The Final Day ... Sugarbush

A week ago Thursday I skied Sugarbush in Warren, VT. Ostensibly my last day of the season. I thought I might go later in the month but I jumped at this opportunity as the temps were relatively cool and there was more terrain open than usual for late season. Also there were several days of rain in the forecast.
When I arrived it was just above freezing at the base but was not expected to go above the low 40s all day.
Super Bravo and Heaven's Gate lifts were running.

First run was mid-mountain off Super Bravo ... Valley House Traverse to Snowball to Spring Fling.

The surface was firm, a little fast. Ok for a warm-up run.

2nd run was all the way to the top of Lincoln Peak. To get there requires a run down from the unload of Super Bravo via Downspout to the Heaven's Gate lift.
I could never figure out why it took so much effort to control my speed on this section. It doesn't look that steep. Maybe because the surface was fairly hard.

 I should mention at this point that I had developed a problem with my left ankle bone, the protruding bump on the right side of the foot, from pressure of the ski boot. I noticed it first on my previous trip to Mt. Snow. This time however, it was painful the minute I put the boot on in the lodge. Not a good sign!

All this to say, Ripcord,
at the top of Lincoln Peak looked very tempting. It is steep in places but was groomed invitingly, at least from view of the lift but I thought I should hold off because of the foot problem. Steeper runs means more pressure on the problem bone when making right turns. So, instead of turning right and down Ripcord, I turned left and herringboned up to Jester. Herringboning hurt too! :-(

Jester is a blue square with good views of the Mad River valley. It has several switchbacks which can get cruddy on warm spring days but it didn't get warm enough this day. I took upper Jester
and then lower Organgrinder, a black diamond.
Upper Organgrider
is nasty looking, ungroomed, large natural bumps (whales really) and steep, should be double diamond but the lower part is groomed and almost blue square steep although the pitch is pretty consistent making it a good workout. Here is a shot from the top of Lincoln Peak looking all the way down Organgrinder.

After this I took several runs from mid-mountain, Lower Jester, Domino Chute, Downspout, Organgrinder, etc.

7th run, just before lunch was upper Jester and over to Snowball and Spring fling on the other side. By this time short section of slope on Snowball was pretty soft and heavy. It caught me by surprise after all the hard pack of Lincoln Peak and I turned but my skis didn't. Popped right out of both bindings very neatly and took a low speed tumble into the soft stuff.
That slope must have been at just the right angle to catch the sun or something because lower down it was hard pack again.

Break for lunch, then a few runs down the lower mountain, one from the top and my screaming quads called it a day.

12 runs and 18000 vertical. Not bad for the last day of the season. Got a little air time too.

Wonder what that foot problem is about? I've had those boots several years without any trouble. Maybe I'm skiing more and harder? Thinking about cutting a hole in boot right where it hurts. Not really but maybe buy a sheet of padding and see what I can do with that. I'll worry about it when next season rolls around.

Here is the link to my stats for the day in case you are interested: http://www.alpinereplay.com/stats/u?uId=46688&vId=875817

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spring awesomeness at Mt. Snow

Skied at Mt. Snow in Dover, VT almost 2 weeks ago. Predicted temps were 30 at 9AM to a high of 54 at the base but it was already over 30 when I arrived at 8:30.

Ticket price was $29.99 senior rate on-line pre-purchase (oh yeah!). Nobody there! Parked in the 1st row.

I did my usual green circle warm up on Long John to Deer Run to Long John

but was eager to get to the blue squares. Snow was soft(ish) but not yet mushy/heavy/carved up.
I was also concerned with how my DIY spring wax job would fare in such conditions. So far so good.

2nd run was right down the middle of the Main Face, Lodge to Exhibition.

3rd run:  Drifter to Canyon.

4th run: jog left a little and down Snowdance,
probably my favorite on the Main Face. Blue square, long (1.7mi), groomed and wide. I saw the ski patrol dropping the rope on River Run but passed on it this time. I wanted to make sure I saw the lift spinning. This was just after 10AM, scheduled opening time for the North Face.

#5: I shot over to the North Face on River Run.
This was my first time ever on the North Face. River Run was still setup from the night before, not icy though, just starting to soften up a tad. Pretty easy blue square. Scoped out the diamonds on the ride up the Challenger lift on the North Face. A lot of them were bumped up pretty good. Some down right nasty looking with names like "Boulder Pile". I passed on them and went back to the Main Face at the top. I wanted to check out the status board back in the lodge to make sure I knew which trails were groomed before I committed. So back down Canyon on the Main Face for #6.

After a brief break in the lodge for coffee, a bite and the status board,  I took another run down Sundance.

Run #8: back over to the North side on River Run. Ready to take a shot at the groomed black diamonds. The Main Face was starting to get mushy and crudded up. Too much like work! Carefully scoped out what I could see of the groomed diamonds on the way up the lift. They were to my right. So far, so good. Fallen Timbers and Chute. I usually avoid anything black diamond or higher named "Chute" ha, ha. Fallen Timbers sounds like a glade and looks like one on the map but they said it was groomed.

#9: wound up taking Chute.
Not bad. A little narrow but still wide enough to make a couple turns across. A few ice patches, easily avoided. Groomed as advertised, a couple of rollers but not what you would call "bumps".

OK. Ready for Fallen Timbers.
This run was in the best shape, wide, flat, no ice. and it was NOT in the trees! ;-)

Another crack at Fallen Timbers, one last run down Chute and back to the Main Face and down to the base. These 2 diamonds were definitely my favorites for the day. I would love to have done them some more but my legs were giving out from the steepness and knew I would have one last tough slog down to the base in the Main Face mush.

There is a great view of Somerset Reservoir from the North Face that I didn't have the presence of mind to snap but here's a nice pic of the view that someone else took:
Finished up back to the base on Sundance and survived heavy crud without mishap. My wax job did well although I did apply some swix F4 liquid for a touch up about 11.

Here's a link to all my stats for the day:
Alpine Replay Stats
Great day! BTW, I also found a great shortcut around the town of Wilmington. Avoids the bottleneck at Rte. 100 and 9. From Rte. 9 just before Wilmington take a left on Haystack Rd., rt. on Ray Hill Rd., left on Mann, left on Coldbrook which changes into Handle. Just stay on Handle until you get to the resort.

One more road trip for the season? Maybe Sugarbush?


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