Winter 16/17 Thoughts and Reports****

[Hawk]

Time for a topic to change. I am hoping with Today's storm, things really kick into full speed for the rest for the season.

Wednesday was hard and fast. It did snow anywhere from 1-3" overnight and it was nice a a few places. This did open Castlerock for hiking. it was probably the best skiing on the hill. No snow yet at 8:20 as I head out the door. Radar looks like snow starting in about an hour. See you on the hill.

[Hawk]

Woops Sorry NHSkier1969. I wasn't paying attention and didn't see your lower post. Use either one.

[Sugarbushskier9]

How much snow is needed to run Slide Brook? Really surprised that lift isn't running...figured 168" of snow on the season would be enough to get it open. Maybe when we get to 200"?

Although I guess it gets to a lower elevation in the middle of the drainage?. Will be up with the family tomorrow but thinking we'll just stay at Ellen. Anyone know how crowded it normally is New Year's Day? I'm assuming not very crowded if everyone is hung over.

Went to Stowe on Thursday and it was an absolute madhouse though no one rides that slow double on Mansfield side so just lapped that. Ripped the woods all day long, I will say despite the snow total differences that place has a lot of snow on the ground. Maybe not as fluffy snow or something . Had to be two feet of solid snowpack right at the parking lot level whatever elevation that is and it was before this last storm .

[cdskier]

How much snow is needed to run Slide Brook? Really surprised that lift isn't running...figured 168" of snow on the season would be enough to get it open. Maybe when we get to 200"?


How much total snow fell is really irrelevant since you have thaws/rain that impact that number. What matters is simply the snowpack coverage and depth.

The base of Sugarbush has only had 59" of snow. Most of Slide Brook is much lower than the elevation levels of the summit, so keep that in mind too. The service roads leading into Slide Brook are probably what is a bit lacking in cover...although I would think we should be getting close (but I also haven't seen how lower elevation snow levels look since before Christmas).

[Sugarbushskier9]

How much total snow fell is really irrelevant since you have thaws/rain that impact that number. What matters is simply the snowpack coverage and depth.

The base of Sugarbush has only had 59" of snow. Most of Slide Brook is much lower than the elevation levels of the summit, so keep that in mind too. The service roads leading into Slide Brook are probably what is a bit lacking in cover...although I would think we should be getting close (but I also haven't seen how lower elevation snow levels look since before Christmas).

True very good point. I haven't been to SB since before the holiday so forget that we had that rain in there last weekend.

I was just curious if there's a number of snow they need to open it. Like once we hit 24" of depth, etc.

[Spartan82]

Mt Ellen was a zoo on Friday, but was an average Saturday today. Pretty nice overall today, but some trails got skiied off by mid day.

[Benski]

Mt Ellen was a zoo on Friday. I have never heard anyone describe Mt. Ellen that way, though I will take your word on it.

[Spartan82]

One of the ambassadors told me there were 3,100 skiers on Friday. All of the lots were full, and there were cars parked on the access road, which I have never seen.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Well I guess that settles it, the stake does drift. 8-10" at the snow cam with the morning report claiming 8" of new snow overnight. Then the 7:15 update takes it to 2"...with thousands of people in town.

Heading to Mount Ellen now. Should be nice with 1-2" on the groomers.8" is a full on powder day. Gotta be careful before going out with those numbers. You'd assume a grooming driver could tell you if 8" fell or not.that's dumping all night long to get that amount of snow.

[cdskier]

I guess this proves if it is windy enough, anything will drift. I watched the replay last night before I went to sleep when I noticed it had 8" on it and was pretty sure most of it was wind blown since I wasn't seeing many flakes actually falling.

[Sugarbushskier9]

I guess this proves if it is windy enough, anything will drift. I watched the replay last night before I went to sleep when I noticed it had 8" on it and was pretty sure most of it was wind blown since I wasn't seeing many flakes actually falling.

Yeah best not to take that as gospel. Who knows how many other other times it happens or if it's only adding a little here or there.

Anyway skiing is awesome at Ellen today. Lunch break now but I'm already toast. Would guess there's around an inch of new snow give or take...hard to tell with the wind. But skiing real nice.

[winjr]

We are eye balling it to make sure drifting is not misleading. It really believe our reporting has been quite accurate LTD but we will continue to monitor very closely. There can also be a material differance between LP and ME on any given day.
Yeah best not to take that as gospel. Who knows how many other other times it happens or if it's only adding a little here or there.

Anyway skiing is awesome at Ellen today. Lunch break now but I'm already toast. Would guess there's around an inch of new snow give or take...hard to tell with the wind. But skiing real nice.

[winjr]

A lot more. Third busiest day ever!
One of the ambassadors told me there were 3,100 skiers on Friday. All of the lots were full, and there were cars parked on the access road, which I have never seen.

[winjr]

It really depends on whether of our lift mechanics are able to get their snowmobiles in safely. There are multiple roads and all need to be passable. Right snow the snow depth on the upper roads is fine but the lower roads still have water bars that do not allow safe travel. Mechanics have to be able to get in each am to check the towers and to deal with any mechanical issues during the day and we also have to be able to have safe roads in the unlikely event of a lift evacuation. Hope this helps. We want nothing more than to run the lift. It really helps spreading everyone out.
How much total snow fell is really irrelevant since you have thaws/rain that impact that number. What matters is simply the snowpack coverage and depth.

The base of Sugarbush has only had 59" of snow. Most of Slide Brook is much lower than the elevation levels of the summit, so keep that in mind too. The service roads leading into Slide Brook are probably what is a bit lacking in cover...although I would think we should be getting close (but I also haven't seen how lower elevation snow levels look since before Christmas).

[Sugarbushskier9]

We are eye balling it to make sure drifting is not misleading. It really believe our reporting has been quite accurate LTD but we will continue to monitor very closely. There can also be a material differance between LP and ME on any given day.

Taking snow measurements at that elevation seems hard in itself as it does seem logical or possible that wind can transport snow up there like a half mile away. The cam itself may not drift but it's possible some of the snow isn't coming from the sky anyway. When you get off Heavens Gate you stare at a couple hundred feet of higher terrain up to the tower. Sometimes it seems like the west wind fills in that area and even upper Ripcord and Paradise. That'd be my guess as to why there's such a huge difference from top of Bravo to top of Heavens Gate. Heavens Gate top has the benefit of wind loading from the west side like there's a reason a lot of the trees on the ridge and west side don't have any snow on them a lot of the time.

However it leads to the question of if the snow lands there does it matter where it came from? If the top part of Ripcord is 10" and you can ski it, does it matter if 6" fell from the sky and another 4" blew in from a quarter mile away from the top slopes of the west side? At the end of the day you're still skiing through 10" of snow. But the more I ski off Heavens Gate I'm convinced some of it is blow in from the slight rise higher up the ridge. Sort of like Jay Peak's face chutes and the top stuff off the tram.

Anyway that may be explaining the huge ranges in snow totals. Yesterday when you overruled the cam was actually one of the more uniform reports I saw of the season with 2-2-1" instead of the 7-2-1" type spreads the cam can give. Kudos for taking the approach that maybe we need to look at this a bit more and monitor its accuracy.

[Sugarbushskier9]

It really depends on whether of our lift mechanics are able to get their snowmobiles in safely. There are multiple roads and all need to be passable. Right snow the snow depth on the upper roads is fine but the lower roads still have water bars that do not allow safe travel. Mechanics have to be able to get in each am to check the towers and to deal with any mechanical issues during the day and we also have to be able to have safe roads in the unlikely event of a lift evacuation. Hope this helps. We want nothing more than to run the lift. It really helps spreading everyone out.

Thanks Win, makes sense. I will say being at MEllen yesterday with family I found myself sort of happy it wasn't running. Mountain seemed pretty empty but the parking lot had a lot of cars and I heard it was another huge day at LP. Overall congrats on the successful holiday week and the entire valley needed a strong week. A friend said the lines at MRG were pushing an hour for the single chair at the peak of it all.

[Dblshot]

First congrats on a busy holiday and I hope you hit the numbers and more. I do have to rant a bit that Monday was set up from the snow report as just another regular weekday and not a holiday. VH lift should have been running and weekend lift hours. Parking lot was full behind CB-1 but make all the families walk. Just set a poor tone for the day with a lot of people still in town. Pretty much everyone had today off.
Part 2- I hate doing this but the snowmaking is terrible. I do not understand spending 4 days on lower snowball and racer edge. Are the days of resurfacing a trail at sugarbush gone? How about grooming downspout first and getting 12 hours on it during holiday? The next part is the snow quality is awful. Everything that is made now is the production snow slop. Why? Took one night for Steins to become a sheet of ice along with the bottom of L grinder. Don't you want dry snow on the steeps?
Look, I love sugarbush and am committed long term there but it seemed like here's what you get and deal with it. Half ass snowmaking and trying to claim a holiday as a weekday left a bad taste. I know everyone is working hard and it was a busy week.

[winjr]

First congrats on a busy holiday and I hope you hit the numbers and more. I do have to rant a bit that Monday was set up from the snow report as just another regular weekday and not a holiday. VH lift should have been running and weekend lift hours. Parking lot was full behind CB-1 but make all the families walk. Just set a poor tone for the day with a lot of people still in town. Pretty much everyone had today off.
Part 2- I hate doing this but the snowmaking is terrible. I do not understand spending 4 days on lower snowball and racer edge. Are the days of resurfacing a trail at sugarbush gone? How about grooming downspout first and getting 12 hours on it during holiday? The next part is the snow quality is awful. Everything that is made now is the production snow slop. Why? Took one night for Steins to become a sheet of ice along with the bottom of L grinder. Don't you want dry snow on the steeps?
Look, I love sugarbush and am committed long term there but it seemed like here's what you get and deal with it. Half ass snowmaking and trying to claim a holiday as a weekday left a bad taste. I know everyone is working hard and it was a busy week.

Thanks, Dblshot. It was a busy week and not only good for us but all the Valley businesses. Friday was our third busiest ever and almost the same as the second busiest day three years ago.
Now to respond to your comments. We set the days for Holiday pricing and operations in the early summer when we do our budgets. Historically, the day after New Year's is not a Holiday and very light. Back then we did not realize that the 2nd was going to be a Holiday for most all businesses and schools. In hindsight we might have made that a Holiday and charged Holiday rather than normal rates. When we saw the parking lots filling up, we did call in Mike Murphy from his day off to run the shuttle. Unfortunately some did have to walk from Lot E before he got the shuttle and I am sorry for that inconvenience. Not having Valley House is my opinion was not a big deal. Bravo serves the same terrain and the lines flowed smoothly. There was a short period when the line was about 3 minutes long, but with the calm day Bravo was turned up to full speed and everything flowed well. Hindsight is great so the next time Christmas and the New Year fall on a Sunday, we night do differently.

Now on to snow making. Turning on and off snow making is not like lights in your house. Gear has to be moved around, the system in different areas needs to be charged and snow makers
can not be scattered all over the mountain. In makes the most sense to concentrate on areas, finishing them and then move on. Only a certain volume of water can flow through the main pipe from the pond. Temperatures will also determine where we will focus. Lower Snowball is an important intermediate trail and access to Racer's Edge, and this week we have scheduled racing so it was important to get these trails in by the end of the weekend to let them cure and then groom. Another consideration is blowing snow where it has the least impact on the guest experience which is why we did not go to Birdland over the holidays.

Steins's skied great on Saturday and Sunday but early Monday morning an air valve on Organgrinder burst and the snow makers were dealing with diminishing pressure and we were finally forced to shut down. Temperatures were coming up anyway so the timing was lucky. That is the reason the quality was not the same as the previous two days. The leaks have been fixed and ready to go. With this exception, I believe that our snow making has been excellent this year and anything but half ass.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year.

