Telesnowmonkey
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2020
I wanted to give a quick trip report from Sugarbush this past weekend. I moved to Vermont just over a year ago. My husband and I have been getting the Peak-now Epic pass for the past several years, but this year we decided to go with Ikon pass, and Sugarbush is our home mountain. We've been out there the past three Sundays, and while the skiing hasn't been anything to write home about, it's been nice to get out and ski.
Conditions on Sunday were decent. We chose to park at Mt. Ellen, arriving just before 9am. The parking lot wasn't super crowded, and we ended up only 3 rows away from the lodge. This year, they're running a "jitney shuttle," an open air wagon with benches on it towed behind a pick up truck. It was right there as we walked away from our parking spot, so we hopped on. It's actually a lot nicer than a shuttle bus since you don't have to push past a bunch of people and squeeze into little seats meant for middle schoolers.
Sugarbush has been blowing a lot of snow, and as of last weekend they claimed to have 90% of their terrain open. Some of it was looking pretty thin and scratchy, but the main runs were decent packed powder. We've been arriving early in the morning and leaving around lunchtime, when it seems to be getting a bit more crowded, but the lines haven't been bad at all. The first Sunday we went, we had maybe a 2-3 minute wait in line, but the last two Sundays, there's been no line whatsoever.
We started up the Green Mountain Express to about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. From there, we took the blue cruiser "Which Way" down to the Northridge Express Quad, which goes about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Last week there was a pretty spectacular cloud inversion going on, and it continued through Sunday. Everyone was stopping to take pics, and so did I! This view is a bit East and South of Mt. Ellen.
From here, we skied down Lower Rim Run to the Summit Quad. More spectacular views! Those bumps poking up through the clouds are the Adirondacks off the backside of Mt. Ellen.
From here, we did a run down Rim Run to Elbow. Rim Run was getting icy, so we decided to stay down lower for the remainder of the morning. Here's a pic of my husband coming down Which Way.
All in all, it was a decent morning of skiing. We've been really happy with the lack of lines and really solid mask compliance. Our passes are blacked out tomorrow and Sunday, but it seems like Monday might be the day to go anyway. Fingers crossed that this storm pans out, and hopefully I can come back with a more robust trip report then!
Conditions on Sunday were decent. We chose to park at Mt. Ellen, arriving just before 9am. The parking lot wasn't super crowded, and we ended up only 3 rows away from the lodge. This year, they're running a "jitney shuttle," an open air wagon with benches on it towed behind a pick up truck. It was right there as we walked away from our parking spot, so we hopped on. It's actually a lot nicer than a shuttle bus since you don't have to push past a bunch of people and squeeze into little seats meant for middle schoolers.
Sugarbush has been blowing a lot of snow, and as of last weekend they claimed to have 90% of their terrain open. Some of it was looking pretty thin and scratchy, but the main runs were decent packed powder. We've been arriving early in the morning and leaving around lunchtime, when it seems to be getting a bit more crowded, but the lines haven't been bad at all. The first Sunday we went, we had maybe a 2-3 minute wait in line, but the last two Sundays, there's been no line whatsoever.
We started up the Green Mountain Express to about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. From there, we took the blue cruiser "Which Way" down to the Northridge Express Quad, which goes about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Last week there was a pretty spectacular cloud inversion going on, and it continued through Sunday. Everyone was stopping to take pics, and so did I! This view is a bit East and South of Mt. Ellen.
From here, we skied down Lower Rim Run to the Summit Quad. More spectacular views! Those bumps poking up through the clouds are the Adirondacks off the backside of Mt. Ellen.
From here, we did a run down Rim Run to Elbow. Rim Run was getting icy, so we decided to stay down lower for the remainder of the morning. Here's a pic of my husband coming down Which Way.
All in all, it was a decent morning of skiing. We've been really happy with the lack of lines and really solid mask compliance. Our passes are blacked out tomorrow and Sunday, but it seems like Monday might be the day to go anyway. Fingers crossed that this storm pans out, and hopefully I can come back with a more robust trip report then!
