundary
open, great stuff like Paradise (which is a waterfall
in summer) and the great open woods beyond. Narrow
cut trails with cut-offs and bumps. Did I say no
snowboards?

VtSkier