[Dblshot]

Win- thanks for the response to my rant, the honesty is appreciated. I'm glad you had the 3rd busiest day ever I was at Mt Ellen that day and the fullest I have seen the lots. I understand the challenges of snowmaking with the system and temps. I guess things have changed with the equipment moves instead of hoses at every tower and guns set up on lots of trails. I wanted to provide feedback and maybe less of a rant

[shadyjay]

Sorry, had to chime in here....

Just because a trail is towers doesn't mean its necessarily easy to just turn on. Next time you're on Downspout, look at the towers. Right now, some of them are buried 3' deep and the hydrants just as deep. The way the snow gets pushed around by skiers and groomers makes it this way. In order to turn on Downspout, it would most likely right now require about 3 shifts-worth of digging, at minimum. And that's digging through multiple layers of freezes/thaws, not to mention trenches for hoses to run without kinks. Last year when we were digging out Downspout, skiers were turning and pushing snow right back in the holes as fast as we could dig it out. It's not as simple as turning on a light switch! We were on Stein's and Murphy's on Sunday night and were maintaining what we had, with 3 leaks in the air line all over the mountain. We could have shut down but would have lost production time when temps were favorable. We held on to it for as long as we could, trying to get Stein's done, but were struggling with maintaining air pressure. If we had shut down and done the repairs, we would've lost a 12+ hour window of snowmaking. When I left Monday morning, it was still 20 deg in the base. I'm assuming it warmed up at some point in the morning, and the system was then killed and the repairs made.

For anyone who would like to come up and give snowmaking a try, I encourage you to apply for next year. You'll quickly see it's not as simple as it may seem. It means long, cold, wet nights (12+ hours) in all kinds of conditions. It means being prepared when things don't always go your way. And it means time away from family and friends during the holidays (including Christmas and New Year's Eve). We make it work because we have a dedicated group. We love what we do. It just doesn't always work out the way we want sometimes. I had 2 nights in the past week where temps just didn't get low enough and rose to "above-average" levels at night. Sure, some trails do light up like a light switch... Slowpoke being one of them. Be sure to thank a snowmaker!

Here's hoping it snows again soon and puts the snowmaking debate to rest for the season. Happy New Year to all!!!

[Sugarbushskier9]

Another consideration is blowing snow where it has the least impact on the guest experience which is why we did not go to Birdland over the holidays.


i agree with Win...just avoid snowmaking during the holidays if possible. that crowd does not like the sh*tshow that snowmaking causes in variable conditions, noise, visibility. Especially with a possible snowstorm coming in the only thing snowmaking could do is make a mess unless the temperatures were really cold. just not worth the risk during the holiday time.

It sounds like the quality issues mentioned in the original post would make it a risky proposition to make snow during the holidays. i noticed on stowe's snow report they said they were not making snow over the holidys to and i just looked at my saved email snow reports and they used the phrase snow-gun free experience on the slopes. If you dont have to its probably best not to during the busy holiday periods.

[shadyjay]

It sounds like the quality issues mentioned in the original post would make it a risky proposition to make snow during the holidays. i noticed on stowe's snow report they said they were not making snow over the holidys to and i just looked at my saved email snow reports and they used the phrase snow-gun free experience on the slopes. If you dont have to its probably best not to during the busy holiday periods.

We did make snow on Sleeper and Stein's during the holiday period. Both trails weren't open when we started making snow. They opened soon after, though. Lower SB and Racer's are relatively easy to make snow on... they're mostly towers that don't get buried too bad. Murphy's is wide enough so when we were making snow on it, you could have easily kept to skier's right and avoided the guns. Birdland, however, is narrow and right under Bravo liftline, so there's no avoiding the blasting of the guns on that one. Once we do make snow on it, it does tend to go quickly as its a narrow trail and fills in quickly. We could have run on it during the night period, but between lighting up and shutting down, the actual run time wouldn't be that long. It can take anywhere from 1-2 hours to light up a trail (sometimes more, depending on conditions, staffing, etc), and if you factor in run time and shut down time, it would have gotten about 10 hours of runtime on it at a time.

[Spartan82]

Lines were really not that bad at Mt Ellen on Friday. It was just the sheer number of people and cars that were there. I arrived at 8:30, and ended up about halfway down the lot. When we left around 3, the lots were still full, and there were cars parked on the access road at least 400 yards down. Never seen that before, and I have been skiing here for 25+ years. Nice problem to have after last year.

[nhskier1969]

With the cold temperatures coming latter this week and weekend, any chance of skiing under the guns on Sunrise?

[cdskier]

With the cold temperatures coming latter this week and weekend, any chance of skiing under the guns on Sunrise?

I thought Sunrise mostly used ground guns...which aren't that much fun to ski under compared to tower guns. I could be mis-remembering though!

[winjr]

We will be going back up to Sunrise but probably not next. We will assess at snow plan today where it is best to go next. Got some nice high elevation snow overnight but it was rain and mush lower.

[HowieT2]

Taking snow measurements at that elevation seems hard in itself as it does seem logical or possible that wind can transport snow up there like a half mile away. The cam itself may not drift but it's possible some of the snow isn't coming from the sky anyway. When you get off Heavens Gate you stare at a couple hundred feet of higher terrain up to the tower. Sometimes it seems like the west wind fills in that area and even upper Ripcord and Paradise. That'd be my guess as to why there's such a huge difference from top of Bravo to top of Heavens Gate. Heavens Gate top has the benefit of wind loading from the west side like there's a reason a lot of the trees on the ridge and west side don't have any snow on them a lot of the time.

However it leads to the question of if the snow lands there does it matter where it came from? If the top part of Ripcord is 10" and you can ski it, does it matter if 6" fell from the sky and another 4" blew in from a quarter mile away from the top slopes of the west side? At the end of the day you're still skiing through 10" of snow. But the more I ski off Heavens Gate I'm convinced some of it is blow in from the slight rise higher up the ridge. Sort of like Jay Peak's face chutes and the top stuff off the tram.

Anyway that may be explaining the huge ranges in snow totals. Yesterday when you overruled the cam was actually one of the more uniform reports I saw of the season with 2-2-1" instead of the 7-2-1" type spreads the cam can give. Kudos for taking the approach that maybe we need to look at this a bit more and monitor its accuracy.

Good call on adjusting the totals from the snowcam and thank you. It is the best set up in the east, much improved from last year, and these are kinks that get worked out. Rather have it the way it is, than not have it all.

It is difficult to accurately measure snowfall at that elevation. Drifting will always be an issue, but that being said, there is a difference between wind blown snow, and the stake being in a hole of snow. Just like digging a hole in the sand at the beach, the snow fills in.

Anyway, Hope to see it soon myself. We really missed the MRV over the holiday. WE did get a surprise 3 foot dump at snowbird, which made up for it, somewhat.

[winjr]

Win- thanks for the response to my rant, the honesty is appreciated. I'm glad you had the 3rd busiest day ever I was at Mt Ellen that day and the fullest I have seen the lots. I understand the challenges of snowmaking with the system and temps. I guess things have changed with the equipment moves instead of hoses at every tower and guns set up on lots of trails. I wanted to provide feedback and maybe less of a rant

Always pleased to get feedback and questions.

[winjr]

Good call on adjusting the totals from the snowcam and thank you. It is the best set up in the east, much improved from last year, and these are kinks that get worked out. Rather have it the way it is, than not have it all.

It is difficult to accurately measure snowfall at that elevation. Drifting will always be an issue, but that being said, there is a difference between wind blown snow, and the stake being in a hole of snow. Just like digging a hole in the sand at the beach, the snow fills in.

Anyway, Hope to see it soon myself. We really missed the MRV over the holiday. WE did get a surprise 3 foot dump at snowbird, which made up for it, somewhat.

This morning was another interesting one. I watched the snowstake last night and looked at it when I woke up and it was accumulating up to 6" but we checked in the am and I think the wetness and wind actually maed the real snowpack on the upper mountain more like 3" so that is what we reported.

We dodged a bullet and the mountain skied really well today. My pick of the day was Stein's but there were a lot of other nice runs. This snow is going to pack in very well and set up the entire mountain. Later tonight we will be resuming snowmaking on Upper Snowball Spring Fling and Gondolier. The right side of Spring Fling is thin and we want to get that in well. Will be subsequently going to Birdland and Sunrise and spotting up other spots. Over at ME our next plan will be Cliffs and Cruiser as the rest of the mountain is in good shape and the groomers can manage the condition well now especially with some snow likely over the next few days and nights. We have consolidated snow making crews so we will be alternating now between LP and ME until we have everything in final shape to let Mother Nature take over. We will be back on at ME like over the weekend when temps are really cold. Fortunately, we are way ahead of most past years with the volume of snow made at both mountains.

[HowieT2]

This morning was another interesting one. I watched the snowstake last night and looked at it when I woke up and it was accumulating up to 6" but we checked in the am and I think the wetness and wind actually maed the real snowpack on the upper mountain more like 3" so that is what we reported.

We dodged a bullet and the mountain skied really well today. My pick of the day was Stein's but there were a lot of other nice runs. This snow is going to pack in very well and set up the entire mountain. Later tonight we will be resuming snowmaking on Upper Snowball Spring Fling and Gondolier. The right side of Spring Fling is thin and we want to get that in well. Will be subsequently going to Birdland and Sunrise and spotting up other spots. Over at ME our next plan will be Cliffs and Cruiser as the rest of the mountain is in good shape and the groomers can manage the condition well now especially with some snow likely over the next few days and nights. We have consolidated snow making crews so we will be alternating now between LP and ME until we have everything in final shape to let Mother Nature take over. We will be back on at ME like over the weekend when temps are really cold. Fortunately, we are way ahead of most past years with the volume of snow made at both mountains.

The accepted method for measuring snowfall for official records is to clear and measure every 6 hours (however not even all nws sites follow) due to the fact that the snow settles. I don't think any ski resort does that. But you could get 6" of snow that settles down to 3" pack. The snowstake is a valuable and fascinating tool, but the data needs to be adjusted in certain circumstances.

Fwiw-while we were getting what almost 3 feet of snow at the bird, they were blowing snow from a fan gun at one of the base areas.
Also, crazy what's going down in the sierras. Looks like a lot of snow but also a lot of rain.

[cdskier]

FWIW, there was some major digging out done this afternoon of the snow stake and surrounding area...

[nhskier1969]

What did they do to the trail down to the Castlerock Chair this morning. It was like skiing on bowling balls.

[Hawk]

I liked it. It definitely showed who actually belonged and who didn't. Also some entertainment while standing in line. Hope the snow stake fills in so we can have some more engaging conversation about that. LOL

[winjr]

I liked it. It definitely showed who actually belonged and who didn't. Also some entertainment while standing in line. Hope the snow stake fills in so we can have some more engaging conversation about that. LOL

We made snow into the Connection and pushed it our but did not till it. We will till it our after the weekend.

[winjr]

FWIW, there was some major digging out done this afternoon of the snow stake and surrounding area...


Yes, we did and also raised the platform. We think this will make it even more accurate. Now we need some snow to check it out.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Yes, we did and also raised the platform. We think this will make it even more accurate. Now we need some snow to check it out.

That should def help make it more accurate. Lets pray for more snow and less rain in the upcoming warm up.

Win would you consider putting the snowfall totals for mid and base on the snow report page under the seasonal total column? Just curious about the totals so far at the other spots.

Also one thing I've noticed a lot more of this season is why is the Photo of the Day always seem to be a canned image from another day? It rarely seems to be a photo actually from today whenever i check the image of the day. Like the weather is completely different. like if its a snowy day there's a photo that pops up at 7am showing someone skiing in fresh snow but its obvious it didn't come from that day. Same with the social media posts seem to have a lot of photos from past days, though usually will say when the photo was taken.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Interesting watching the snow cam this evening. It should be a lot more accurate not that it's raised. Hooray! The wind is blowing hard and you can see the wind blown snow filling in the hole dug out around the board but now that the board isn't in a hole it isn't being affected by that wind loading. This should give a much more accurate reading. So stoked to see that the board isn't filling in with the wind like it used to (though marketing may not like it as much)Looks like a dusting now but if it was in the hole probably would've been a couple inches so far.

