I guess I am in wait and see mode. I will get the real scoop in a couple of weeks when I start downhilling in ernest.

The bottom line is that it is what it is.

I remember arguing about the state of the forest this year and many people seemed perplexed that I considered some areas to be rapidly deforesting. I didn't see everything last week covering the mountain on foot, but the midmountain section from egan's to domino looked like it took a hit. However, If you walk around the areas that are now "on map" woods, those areas without buddy trees around them looked worse off.

I know the mountain takes the environment seriously, but one of these years there will HAVE to be regeneration zones to prevent skier traffic from killing off new growth. Without taking conservation seriously, the areas that make Sugarbush the best tree skiing in the northeast really won't be as special. If anyone thinks this is gloom-and-doom, please refer to murphy's glades circa 1980 compared to present. I know that fate is many years off, and I am not a scientist or fortune teller but cutting and maintenance should be given thoughtful consideration.

I hear what you are saying and agree that in some areas need some work to fix the damage. I think that Murphy's is a bad example. The damage there was not from skier traffic. Snow making was the culprit. Continuously blowing ice on the trees and overloading the branches is what happen there. That is the case with any snow making trails. They eventually get wider and thinner on the edges from the over spray.

Hawk wrote:

I hear what you are saying and agree that in some areas need some work to fix the damage. I think that Murphy's is a bad example. The damage there was not from skier traffic. Snow making was the culprit. Continuously blowing ice on the trees and overloading the branches is what happen there. That is the case with any snow making trails. They eventually get wider and thinner on the edges from the over spray.

You're both right. The forest at Sugarbush is facing multiple threats. One of those is snowmaking on trails like Glades, Ripcord, FIS, and Sleeper. Another is overcutting or skier traffic in the woods. A perfect example is Paradise Woods/Bear Claw, which, IMHO, should be partially or completely off-limits for a period of time. The final culprit is neglect or ignorance. The remaining trees/tree islands on runs like Lower Moonshine and Lower Domino will be eliminated if the mountain doesn't take a proactive stance and start planting buffer trees that can protect and eventually replace the aging incumbents.

The current policies, or lack thereof, are pretty startling, IMO. Unauthorized cutting is but a single piece of the puzzle, and the mountain (and the USFS) really need to look in the mirror.

Tin Woodsman wrote:

The current policies, or lack thereof, are pretty startling, IMO. Unauthorized cutting is but a single piece of the puzzle, and the mountain (and the USFS) really need to look in the mirror.

Couldn't resist.

summitchallenger wrote:

Tin Woodsman wrote: The current policies, or lack thereof, are pretty startling, IMO. Unauthorized cutting is but a single piece of the puzzle, and the mountain (and the USFS) really need to look in the mirror. Couldn't resist.

Shamon!

Couldn't resist, Tin. You don't have the total picture, and I am not able to post it here, so if you want to sit down and visit with me one day, I would be pleased to discuss!

win wrote:

Couldn't resist, Tin. You don't have the total picture, and I am not able to post it here, so if you want to sit down and visit with me one day, I would be pleased to discuss!

I'm sure I'm missing few pieces, chief of which is the status of discussions with your landlord, and I'll gladly take you up on that offer next time I'm in town. That said, it seems to me that there are some steps you could be taking where the USFS has no jurisdiction. For example, what would stop you from instituting a policy whereby you don't use the snowmaking hydrants directly adjacent to the tree islands on Murphy's Glade or Sleeper? You've got the groomers to push the snow around. What prevents the mountain from roping off skiers left of Ripcord or Paradise, or putting some bamboo/rope around certain trees/islands to protect them? Is that not within the operator's perogative? In the absence of any visible steps taken by the mountain, the pleas to stop unauthorized cutting simply appear as an attempt to shift the blame to others. IOW, it's hard not to be skeptical of Jay Peak's professed outrage at Jailhouse Chute when Jay Peak itself was a key enabling force due to their bulldozing of a path out to Big Jay.

Given your past track record, you hands must really be tied by the USFS with respect to what you can not only do, but even say.