Win props for the better set up. Keep it out of a hole and you'll probably see much more accurate readings. Let's hope the warm up isn't as bad as they say. Everyone so far this seasons has been colder and not as bad as expected.

[winjr]

Interesting watching the snow cam this evening. It should be a lot more accurate not that it's raised. Hooray! The wind is blowing hard and you can see the wind blown snow filling in the hole dug out around the board but now that the board isn't in a hole it isn't being affected by that wind loading. This should give a much more accurate reading. So stoked to see that the board isn't filling in with the wind like it used to (though marketing may not like it as much)Looks like a dusting now but if it was in the hole probably would've been a couple inches so far.

Win props for the better set up. Keep it out of a hole and you'll probably see much more accurate readings. Let's hope the warm up isn't as bad as they say. Everyone so far this seasons has been colder and not as bad as expected.

Yes, it does look accurate this morning. Looks like we are getting up to .5 inches of rain and then a cool down Thursday night. May not lose a lot but the groomers will have their work cut out for them. Friday could be rough but by Saturday should be better. If we could only end with some snow it would be a different story.. That happened this week,

[Njski]

Happy New Year Win. I have a question regarding the Slide Brook Express lift. I always see that it cannot operate without enough snow on the ground to allow for snowmobile access, in the case of a lift malfunction.
While I understand the theory, I have to ask; Why does it have to be snowmobiles? Couldn't you replace some of them with ATVs/Quads? This small investment would allow greater access in variable conditions, and allow your multi-million dollar investment (SBX) to be used instead of just sitting idle for the majority of the season.
Also, is this snowmobile rule a mandate, or is it a self imposed rule? I would have a hard time believing a snowmobile can get under the Cannon Mtn tram if that got stuck.
Thanks for doing a great job with my favorite resort, and I look forward to your response.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Yes, it does look accurate this morning. Looks like we are getting up to .5 inches of rain and then a cool down Thursday night. May not lose a lot but the groomers will have their work cut out for them. Friday could be rough but by Saturday should be better. If we could only end with some snow it would be a different story.. That happened this week,

I don't know by this morning it looked like a large drift again...not going to lie. but i guess 100mph winds will do that or whatever that was last night. you could see all the snow fill in around the board and then the whole thing came up.

I saw you reported 4" at the summit when the stake showed 6 so good to see its getting overruled when its not showing reality. you have no idea how much thats appreciated. always better to be right than to continue to report amounts guests wont find on the hill.

i will say in my travels at both sugarbush and stowe that snow cam has been a topic of discussion and it does seem like its getting a reputation of measuring in a drift or a hole or whatever. don't want to see sugarbush get a jay peak reputation but it seems like its taken heat off jay's numbers as everyone is focused on the bush's cam. great marketing idea as people are talking for sure.

[cdskier]

This small investment would allow greater access in variable conditions, and allow your multi-million dollar investment (SBX) to be used instead of just sitting idle for the majority of the season.

Just to be clear, Win didn't make a multi-million dollar investment in the Slide Brook chair. It just happened to come with the mountain when he bought the resort. :P

[BushSnowStake]

Sugarbushskier9-

It's me, the snowstake. I know you're obsessed with me and my measurements but please give me and my owner Win a break. Time to give it a rest. I was comfortable in that hole and because of your unexplainable obsession with me I am now elevated and exposed. Are you content with this change? Nope, now you don't like how my measurements may be a little off in hurricane force winds. I am trying to not take his personally but your relentlessness is starting to wear me out. It's a long season and I am doing my best. Close the webcam once in a while and do something more productive and less stress inducing. Whether I am reading 0, 4 inches, or two feet, relax and enjoy the skiing.

Regards,

BushSnowStake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sugarbushskier9]

Sugarbushskier9-

It's me, the snowstake. I know you're obsessed with me and my measurements but please give me and my owner Win a break. Time to give it a rest. I was comfortable in that hole and because of your unexplainable obsession with me I am now elevated and exposed. Are you content with this change? Nope, now you don't like how my measurements may be a little off in hurricane force winds. I am trying to not take his personally but your relentlessness is starting to wear me out. It's a long season and I am doing my best. Close the webcam once in a while and do something more productive and less stress inducing. Whether I am reading 0, 4 inches, or two feet, relax and enjoy the skiing.

Regards,

BushSnowStake


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this is amazing!!! are you the snowstake rabbit?

heading up for some turns today in the rain as it's my day off and that's what we do. i'll stop by and leave you a heady topper later and have a chat. if any of you see a heady sitting next to the stake you'll know sugarbush skier made up with the stake. tho I don't condone littering so I'll make sure to pack your can out when you are done with it. or just give it to the top operator of the Gate, they know what to do with a topper.

[winjr]

Happy New Year Win. I have a question regarding the Slide Brook Express lift. I always see that it cannot operate without enough snow on the ground to allow for snowmobile access, in the case of a lift malfunction.
While I understand the theory, I have to ask; Why does it have to be snowmobiles? Couldn't you replace some of them with ATVs/Quads? This small investment would allow greater access in variable conditions, and allow your multi-million dollar investment (SBX) to be used instead of just sitting idle for the majority of the season.
Also, is this snowmobile rule a mandate, or is it a self imposed rule? I would have a hard time believing a snowmobile can get under the Cannon Mtn tram if that got stuck.
Thanks for doing a great job with my favorite resort, and I look forward to your response.

I am not sure that would work. If it were ground all the way then an ATV would work. What we have now are exposed water bars at the lower elevations and then a decent amount of snow at the upper elevations. We do bring a groomer in to try to make the roads work but there just is not enough snowpack to more around.

[djd66]

Looks like the snow stake has a case of shrinkage. Oye,.... Not good.

[Dblshot]

Sugarbushskier9-

It's me, the snowstake. I know you're obsessed with me and my measurements but please give me and my owner Win a break. Time to give it a rest. I was comfortable in that hole and because of your unexplainable obsession with me I am now elevated and exposed. Are you content with this change? Nope, now you don't like how my measurements may be a little off in hurricane force winds. I am trying to not take his personally but your relentlessness is starting to wear me out. It's a long season and I am doing my best. Close the webcam once in a while and do something more productive and less stress inducing. Whether I am reading 0, 4 inches, or two feet, relax and enjoy the skiing.

Regards,

BushSnowStake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha!! This is awesome, couldn't agree more and said it better myself. Just be happy there is a stake and camera at the summit!!!

[cdskier]

Haha!! This is awesome, couldn't agree more and said it better myself. Just be happy there is a stake and camera at the summit!!!

That was pure brilliance by whoever posted that. I got a good laugh out of it yesterday when I read it.

[Sugarbushskier9]

That was pure brilliance by whoever posted that. I got a good laugh out of it yesterday when I read it.

it really is an amazing post. opened my eyes to how annoying I was being. let my annoyance of the industrys marketing of snowfall get in the way of realizing that yes it's just a stick next to a camera that drifts from time to time.

anyway yesterday was a really sweet day aside from some wind holds but that was expected. soft snow everywhere but a little sticky in the natural snow areas. overall it was like a day in March when you can ski anything and feel like a pro ha. doubt the same can be said today.

[phin]

i hope you guys enjoyed winter this year.. all two weeks of it.

[sglatham]

i hope you guys enjoyed winter this year.. all two weeks of it.

Winter so far has been the prequel. The real deal starts in about 10 days. And it will last for more than 2 weeks.

[brave fellow]

i hope you guys enjoyed winter this year.. all two weeks of it.

Checking the extended forecast for the region is more depressing than reading Donal Trumps twitter feed.

[HowieT2]

Keep,the faith!

[winjr]

Keep,the faith!

Remember the winter of the three Holiday storm including the Valentine's Day four footer. Winter that year did not begin until February.

[cdskier]

Remember the winter of the three Holiday storm including the Valentine's Day four footer. Winter that year did not begin until February.

Funny...was just talking about that winter last night with Jason at pizza soul while waiting to pick up my pizza


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[HowieT2]

Remember the winter of the three Holiday storm including the Valentine's Day four footer. Winter that year did not begin until February.
We'll never forget '07. And I'll never forget how bad it was prior thereto. I distinctly recall being at a holiday party and lamenting the incredible warmth and lack of snow when a fellow skier told me not to worry. It started turning around super bowl weekend.

[cdskier]

Kudos to mountain ops. I was pleasantly surprised this weekend!

I'll copy/paste most of what I posted in the Sugarbush thread over on AZ:

While they may be only making snow on a handful of trails at a time...they are absolutely hammering them with a nice quality snow.

Downspout skied really nicely on Saturday with the ungroomed gunpowder. Today it was nice again this morning even after being groomed. Lower Organgrinder skied nice under the guns yesterday. Steins was mostly good under the guns yesterday (although there were still a few icy spots you had to watch out for under the snow). Today Stein's was skiing really nice after they turned the guns off. Organgrinder this morning had near 0 visibility at the top so I cut in off the traverse from Jester. The snow was sweet, but visibility was still a bit of a challenge, although better than it had been at the very top. I felt like at times I had to almost duck under the snowgun towers as the piles were so tall. Amazing how much snow they can pump out with cold temps.

The snow squalls this morning were a pleasant surprise as is the shift in the forecast for mid-week where it looks like they may now get 6+ inches of snow instead of the unfrozen stuff in the forecast just a few days ago. Still a long way to go to getting the mountain back in peak shape, but it is still a positive turn of events to help get us through things until the pattern changes later this month.

[nhskier1969]

Kudos to mountain ops. I was pleasantly surprised this weekend!

I'll copy/paste most of what I posted in the Sugarbush thread over on AZ:

While they may be only making snow on a handful of trails at a time...they are absolutely hammering them with a nice quality snow.

Downspout skied really nicely on Saturday with the ungroomed gunpowder. Today it was nice again this morning even after being groomed. Lower Organgrinder skied nice under the guns yesterday. Steins was mostly good under the guns yesterday (although there were still a few icy spots you had to watch out for under the snow). Today Stein's was skiing really nice after they turned the guns off. Organgrinder this morning had near 0 visibility at the top so I cut in off the traverse from Jester. The snow was sweet, but visibility was still a bit of a challenge, although better than it had been at the very top. I felt like at times I had to almost duck under the snowgun towers as the piles were so tall. Amazing how much snow they can pump out with cold temps.

The snow squalls this morning were a pleasant surprise as is the shift in the forecast for mid-week where it looks like they may now get 6+ inches of snow instead of the unfrozen stuff in the forecast just a few days ago. Still a long way to go to getting the mountain back in peak shape, but it is still a positive turn of events to help get us through things until the pattern changes later this month.

+1
I can't believe I'm am going to say this but Downspout skied great the past two days. Birdland skied great. Mountain ops did a great job putting the mtn back together.
btw, dusting to an inch seemed alot more from the turns I saw on Ripcord.

[winjr]

Kudos to mountain ops. I was pleasantly surprised this weekend!

I'll copy/paste most of what I posted in the Sugarbush thread over on AZ:

While they may be only making snow on a handful of trails at a time...they are absolutely hammering them with a nice quality snow.

Downspout skied really nicely on Saturday with the ungroomed gunpowder. Today it was nice again this morning even after being groomed. Lower Organgrinder skied nice under the guns yesterday. Steins was mostly good under the guns yesterday (although there were still a few icy spots you had to watch out for under the snow). Today Stein's was skiing really nice after they turned the guns off. Organgrinder this morning had near 0 visibility at the top so I cut in off the traverse from Jester. The snow was sweet, but visibility was still a bit of a challenge, although better than it had been at the very top. I felt like at times I had to almost duck under the snowgun towers as the piles were so tall. Amazing how much snow they can pump out with cold temps.

The snow squalls this morning were a pleasant surprise as is the shift in the forecast for mid-week where it looks like they may now get 6+ inches of snow instead of the unfrozen stuff in the forecast just a few days ago. Still a long way to go to getting the mountain back in peak shape, but it is still a positive turn of events to help get us through things until the pattern changes
later this month.

The Mountain Team thanks you. They have been working hard to get the mountain in shape for this busy weekend. The Strategy of putting down very good depth pays off when we have weather event like last week. The ten day forecast is now looking a bit better and possibly some nice snow Tuesday into Wednesday.

[shadyjay]

It was a busy weekend, that's for sure, for us snowmakers. Over the course of the weekend, we put down some serious depth on Downspout, OG, Lower OG, SB/Fling, and Stein's. It was a LOT of digging and moving around, which kept us nice and warm. I sampled the fruits of those efforts today (and will again tomorrow). Seeing some of those piles we made during the daylight is truly awe-inspiring.

[winjr]

It was a busy weekend, that's for sure, for us snowmakers. Over the course of the weekend, we put down some serious depth on Downspout, OG, Lower OG, SB/Fling, and Stein's. It was a LOT of digging and moving around, which kept us nice and warm. I sampled the fruits of those efforts today (and will again tomorrow). Seeing some of those piles we made during the daylight is truly awe-inspiring.

You and your team are doing a great job. Wait until we see tonight's snow on top of a winched Organgrinder. ��

[shadyjay]

You and your team are doing a great job. Wait until we see tonight's snow on top of a winched Organgrinder. ��

Thanks Win! I'd love to sample a groomed OG tomorrow, but headin' for the MEllen and hoping for some nice freshies over there. Of course that is the plan right now, subject to change.

[nhskier1969]

Anyone ski at SB today? How did they fair? snow/sleet any freezing rain?

[shadyjay]

Anyone ski at SB today? How did they fair? snow/sleet any freezing rain?

Couple inches... a net gain, better than a slap in the face. Also some freezing rain and ice which delayed some lifts both yesterday and today. Conditions I thought were better out there today than yesterday. And we're going to make snow again starting tomorrow night.

[Sugarbushskier9]

What a squall at the end of the day! Just got done, soaked but seemed like 2" in like one hour at Ally's lodge. Should be fun tomorrow.

[Hawk]

What a surprise today. it totally blew our expectations. Skied untracked all day at both Lincoln Peak and Mt Ellen. Lots of happy faces all over the place. :-)

[cdskier]

Spent the day at ME. Was great for sure.


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[djd66]

Yep, best skiing since '15-16

[Sugarbushskier9]

Sick weekend.

[winjr]

I am batting 100%. Whenever I take a " bus man's" holiday and go West to explore what others are doing, the snow comes to The Bush. Have been skiing under some Blue Bird skies at Breckinridge but missed the earlier powder days here and watched the Various social media posts enviously. The pattern going forward is looking good. You all deserve it.

[nhskier1969]

Boy the mountain skied awesome this weekend. Anyone know what skier visits on saturday. Was busy but with slide brook and castlerock running , it seemed to spread the mountain out. Great weekend at the Bush.

[teleo]

I am batting 100%. Whenever I take a " bus man's" holiday and go West to explore what others are doing, the snow comes to The Bush.

Please go away more often😉

Was a great weekend. Hit a lot of stuff that was never in play last season, and it was all great!

[winjr]

Boy the mountain skied awesome this weekend. Anyone know what skier visits on saturday. Was busy but with slide brook and castlerock running , it seemed to spread the mountain out. Great weekend at the Bush.

About 7,700 on Saturday. When everything is open and the woods are inviting SB can handle a couple of thousand more.

[Treeskier]

Guess you need to go explore more often. Great Weekend.

https://scontent.fphl1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16266119_1222064501248118_844408206763522329_n.jpg ?oh=65ccc50f61626b78a2b33e273033c1d7&oe=59184FD0

Monday at Mad River.
https://scontent.fphl1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16406431_1224489574338944_5172940120079648729_n.jp g?oh=c32c367179437552be031c9d0ecc495c&oe=591950D8

[Sugarbushskier9]

Much better than expected today at LP.

Looks like around 3" of snow has freshened it up nicely. Heavens Gate skiing real well.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Wild drifting this week on the snow cam...seems like every day there's another foot in front of it.

[Benski]

Wild drifting this week on the snow cam...seems like every day there's another foot in front of it.

It should move up with the snow depth. Just pick it up. Fill in the hole and but it down in top of the snow.

[Hawk]

Good weekend up at Stowe with friends but time to head home to Sugarbush. I have a strong feeling that tomorrow is going to be off the hook cuz it's snowing Wicked Haaard! (insert Boston Accent)

[cdskier]

I noticed the afternoon snow report said they are grooming Hammerhead tonight. When was the last time that trail was groomed? I don't know if I ever remember seeing that on a grooming report since I've been skiing at Sugarbush.

The current dumping of snow should do wonders to cover up most remnants of the last thaw/freeze. I'm jealous of anyone that will be up there and enjoying it tomorrow. I won't be back up now until the 2/25 weekend as I always skip the start of President's week and do a daytrip to the Catskills instead.

[winjr]

I noticed the afternoon snow report said they are grooming Hammerhead tonight. When was the last time that trail was groomed? I don't know if I ever remember seeing that on a grooming report since I've been skiing at Sugarbush.

The current dumping of snow should do wonders to cover up most remnants of the last thaw/freeze. I'm jealous of anyone that will be up there and enjoying it tomorrow. I won't be back up now until the 2/25 weekend as I always skip the start of President's week and do a daytrip to the Catskills instead.

Rarely but we are doing a number of trails to set them up for this week's powder. Guiding Cabin Cat first tracks in a foot of freshies on North Lynx. More to come later this week.

[cdskier]

I see a number of people in line at Bravo already on the webcam. They are either really dedicated to making sure they are at the front of the line by being there an hour before the lift opens, or they didn't realize Bravo opens at 9 today. I hope for their sake it is the former and they were expecting to be standing around for an hour. Either way though they'll be getting some great runs in when the lifts open. I see a good number of people enjoying early runs on GMX already. Looks like more people using GMX right now than most weekends!

[Dblshot]

Wind hold!

[djd66]

Got to love this one!

[cdskier]

Been a while since every lift (except CR) has been on wind hold at the same time. Hope it dies down for the people up there so they have more options as the day goes on. The giant drift in front of the snow stake cam is pretty impressive at the moment too...

[Dblshot]

So is the line at CR

[cdskier]

Can't say I'm surprised being the only lift running...

[ManyTurns]

Mad river, Stowe, Jay, Killington are all open. Sugarbush is somehow able to run only Castlerock. They can even run Sunny D. It's like they're not even trying.

[cdskier]

Mad river, Stowe, Jay, Killington are all open. Sugarbush is somehow able to run only Castlerock. They can even run Sunny D. It's like they're not even trying.

Four-runner at Stowe is on wind hold. But not sure what any of those places have to do with Sugarbush anyway. Each mountain is unique with regards to wind and lifts. It is a pretty ridiculous comment to say Sugarbush isn't trying. I'm sure they are thrilled to have wind holds on a day like today. I have 100% trust in the decisions made by lift ops on wind holds at Sugarbush. If they put a lift on hold, it is for damn good reason. I've personally been on some lifts right before they went on wind holds in the past. Trust me, if there's a wind hold, you don't want to be on that lift.

[Benski]

Can someone explain how the Welcome Mat is on windhold? is this a joke.

[Dblshot]

Yes a frustrating day of no skiing (chose not to hike to CR). And seeing all other mountains open including Mad River. I'm sure they would have liked to be open with the crowd that showed up. As for the welcome mat, maybe the wind was blowing all the kids over

[Benski]

As for the welcome mat, maybe the wind was blowing all the kids over

That would make a great meme or gif.

[djd66]

Come on,... Seriously people? Yeah, they are not running the lifts b/c they don't want to spend the money. I can't believe someone was complaining about this (well, actually I can). What impresses me is that they got Castle Rock up and running and people hiked up there to ski,.... That's awesome!

[winjr]

No real need for me to respond since a number of you did already. If you were here yesterday, you would know why all but CR were on windhold. Some of the nastiest winds I have seen here. And yes, kids were not safe on the Welcome Mat. What impressed me were the number of hikers not only to CR but everywhere. I saw one mom with three kids later in the day who told me her preteen son and two friends hiked up and skied Sleeper and had their best run ever. All three kids gave me high fives. Sugarbush skiers and riders are awesome.

Mother Nature will send some Valentine's love today and later this week. Looks like a great weekend shaping up.

[Benski]

Any bets on how long how long this line was. I am going with just over an hour, with the kine in the picture on facebook reaching too far up the hill to see.

[nhskier1969]

Any bets on how long how long this line was. I am going with just over an hour, with the kine in the picture on facebook reaching too far up the hill to see.
Here is another picture
331

I heard the single chair at MRG was worse

[shadyjay]

I wish I got a shot of the exodus from a full Valley House and Super Bravo corral yesterday when the word came that Castlerock was open for hiking. I heard the lift line for CR was up around the bend and up the connection a ways, probably ending somewhere near the bottom of Cotillion. That's a LONG lift line!

I can further assure those wondering that the winds were intense all over the mountain. Anyone who hiked up to the Gate House plateau or to the top of Valley House would know. After talking with the lift mechanics today (who check the wind every 30 minutes on a lift that is on wind hold), it was some of the gnarliest wind they've seen. I'm going on almost 10 years working here and don't recall ever seeing the wind affect both mountains and (almost) all the lifts. Usually its just one mountain or the other, or the upper lifts at both mountains. But yesterday, the wind direction was variable and the gusts were intense. Kudos to those who hiked up yesterday in those conditions!

Today was a picture-perfect day. Blue skies, comfortable temps, and calm winds. And the snow wasn't bad either!

[Benski]

A line to the bottom of cotillion would have been 1321'. Estimating 5'8" per skier the line was 233 pairs long, assuming it was one continues line. The corral is 60' so if there were 4 lines in the corral then there would have been about 263 pairs skiers in line. I think only 3 chairs load a minuet so that would be an 87.6 minuet wait assuming everyone was waiting in pairs. Sounds bad enough you might as well spend all day hiking.

[winjr]

A line to the bottom of cotillion would have been 1321'. Estimating 5'8" per skier the line was 233 pairs long, assuming it was one continues line. The corral is 60' so if there were 4 lines in the corral then there would have been about 263 pairs skiers in line. I think only 3 chairs load a minuet so that would be an 87.6 minuet wait assuming everyone was waiting in pairs. Sounds bad enough you might as well spend all day hiking.
We were estimating an hour but did not do Benski's math. Someone told we the drive up the access road to Stowe on the Access road was even longer.

Our weather forecaster this morning is predicting 7-11" by Friday and he is usuallly conservative. Winds not as bad this time.

[Njski]

Was anything done for those who purchased lift tickets, and were left with little to no options?

[nhskier1969]

Whats going on with the snow stake? Have they given up? LOL

[winjr]

Was anything done for those who purchased lift tickets, and were left with little to no options?

Yes. If you had an issue email me directly. wsmith@sugarbush.com

[winjr]

Whats going on with the snow stake? Have they given up? LOL

No! Probably have to dig out more around it today

[Njski]

Yes. If you had an issue email me directly. wsmith@sugarbush.com

Thanks Win. I was not there, but I appreciate your concern. I am sure it was handled in the usual professional way that has helped form Sugarbush's reputation.

[El Bishop]

Here are a few shots of the hike and the line. The line wasn't all that bad and moved into the corral pretty quickly -- maybe 40 mins. The ride up was so cold and most smart folks made a stop in the warming hut. It really was a tribute to the SB community that hundreds of people said "let's go -- we have to hike to ski, so be it" and with minimal complaint. My six year old did most of the hike on his own before my wife offered to tow him the last pitch. Other kids were crawling but they all made it. It was fun! 332333334

[bumpcrasher]

Thanks Win. I was not there, but I appreciate your concern. I am sure it was handled in the usual professional way that has helped form Sugarbush's reputation.

Absolutely handled it the right way. Plenty of announcements in the Gate House Lodge and Guest Services was very accommodating to the people I had up as guests with day tickets.

Looks like tomorrow and this weekend should be great!

[winjr]

Here are a few shots of the hike and the line. The line wasn't all that bad and moved into the corral pretty quickly -- maybe 40 mins. The ride up was so cold and most smart folks made a stop in the warming hut. It really was a tribute to the SB community that hundreds of people said "let's go -- we have to hike to ski, so be it" and with minimal complaint. My six year old did most of the hike on his own before my wife offered to tow him the last pitch. Other kids were crawling but they all made it. It was fun! 332333334

Sugarbusher skiers and riders don't need heated bubble quads to have adventure and camaraderie. ��

[cdskier]

Sugarbusher skiers and riders don't need heated bubble quads to have adventure and camaraderie. ��

Haha! So true! Anytime someone suggests putting a bubble on one of our lifts I emphatically say we don't need it here! We're real skiers! :lol:

[Dblshot]

Gondola on slide brook would be nice

[Benski]

Gondola on slide brook would be nice

I think the slide brook lift is more likely to be removed.

[Hawk]

Off to St Anton for a tons of ridiculousness. Austrians are know for three things. Music, Skiing and serious Apre. We plan to thoroughly indulge in all three. Hope everybody has a fun Warm week.

See you next month.

[djd66]

Gondola on slide brook would be nice

+1 - would love to see this.

[cdskier]

IMO, a gondola to replace Slide Brook is a waste of money. Never mind the fact that the Slide Brook chair isn't exactly old and should have plenty of years left on it.

[djd66]

Get rid of 1/2 the chairs and replace with cars or bubble chairs.

[nhskier1969]

Anyone know what the skier visits were for Saturday and Sunday at SB. K is saying they had just over 17,500 skiers on Saturday. I was wondering if Sugarbush had over 9k on Saturday. Saturday seemed a lot busier than Christmas week of MLK weekend. Didn't even bother with Sunday.

[shadyjay]

Anyone know what the skier visits were for Saturday and Sunday at SB. K is saying they had just over 17,500 skiers on Saturday. I was wondering if Sugarbush had over 9k on Saturday. Saturday seemed a lot busier than Christmas week of MLK weekend. Didn't even bother with Sunday.

I believe Saturday came in over 9k. Base area corrals were pretty full. Bravo was running at a reduced speed on Saturday due to the wind but was back up to full speed on Sunday. Sunday was a little less busy, still in the low 9k range, but most took advantage of the sun and later grooming on the Gate House side.

I can't even imagine 17k!

Regardless, good for the mountain, good for the Valley, good for the state!

[phin]

looks like it's gonna be another march hoping for a miracle.

[cdskier]

So what's up with North Ridge? Anyone know what happened?

[winjr]

So what's up with North Ridge? Anyone know what happened?

The motor blew up on Monday. We shipped it out to Springfield, MA for repair and waiting to hear if it can be repaired or we need to buy a new one. Very frustrating as this was rebuilt two years ago and only had 1,500 of run time.one. It should have latest 10,000 hours. We should know more today..

[cdskier]

The motor blew up on Monday. We shipped it out to Springfield, MA for repair and waiting to hear if it can be repaired or we need to buy a new one. Very frustrating as this was rebuilt two years ago and only had 1,500 of run time.one. It should have latest 10,000 hours. We should know more today..

Ouch. That's a tough break and certainly frustrating.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Any chance for snowmaking to freshen things up this weekend?

I see Stowe is turning on the guns and so is Killington.,.

Sometimes peer pressure works

[djd66]

Any chance for snowmaking to freshen things up this weekend?

I see Stowe is turning on the guns and so is Killington.,.

Sometimes peer pressure works

Quite honestly, I wish the mountain would rethink its snow making schedule. Given the past 3 out of 4 seasons - to me it makes sense to blow some snow in a lean February/March like we have this year. Just like Mortimer said - turn those machines on!!!

If the season is going to be over at the end of March, I may need to rethink my seasons pass purchase in the future.

I know turning the guns on may not make sense right now from a financial perspective, but if there is any money left in the budget, would be nice to see a refresh.

It's funny, I remember skiing into late April every year, now it's nice if we can make it through March.

[cdskier]

Quite honestly, I wish the mountain would rethink its snow making schedule. Given the past 3 out of 4 seasons - to me it makes sense to blow some snow in a lean February/March like we have this year. Just like Mortimer said - turn those machines on!!!

If the season is going to be over at the end of March, I may need to rethink my seasons pass purchase in the future.

I know turning the guns on may not make sense right now from a financial perspective, but if there is any money left in the budget, would be nice to see a refresh.

It's funny, I remember skiing into late April every year, now it's nice if we can make it through March.

While I agree I would at least like to see a bit of snowmaking being done now (if for nothing more than to not be the odd man out with everyone else seemingly making some snow), I don't agree that we've had that many questions of whether we could make it through March. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, the mountain was still 100% open at the end of March. In 2016 my last day was April 17, in 2015 it was April 26, in 2014 it was May 3, and in 2013 it was April 21. Other than the May 3rd date, all those were personal last dates for me but the mountain was still open after that. 2012 was the only year in the last 5 seasons where I only skied until the end of March due to lack of snow (and the mountain closed early April that year as did most everyone else in the Northeast). Every other year the mountain has been open late into April or even the first weekend of May.

This year could be another story...we'll have to wait and see how the weather goes. The late spring skiing trails don't look quite as deep to me as other years, but I'm not basing this on anything scientific or quantitative so my eyes could easily be wrong.

[winjr]

While I agree I would at least like to see a bit of snowmaking being done now (if for nothing more than to not be the odd man out with everyone else seemingly making some snow), I don't agree that we've had that many questions of whether we could make it through March. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, the mountain was still 100% open at the end of March. In 2016 my last day was April 17, in 2015 it was April 26, in 2014 it was May 3, and in 2013 it was April 21. Other than the May 3rd date, all those were personal last dates for me but the mountain was still open after that. 2012 was the only year in the last 5 seasons where I only skied until the end of March due to lack of snow (and the mountain closed early April that year as did most everyone else in the Northeast). Every other year the mountain has been open late into April or even the first weekend of May.

This year could be another story...we'll have to wait and see how the weather goes. The late spring skiing trails don't look quite as deep to me as other years, but I'm not basing this on anything scientific or quantitative so my eyes could easily be wrong.

The facts are that since we have owned Sugarbush we have been one of the last three or four ski areas in the East to close. That is because we make a lot of extra snow on our spring trails: Stein's, Spring Fling, Snowball and Spring Fling. The only area who has stayed open later has been Killington with Super Star. We have a lot of depth left of trails where we have made snow. Can't do anything about natural trails. I don't know the shape of others. That said we had a heavy grooming plan last night and will assess everything today.

[nhskier1969]

The facts are that since we have owned Sugarbush we have been one of the last three or four ski areas in the East to close. That is because we make a lot of extra snow on our spring trails: Stein's, Spring Fling, Snowball and Spring Fling. The only area who has stayed open later has been Killington with Super Star. We have a lot of depth left of trails where we have made snow. Can't do anything about natural trails. I don't know the shape of others. That said we had a heavy grooming plan last night and will assess everything today.

To me the snowmaking trails at Lincoln peak do not seem at deep as last year. Does Stiens have a 8 foot base like it did this time last year? Birch looks like its getting bottlenecked more and more. Some of the rollers on snowball were showing bare spots. It also looks like the other day you were loosing the right side of downspout.

[winjr]

The grooming team did a very nice job last night including on Stein's and tonight we will get to some other trails that we could not do last night like Ripcord. While the mountains has been put back together well, we are going to resume snowmaking on a number of the Gatehouse and Valley House trails this evening. We are calling back snowmakers from their lift and grooming jobs to patch a couple of air leaks today and then fire up this evening. With the temperatures forecasted tonight we should see some nice soft powder on a number of trails tomorrow morning. So bundle up and come on out.

[teleo]

Good to hear. Was starting to be on the fence about this weekend. This might convince my daughter to join me too.

[cdskier]

That's very good news. If nothing else, it is good PR to have the guns running.

[winjr]

Good to hear. Was starting to be on the fence about this weekend. This might convince my daughter to join me too.

Good luck! Bundle up for tomorrow. Sunday will be a lot warmer. As I said I was really pleased with the grooming this morning and did the first run down Stein's. Plan is to touch up portions of Upper Sleeper, Lower Pushover, Easy Rider and run on Upper Snowball and Spring Fling and in the LP base area. Will run all night and start turning of in the morning to make for a pleasant day. Hopefully the winds will cooperate.

[El Bishop]

Thanks, Win!

[phin]

this dude is a boss, but mark this as something you shouldn't try at sugarbush this weekend

https://www.facebook.com/goflythere/videos/955637534572527/

[djd66]

The grooming team did a very nice job last night including on Stein's and tonight we will get to some other trails that we could not do last night like Ripcord. While the mountains has been put back together well, we are going to resume snowmaking on a number of the Gatehouse and Valley House trails this evening. We are calling back snowmakers from their lift and grooming jobs to patch a couple of air leaks today and then fire up this evening. With the temperatures forecasted tonight we should see some nice soft powder on a number of trails tomorrow morning. So bundle up and come on out.

Thats what I'm talking about! Thank Win. My previous post was much less about what Sugarbush is doing - rather what the weather seems to have been doing over the past 3 out of 4 seasons. I'm not a scientist - so who the hell know what is is up. All I know - March use to be the biggest snow month of the year,... not so much anymore. I do not envy you or your job at all. If I were in your shoes - I would be a major alcoholic or be heavily medicated - or both!

[Sugarbushskier9]

Any chance for snowmaking to freshen things up this weekend?

I see Stowe is turning on the guns and so is Killington.,.

Sometimes peer pressure works

Nice looks like peer pressure works! Sort of like would Stowe be making snow today if Killington didn't? And if Killington and Stowe didn't today, would Sugarbush tonight/tomorrow? By Sunday we'll see Jay and Smuggs making snow too. Ha ha

[Orca]

Observations: SB makes snow on a trail to get it open and continues to make snow until the depth is such that the trail can reasonably be expected to remain covered for the season. After that it is up to Mother Nature and grooming to maintain the surface. SB doesn't use snowmaking to resurface and improve the experience once sufficient snow depth is established. SB puts away the guns as soon as possible for cost containment. Snowmaking almost never happens in March. Basically, SB is not a premier snowmaking place, for better or worse.

On the plus side, SB is blessed with more natural snow than most New England ski areas.

[cdskier]

Nice job by mountain ops. Other than the cold, it was very enjoyable out there today. The groomers did a nice job and the inch or so from Mother Nature added a nice touch. Runs under the guns on snowball and spring fling were sweet. Thanks for turning on the guns!


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[teleo]

Yes, it was cold, but the mtn skiing was good all over, and especially good on snowball to fling. Win, thanks for the guns! And yes, my daughter came up but too cold for her, so off to sharc now.

[teleo]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170304/e50a2bdf27f235c3dc5ac1ce671f9ee6.jpg

[Sugarbushskier9]

Nice looks like peer pressure works! Sort of like would Stowe be making snow today if Killington didn't? And if Killington and Stowe didn't today, would Sugarbush tonight/tomorrow? By Sunday we'll see Jay and Smuggs making snow too. Ha ha

And Smuggs has fired up the snow guns.

We can all thank Killington. I highly doubt other areas wouldve made snow if Killington didn't start the trend. This is an example of good competition for VT skiers and riders...no one wants to be left out.

[Hawk]

Orca hits the nail on the head. This is exactly what I have been saying for years. Nice job kid. This is my only real gripe with what I consider an almost perfect mountain. Alas I can only dream that. Anyway thanks for turning on the guns for at least one more weekend.


Observations: SB makes snow on a trail to get it open and continues to make snow until the depth is such that the trail can reasonably be expected to remain covered for the season. After that it is up to Mother Nature and grooming to maintain the surface. SB doesn't use snowmaking to resurface and improve the experience once sufficient snow depth is established. SB puts away the guns as soon as possible for cost containment. Snowmaking almost never happens in March. Basically, SB is not a premier snowmaking place, for better or worse.

On the plus side, SB is blessed with more natural snow than most New England ski areas.

[shadyjay]

It was a pleasure to make snow for everyone. We had planned to do more (Pushover, Easy Rider) but other problems were found and could not be rectified in the window that we had. But doing a gun run on Snowball/Spring Fling and seeing everyone enjoying the product made us all feel good (especially for someone who usually works under the cover of darkness).

Here's to hoping Ma 'Nature helps us out for the rest of the season.

[djd66]

It was a pleasure to make snow for everyone. We had planned to do more (Pushover, Easy Rider) but other problems were found and could not be rectified in the window that we had. But doing a gun run on Snowball/Spring Fling and seeing everyone enjoying the product made us all feel good (especially for someone who usually works under the cover of darkness).

Here's to hoping Ma 'Nature helps us out for the rest of the season.

Thanks Shady - that was some nice product! I really enjoyed doing laps on Spring Fling today!!

Just curious - if the were hoses in place - how long does it take to light up the Snowball/Spring Fling Pod? How many workers do you need to set up and run?

[shadyjay]

Thanks Shady - that was some nice product! I really enjoyed doing laps on Spring Fling today!!

Just curious - if the were hoses in place - how long does it take to light up the Snowball/Spring Fling Pod? How many workers do you need to set up and run?

It varies... anywhere from 1-4 hours to light up, depending on what you may encounter. The more guys you have, the faster it goes. I had a crew of 4 with me on Saturday, not including our controller. All of us on that crew were "borrowed" from other departments for this weekend's light-up.

[cdskier]

Really nice job shady! Spring Fling was great both yesterday and today. That snow was so nice and dry (of course I'm sure the super cold temps created perfect conditions for that). I do wish Sugarbush did this type of thing more often in years with poor conditions due to crappy weather (so like Hawk the lack of this type of resurfacing as needed is really the only complaint I have about SB that I can think of).

[Sugarbushskier9]

Has anyone noticed some of the photos on social media of the snowmaking look like they were from November? There's very similar photos on November 13th lol, same two snowmakers. It can't be that hard to get outside and get some great snowmaking shots from current time.

I never really understood that, I've noticed it as well in the image of the day gallery that there are quite a few that are obviously not from the day they weee posted. But I guess it is "image of the day" not "image from today."

Great job Shady, fun to see Sugarbush making snow in March. Thanks for the effort.

[shadyjay]

Indeed, some of the shots posted on the FB page were from earlier in the season. But I did get some fresh shots from yesterday, which can be found in my 2016/2017 album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shadyjay/collections/72157661008287132/

It's not always easy to get good snowmaking shots. Sunrise shots are the best, if you're in the right place at the right time. My shots are all taken with my phone camera, which wasn't working the best in the sub-zero temps during the day.

[Benski]

Weren't a few photos posted to announce they were going to make snow, hence those photos had to be taken earlier in the year.

[winjr]

Weren't a few photos posted to announce they were going to make snow, hence those photos had to be taken earlier in the year.


Yes. They were identified as being from earlier in the year.

[Dblshot]

Don't know if I missed it somewhere, what's up with Northridge?

[cdskier]

Don't know if I missed it somewhere, what's up with Northridge?

The info is back a couple pages posted on 3/2 by win. Motor blew and was shipped out to be evaluated whether it could be repaired or not.


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[Sugarbushskier9]

Yes. They were identified as being from earlier in the year.

Oh didn't see that on the FB posts. Saw one on Insta.

You guys are on the Mountain Collective now as I was told weeks ago. Looks like it was announced today. Congrats.

[brave fellow]

Oh didn't see that on the FB posts. Saw one on Insta.

You guys are on the Mountain Collective now as I was told weeks ago. Looks like it was announced today. Congrats.
Just got the email from the mountain plus from my house crew. One thing we can't seem to agree on: if a SB season pass holder does NOT buy an MC pass, does the SB season pass holder still get 50% off all the MC mountains?

[Sugarbushskier9]

Weren't a few photos posted to announce they were going to make snow, hence those photos had to be taken earlier in the year.

Yeah the one I saw was on Saturday posted to FB after the guns had been running for a day. Look at Sat AM post and no mention of it from November.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Just got the email from the mountain plus from my house crew. One thing we can't seem to agree on: if a SB season pass holder does NOT buy an MC pass, does the SB season pass holder still get 50% off all the MC mountains?

My Stowe young adult pass this year included 50% off so I assume my SB pass will next year too.

[djd66]

My Stowe young adult pass this year included 50% off so I assume my SB pass will next year too.

I just checked the site, and it seems like this is the case,... Assuming an "All Mountain 7" is considered a premium pass. If that is the case - this is a fairly good deal then. I originally thought we would only benefit if you buy the additional $399 pass. If I can buy a pass at Snowmass 50% off, this is a good deal (or better than the 16-17' offering)

[nhskier1969]

Interesting you look at the mountian collective pass for $399 and you get two days at each resort. Then you look at the epic 4 day pass and for only $20 dollars more you get 4 days at each resort.

[Sugarbushskier9]

I just checked the site, and it seems like this is the case,... Assuming an "All Mountain 7" is considered a premium pass. If that is the case - this is a fairly good deal then. I originally thought we would only benefit if you buy the additional $399 pass. If I can buy a pass at Snowmass 50% off, this is a good deal (or better than the 16-17' offering)

Oh it's definitely an added benefit for pass holders. It costs you nothing and gets added benefit of 50% off lift tickets at the other resorts. Sugarbush had to add value to the pass somehow with the Epic pass announced today at $859 including Stowe.

[cdskier]

Interesting you look at the mountian collective pass for $399 and you get two days at each resort. Then you look at the epic 4 day pass and for only $20 dollars more you get 4 days at each resort.

Careful. The epic 4 day is just that...4 days total. It isn't 4 days at each. You can mix and match the 4 at the resorts they list, but you're not skiing 4 at vail plus 4 at abasin plus 4 at whistler, etc



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[djd66]

Careful. The epic 4 day is just that...4 days total. It isn't 4 days at each. You can mix and match the 4 at the resorts they list, but you're not skiing 4 at vail plus 4 at abasin plus 4 at whistler, etc



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Mountain collective will certainly be an improvement over what I have now. However - the epic pass is a fricken deal! (BETTER DEAL THAN THE COLLECTIVE PASS) I just skied in Switzerland and dropped many thousands on ski passes for myself and family. If i had an epic pas - that trip would have been free! (hotel and air fair were paid with points)

[winjr]

Just got the email from the mountain plus from my house crew. One thing we can't seem to agree on: if a SB season pass holder does NOT buy an MC pass, does the SB season pass holder still get 50% off all the MC mountains?

Details will be out on on 2017/2018 very soon!

[winjr]

I just checked the site, and it seems like this is the case,... Assuming an "All Mountain 7" is considered a premium pass. If that is the case - this is a fairly good deal then. I originally thought we would only benefit if you buy the additional $399 pass. If I can buy a pass at Snowmass 50% off, this is a good deal (or better than the 16-17' offering)

Good research. Stay tuned for all the info shortly.

[Benski]

Called it!

[Sugarbushskier9]

I just checked the site, and it seems like this is the case,... Assuming an "All Mountain 7" is considered a premium pass. If that is the case - this is a fairly good deal then. I originally thought we would only benefit if you buy the additional $399 pass. If I can buy a pass at Snowmass 50% off, this is a good deal (or better than the 16-17' offering)

What do you mean premium pass?

Wouldn't the young adult pass have it as well? I guess SB calls those the 420 pass and Early30s...which is what I bought this season.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Called it!

Yeah only logical after Stowe dropped off it that SB would pick up where Stowe left off.

Someone from SkiVermont who lives near me in Montpelier gave me the heads up weeks ago and it seemed almost immediately after Vail announced the purchase of Stowe.It happened amazingly quick. They must've called Win like that evening

[djd66]

What do you mean premium pass?

Wouldn't the young adult pass have it as well? I guess SB calls those the 420 pass and Early30s...which is what I bought this season.

Not sure if they will include the young adult pass - my guess is they will not - as you are not paying the premium price I am paying. The term "Premium Pass" comes from the Mtn. Collective website.

[cdskier]

What do you mean premium pass?

Wouldn't the young adult pass have it as well? I guess SB calls those the 420 pass and Early30s...which is what I bought this season.

"Premium" is the term Mountain Collective uses on their website. Stowe allowed all 7 day passholders to have access to the 50% off Mountain Collective benefit. The mid-week passes were the ones they didn't give the MC benefits to. Makes sense I think. We should know soon the details on what SB passes will be eligible for the free of charge 50% off lift ticket benefit.

[cdskier]

Mountain collective will certainly be an improvement over what I have now. However - the epic pass is a fricken deal! (BETTER DEAL THAN THE COLLECTIVE PASS) I just skied in Switzerland and dropped many thousands on ski passes for myself and family. If i had an epic pas - that trip would have been free! (hotel and air fair were paid with points)

No doubt the full Epic is a great deal. I was simply pointing out that comparing the MC to the Epic 4 day pass (As they are nearly the same price and nhskier was comparing the two) is misleading as they both do very different things. The MC pass gives you 2 passes at each participating resort (and then 50% off after that) while the Epic 4 day pass is really more like the Vail/Epic version of the Sugarbush Quad pack.

[Dblshot]

Do I sense RFID next year? Many of mountains on the MC have it. Just got back from Alta/Bird and it is awesome. Also love the corrals there with 4 lines and "front row".

[Sugarbushskier9]

No doubt the full Epic is a great deal. I was simply pointing out that comparing the MC to the Epic 4 day pass (As they are nearly the same price and nhskier was comparing the two) is misleading as they both do very different things. The MC pass gives you 2 passes at each participating resort (and then 50% off after that) while the Epic 4 day pass is really more like the Vail/Epic version of the Sugarbush Quad pack.

Yeah the Epic 4 is pretty useless for most people. You are basically buying a 4-day lift ticket that's transferable.

[djd66]

Do I sense RFID next year? Many of mountains on the MC have it. Just got back from Alta/Bird and it is awesome. Also love the corrals there with 4 lines and "front row".

yep, there is another thread on this subject. The RFID passes are way better than the technology that is being used now. EVERY other area I have visited recently has it. Say what you will about chatting with the ticket checkers - the RFID's are just so much easier and more efficient. If you are looking to chat with someone - just go in the singles line and strike up a conversation with some strangers on the lift,... just sayin :)

[nhskier1969]

No doubt the full Epic is a great deal. I was simply pointing out that comparing the MC to the Epic 4 day pass (As they are nearly the same price and nhskier was comparing the two) is misleading as they both do very different things. The MC pass gives you 2 passes at each participating resort (and then 50% off after that) while the Epic 4 day pass is really more like the Vail/Epic version of the Sugarbush Quad pack.

Yes once I read the "fine print". But still the epic pass is a great deal. However the collective pass with the 50% discount is good deal also. The 50% off comes out to be cheaper than the SB quad pack.

[winjr]

The passholder benefit of 50% off is only at other MC mountains.

[nhskier1969]

The passholder benefit of 50% off is only at other MC mountains.


Reading the fact page, it doesn't seem that way, I could be wrong,
Q&A from the mountain collective fact page:

What do I get when I join the Mountain Collective?
For the 2017/18 winter season, skiers and riders are invited to join the Mountain Collective. Those who join the Mountain Collective receive two free days of skiing or riding, unlimited 50% off single day lift tickets thereafter, and exclusive lodging deals at each of these 16 destinations: Alta (Utah), Aspen Snowmass (Colorado), Banff Sunshine (Alberta), Coronet Peak | The Remarkables (New Zealand), Jackson Hole (Wyoming), Lake Louise (Alberta), Mammoth Mountain (California), Revelstoke Mountain Resort (British Columbia), Snowbasin Resort (Utah), Snowbird (Utah), Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows (California), Sugarbush Resort (Vermont), Sun Valley (Idaho), Taos Ski Valley (New Mexico), and Telluride Ski Resort (Colorado). With the Mountain Collective, it’s now possible for passionate skiers and riders to claim thousands of vertical feet and chase ideal winter conditions across Alberta, Australia, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, New Zealand, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.
Affiliate Destinations Include: Chamonix (France), Hakuba Valley (Japan) and Valle Nevado (Chile). Please note that Mountain Collective Members only receive 2 free lift tickets at the global affiliate destinations, and other benefits do not apply. See more here.


or

Is it worth it to purchase the Mountain Collective Pass if I only visit one destination?
Typically, if you visit one destination for six days or more the pass will pay for itself.

[pinnoke]

I would presume the 50% offer is for the Passholder, only, and not transferable, or meant to encourage multiple ticket purchases on same day for family/friends (though that would be sweet!). So, since you'd already have your Sugarbush pass, you wouldn't be eligible for this benefit at your home resort?

[muddy_hollow]

A buddy of mine pinged me yesterday to chat about the MC pass. This is a guy who bounces around between resorts and is a bit frugal when it comes to lift tickets. He usually buys two quad packs at the bush. He commented that the MC wasn't bad but when compared to the passes from vail, he plans to go all in at Stowe next year. I told him to enjoy the long lift lines and the RFIDs.

My thought is that people will flock to Stowe next year, realize it's the same mountain, traffic and allot of people. Gooooood luck.

This year, the mt Ellen plus pass was the right call. Would be nice to see a discount on passes this year but I'm doubtful if it will happen. Just occurred to me that the Mt Ellen plus pass and a Stowe pass is about the same cost as an all mountain pass at SB.....something to consider.


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[djd66]

The passholder benefit of 50% off is only at other MC mountains.

Win, there seems to be a lot of confusion on the Mountain Collective.

According to their website, ( https://themountaincollective.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200566915-2017-2018-Resort-Info ) if you buy a Mountain Collective Pass for $399 you can buy Sugarbush day passes at 50% off. I take this to mean - if you are not a Sugarbush passholder, but a Mountain Collective pass holder - you can buy Sugarbush tickets at 50% off and would also be eligible to ski at Sugarbush for 2 days(free)

Is this the deal as I understand? Or is there something else?

Thanks.

[winjr]

Win, there seems to be a lot of confusion on the Mountain Collective.

According to their website, ( https://themountaincollective.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200566915-2017-2018-Resort-Info ) if you buy a Mountain Collective Pass for $399 you can buy Sugarbush day passes at 50% off. I take this to mean - if you are not a Sugarbush passholder, but a Mountain Collective pass holder - you can buy Sugarbush tickets at 50% off and would also be eligible to ski at Sugarbush for 2 days(free)

Is this the deal as I understand? Or is there something else?


Thanks.

Yes, that is correct. There will be some different options and depending upon how many days you plan to ski here will determine the best pass for you. Don't do the math until you see all the prices for next year.

[winjr]

I would presume the 50% offer is for the Passholder, only, and not transferable, or meant to encourage multiple ticket purchases on same day for family/friends (though that would be sweet!). So, since you'd already have your Sugarbush pass, you wouldn't be eligible for this benefit at your home resort?

Correct

[winjr]

Reading the fact page, it doesn't seem that way, I could be wrong,
Q&A from the mountain collective fact page:

What do I get when I join the Mountain Collective?
For the 2017/18 winter season, skiers and riders are invited to join the Mountain Collective. Those who join the Mountain Collective receive two free days of skiing or riding, unlimited 50% off single day lift tickets thereafter, and exclusive lodging deals at each of these 16 destinations: Alta (Utah), Aspen Snowmass (Colorado), Banff Sunshine (Alberta), Coronet Peak | The Remarkables (New Zealand), Jackson Hole (Wyoming), Lake Louise (Alberta), Mammoth Mountain (California), Revelstoke Mountain Resort (British Columbia), Snowbasin Resort (Utah), Snowbird (Utah), Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows (California), Sugarbush Resort (Vermont), Sun Valley (Idaho), Taos Ski Valley (New Mexico), and Telluride Ski Resort (Colorado). With the Mountain Collective, it’s now possible for passionate skiers and riders to claim thousands of vertical feet and chase ideal winter conditions across Alberta, Australia, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, New Zealand, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.
Affiliate Destinations Include: Chamonix (France), Hakuba Valley (Japan) and Valle Nevado (Chile). Please note that Mountain Collective Members only receive 2 free lift tickets at the global affiliate destinations, and other benefits do not apply. See more here.


or

Is it worth it to purchase the Mountain Collective Pass if I only visit one destination?
Typically, if you visit one destination for six days or more the pass will pay for itself.

Correct. The MC makes sense if you are planning to ski more than one mountain which a lot of people do.

[brave fellow]

Next year, the VT ski market will be interesting. I agree with what someone said that we'll basically see an anomalous year of pass sales due to the shake up with Stowe going on Epic. After the shock of that hitting the VT/New England ski market, we should see a reset the following year.

For all the ice coasters who buy a MC/MAX/Epic type pass because they plan to ski out west, there are also a group of people who buy it and never actually go out West and realize they were better off buying per diem at their local mountain.

[nhskier1969]

Yes, that is correct. There will be some different options and depending upon how many days you plan to ski here will determine the best pass for you. Don't do the math until you see all the prices for next year.

Does that mean that Sugarbush is gong to increase their ticket window pricing from $97 per day to $125 per day?

[southvillager]

Win, there seems to be a lot of confusion on the Mountain Collective.

According to their website, ( https://themountaincollective.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200566915-2017-2018-Resort-Info ) if you buy a Mountain Collective Pass for $399 you can buy Sugarbush day passes at 50% off. I take this to mean - if you are not a Sugarbush passholder, but a Mountain Collective pass holder - you can buy Sugarbush tickets at 50% off and would also be eligible to ski at Sugarbush for 2 days(free)

Is this the deal as I understand? Or is there something else?

Thanks.

Copy and paste from the Mountain Collective site:
EACH 2017-18 PASSHOLDER WILL RECEIVE:
2 DAYS AT THE COLLECTIVE DESTINATIONS FOR A TOTAL OF 32 DAYS PLUS A BONUS THIRD DAY AT THE DESTINATION OF YOUR CHOICE: (then a list of the mountains)

Doesn't that mean you could choose to take three days at Sugarbush, then get all additional days at 50% off? And you can buy a kid under 12 MC Pass for $1. So if you have a kid under 12, this is hard to pass up.

[southvillager]

Does that mean that Sugarbush is gong to increase their ticket window pricing from $97 per day to $125 per day?

Very important point. A 50% discount off a $125 list price is less compelling.

[Treeskier]

To confirm. What use to be an All Mountain Pass is called a Sugarbush Adult Premium Pass $799.00 (my age group) and includes the Mountain Collective Pass, Please confirm

From Win email just now:

In addition to the benefits of the Mountain Collective, we are making a number of changes to our Sugarbush season passes for next year. We will now offer a Sugarbush Adult Premium Pass (ages 40 - 64) for only $799, a Senior Premium Pass (ages 65 - 79) for $699, a Silver Senior Premium Pass (ages 80 - 89) for $149, a 90+ Premium Pass at no cost, a Youth Premium Pass (ages 7 - 18) for $349, a For20s Premium Pass (ages 19 - 29) for $349, and a new For30s Premium Pass (ages 30 - 39) for $549. These spring prices will be available until May 3rd and do not include the 6% sales tax that Vermont charges. All of our Premium Passes are valid every day that Sugarbush is open for skiing and riding, and they also include enrollment in the Mountain Collective program which offers a 50% discount off the day ticket price at all Mountain Collective members other than Sugarbush.

[cdskier]

Yea, just saw that e-mail too. I must say I was not expecting those prices...

[Benski]

I am not surprised the price of the adult pass is bellow the cost of an epic pass. I did not get the email, what about the college pass?

[cdskier]

College passes will be offered for sale in the fall.

[phin]

To confirm. What use to be an All Mountain Pass is called a Sugarbush Adult Premium Pass $799.00 (my age group) and includes the Mountain Collective Pass, Please confirm

I don't believe that it includes the Mountain Collective pass, however as a premium pass holder you are entitled to 50% off lift tickets at other participating Mountain Collective resorts.

[cdskier]

I don't believe that it includes the Mountain Collective pass, however as a premium pass holder you are entitled to 50% off lift tickets at other participating Mountain Collective resorts.

Yup, that's my understanding as well especially based on the last sentence of the paragraph from the e-mail that Treeskier copy and pasted - "All of our Premium Passes are valid every day that Sugarbush is open for skiing and riding, and they also include enrollment in the Mountain Collective program which offers a 50% discount off the day ticket price at all Mountain Collective members other than Sugarbush."

[winjr]

Yup, that's my understanding as well especially based on the last sentence of the paragraph from the e-mail that Treeskier copy and pasted - "All of our Premium Passes are valid every day that Sugarbush is open for skiing and riding, and they also include enrollment in the Mountain Collective program which offers a 50% discount off the day ticket price at all Mountain Collective members other than Sugarbush."

That is correct

[winjr]

College passes will be offered for sale in the fall.

That is correct as in past years

[winjr]

To confirm. What use to be an All Mountain Pass is called a Sugarbush Adult Premium Pass $799.00 (my age group) and includes the Mountain Collective Pass, Please confirm

From Win email just now:

In addition to the benefits of the Mountain Collective, we are making a number of changes to our Sugarbush season passes for next year. We will now offer a Sugarbush Adult Premium Pass (ages 40 - 64) for only $799, a Senior Premium Pass (ages 65 - 79) for $699, a Silver Senior Premium Pass (ages 80 - 89) for $149, a 90+ Premium Pass at no cost, a Youth Premium Pass (ages 7 - 18) for $349, a For20s Premium Pass (ages 19 - 29) for $349, and a new For30s Premium Pass (ages 30 - 39) for $549. These spring prices will be available until May 3rd and do not include the 6% sales tax that Vermont charges. All of our Premium Passes are valid every day that Sugarbush is open for skiing and riding, and they also include enrollment in the Mountain Collective program which offers a 50% discount off the day ticket price at all Mountain Collective members other than Sugarbush.

This is correct. This was part of an email I sent to current passholders ahead of general mailing next week to let existing passholders know first.

[pinnoke]

Everything in the above postings confirms the 50% off lift tickets at the other 15 resorts with purchase of a Sugarbush Premium Pass. However, I'm still confused whether or not "enrollment in the Mountain Collective program" means that Premium passholders will also receive the two free days (plus a third at one selected resort) at other member areas? Or, will that benefit require the additional purchase of the Mountain Collective Pass?

[winjr]

Everything in the above postings confirms the 50% off lift tickets at the other 15 resorts with purchase of a Sugarbush Premium Pass. However, I'm still confused whether or not "enrollment in the Mountain Collective program" means that Premium passholders will also receive the two free days (plus a third at one selected resort) at other member areas? Or, will that benefit require the additional purchase of the Mountain Collective Pass?


To get the free days one needs to buy the MC pass. Strong first days sales of MC.

[brave fellow]

To get the free days one needs to buy the MC pass. Strong first days sales of MC.

Win, I gotta say you are throwing down the gauntlet in the East and saying SB really does belong amongst the elite mountains in NA. No, we cannot compete with what the west has, but SB should be part of any discussion about the top 5 mountains in the east. The new prices are extremely competitive and provide excellent value. I also think decoupling the kids pass from 40+ adult pass was a bright move because I have many friends of that age who don't have offspring.

Does SB plan a big advertising campaign to go with this change? In Boston, we see tons of ads for Stowe, Killington and the stupidly overpriced Hermitage. I've seen Whiteface ads on the Jersey turnpike when I visit family in Philly. Compared to those examples, I see little advertising from the Bush.

[muddy_hollow]

Win, I gotta say you are throwing down the gauntlet in the East and saying SB really does belong amongst the elite mountains in NA. No, we cannot compete with what the west has, but SB should be part of any discussion about the top 5 mountains in the east. The new prices are extremely competitive and provide excellent value. I also think decoupling the kids pass from 40+ adult pass was a bright move because I have many friends of that age who don't have offspring.

Does SB plan a big advertising campaign to go with this change? In Boston, we see tons of ads for Stowe, Killington and the stupidly overpriced Hermitage. I've seen Whiteface ads on the Jersey turnpike when I visit family in Philly. Compared to those examples, I see little advertising from the Bush.

I hear SB advertised on Wbur (public radio) all the time.


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[Benski]

I see a lot of sugarbush ads online.

[cdskier]

I see a lot of sugarbush ads online.

Does someone not familiar with SB see those same ads though? Many of the ads I see online are due to having visited a website for that company recently. Then after that you are "targeted" with those ads. When I was shopping for a new truck, all the ads were suddenly related to that. After i went to the mountain collective website I've now started seeing lots of ads for that. Problem is I'm seeing them after I know about these things already.

With the way online advertising works, I don't put much faith in it to hit new people.


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[nhskier1969]

Does someone not familiar with SB see those same ads though? Many of the ads I see online are due to having visited a website for that company recently. Then after that you are "targeted" with those ads. When I was shopping for a new truck, all the ads were suddenly related to that. After i went to the mountain collective website I've now started seeing lots of ads for that. Problem is I'm seeing them after I know about these things already.

With the way online advertising works, I don't put much faith in it to hit new people.


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Your right, It seems that they are retargeting only consumers that go to the mountain collective pass site and Sugarbush site. The marketing department should be targeting consumers who show interest in skiing. Such as consumers how go onto this site, Alpine zone, epic ski etc.. They could even target consumers that have gone on other ski resorts sites. Sugarbush could then set up campaign groups based on the demographics they are looking for in certain geographic locations based on Sugarbush's target demographic.

[brave fellow]

Your right, It seems that they are retargeting only consumers that go to the mountain collective pass site and Sugarbush site. The marketing department should be targeting consumers who show interest in skiing. Such as consumers how go onto this site, Alpine zone, epic ski etc.. They could even target consumers that have gone on other ski resorts sites. Sugarbush could then set up campaign groups based on the demographics they are looking for in certain geographic locations based on Sugarbush's target demographic.

I guess you guys need a millenial to explain how targeted online ads work. Sugarbush pays a company to get their ads online, we'll call this NetAdCo. NetAdCo then buys space on other websites for use for ALL of their clients. The space NetAdCo buys has their proprietary algorithm embedded in that "space" on the site that looks at your internet history and cookies and pops an ad in relative to the contents of those files.

Not all web ad companies are created equal. If NetAdCo is bad at their job, they see you went to Sugarbush.com and SkiMRV.com and thus put ads up for Sugarbush only. If NetAdCo has really good algorithms, then they see you searched "ski vacations" or visited a ski equipment site, looks at your IP, notes any other net history about other things and concludes Sugarbush is the best thing to populate in that ad space. Else, they can you hate long drives and don't want to spend mula on a hotel, but you live in Boston, so they put up an ad for Wachusset.

Scary shit. Anyways, my point is YOU may see ads for Sugarbush, but I see ads for Revelstoke, or even something completely different like Tom's Auto Glass.

[winjr]

Win, I gotta say you are throwing down the gauntlet in the East and saying SB really does belong amongst the elite mountains in NA. No, we cannot compete with what the west has, but SB should be part of any discussion about the top 5 mountains in the east. The new prices are extremely competitive and provide excellent value. I also think decoupling the kids pass from 40+ adult pass was a bright move because I have many friends of that age who don't have offspring.

Does SB plan a big advertising campaign to go with this change? In Boston, we see tons of ads for Stowe, Killington and the stupidly overpriced Hermitage. I've seen Whiteface ads on the Jersey turnpike when I visit family in Philly. Compared to those examples, I see little advertising from the Bush.


We will do some ads but won't talk about it on this public site. That said we find the most effective advertising is word of mouth!

[BarkingDog]

I hear SB advertised on Wbur (public radio) all the time.


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Maybe it's just me, but I think that there are plenty of people at Sugarbush already.

[Benski]

I guess you guys need a millenial to explain how targeted online ads work.

Better yet there is always one at the top and bottom of Skimrv webpages. The company has its logo in the top right corner of all the ads. if you click the logo it will give you a good explanation. They seem to do a good job sending me ads for similar products to what i have looked at, like Taos and Heavenly.

[winjr]

Maybe it's just me, but I think that there are plenty of people at Sugarbush already.

There is always turnover every year, so one needs to keep replenishing. Nice thing about being private is we do not have to keep growing every year to please public investors. We can be very sustainable at the levels we are seeing this year and the previous few other than last winter.

[BarkingDog]

There is always turnover every year, so one needs to keep replenishing. Nice thing about being private is we do not have to keep growing every year to please public investors. We can be very sustainable at the levels we are seeing this year and the previous few other than last winter.
I'm very happy that you see it this way.

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[cdskier]

I'm very happy that you see it this way.


I'll second that!


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[teleo]

I'll third that!

[Dblshot]

Snowmaking this weekend?

[BarkingDog]

Question about the new passes and the Mountain Collective. Do corporate passes count as Premium? If not, my co-workers and I will need to know soon before the prices increase.

[winjr]

Question about the new passes and the Mountain Collective. Do corporate passes count as Premium? If not, my co-workers and I will need to know soon before the prices increase.

Most likely. Looking at that now.

[winjr]

Snowmaking this weekend?



Doing a bit for GMVS.

[Dblshot]

No spring fling or steins super cold gun powder? That's a bummer.

[Orca]

HUGE PROPS for Win and Co. on the new pass pricing and MC association!

I'll be renewing all my passes for next year. In doing so, I'll be sending just as many dollars to SB as for this year. But, MC is a great addition and the pricing feels more balanced.

Thank you, Win and Co. I believe your MC association will raise the profile of Sugarbush significantly.

[cdskier]

No spring fling or steins super cold gun powder? That's a bummer.

Stein's under the guns would have been sweet. I was hoping last weekend after they turned off Spring Fling that they would have fired up Stein's for Sunday. One can always dream :grin:

[djd66]

HUGE PROPS for Win and Co. on the new pass pricing and MC association!

I'll be renewing all my passes for next year. In doing so, I'll be sending just as many dollars to SB as for this year. But, MC is a great addition and the pricing feels more balanced.

Thank you, Win and Co. I believe your MC association will raise the profile of Sugarbush significantly.


"welcome back to Sugarbush! :)

[shadyjay]

Stein's under the guns would have been sweet. I was hoping last weekend after they turned off Spring Fling that they would have fired up Stein's for Sunday. One can always dream :grin:

Stein's would have required some digging... quite a bit of digging actually. They were grooming it last Friday night, burying the towers and hydrants even more.

[winjr]

HUGE PROPS for Win and Co. on the new pass pricing and MC association!

I'll be renewing all my passes for next year. In doing so, I'll be sending just as many dollars to SB as for this year. But, MC is a great addition and the pricing feels more balanced.

Thank you, Win and Co. I believe your MC association will raise the profile of Sugarbush significantly.

Thank you Orca. Couldn't talk about this ahead of time, but we had been planning a response for awhile anticipating what was coming.

[cdskier]

Stein's would have required some digging... quite a bit of digging actually. They were grooming it last Friday night, burying the towers and hydrants even more.

Makes sense. Us non-snow makers have a tendency to forget about that part :)


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[Sugarbushskier9]

Wow at the pass changes!! Can't believe Stowe has that much effect on the market...that's some crazy stuff for the industry. To have one mountain dictate prices its nuts economically.

[nhskier1969]

What is the over/under on snowcam views the next 72 hrs for Sugarbush snow cam..

[skimore]

I hope the web came breaks for ever, I prefer the old school method, "you have to go to know".

[El Bishop]

How much wind typically necessitates a wind hold? I assume direction matters.

[Dblshot]

I would anticipate wind holds with this type of storm.

[winjr]

I would anticipate wind holds with this type of storm.

Windholds are as much of a function of direction of direction as velocity. It is all about the swaying of the chairs to make sure all is safe. Winds after a Nor'Easter are typically strong and as the name suggests are from the North. Looking at this mornings forecast, the winds are not anticipated to be as strong as one would normally see from a storm like this but it will all depend on its exact track. I would anticipate we could have some lifts impacted but not all on Wednesday and after that the risk should be less and the weekend is shaping up to be a really nice one.

[HowieT2]

Windholds are as much of a function of direction of direction as velocity. It is all about the swaying of the chairs to make sure all is safe. Winds after a Nor'Easter are typically strong and as the name suggests are from the North. Looking at this mornings forecast, the winds are not anticipated to be as strong as one would normally see from a storm like this but it will all depend on its exact track. I would anticipate we could have some lifts impacted but not all on Wednesday and after that the risk should be less and the weekend is shaping up to be a really nice one.

I'm ready to roll Wednesday evening. So excited. Forecast is near perfect through the weekend.

[djd66]

Got up last night, wife gave me the hall pass! Next 2 day should be Epic! (Should we not say that on the sugarbush board?) ok, how's Bibical? NWS just upped the totals to 36 inches. I'm hopping you don't even see the snow stake by tomorrow. It actually would be kind of cool for big dumps if they did not clean the stake.

[teleo]

Gotta give marketing credit on the spring pass sign on the snow stake for the big dump. Brilliant.

[muddy_hollow]

Grumble grumble stuck in Ma until Thursday night....


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[Dblshot]

Can't Northridge be running on diesel?

[winjr]

Can't Northridge be running on diesel?


No. It takes a motor to run. It is fried.

[winjr]

Gotta give marketing credit on the spring pass sign on the snow stake for the big dump. Brilliant.

One of our fellow bloggers sent me a private message about doing this and we were just in the process of discussing. Since he sent it privately, I won't disclose the handle unless he/she wants, but I did appreciate the idea.

[Benski]

How many people today? I here the valley sold out of rooms and I saw 22 acres almost filled up.

Can someone tell the liftie at the bottom of the valley house today to stop, stopping the lift for every, person under 4'. The ride time on that lift was 15-20 minuets with all the stops. I thought the carpet was supposed to reduce stops? I am convinced those carpets increase stops, especially with people not familiar, and there were a few empty chairs despite the line being long.

[Hawk]

I heard 9,000 but I am sure the real numbers will be published.

[muddy_hollow]

I heard 9,000 but I am sure the real numbers will be published.


Wrong day to brew the second pot of coffee and catch-up with friends over breakfast. It was the first time parking in lot f. Holy cow there were tons of people. Glad slidebrook was open and north was much less crowded.


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[noworriesvt]

Yes, that is correct. There will be some different options and depending upon how many days you plan to ski here will determine the best pass for you. Don't do the math until you see all the prices for next year.

After five of the best ski days in recent memory...question about next season's pricing. It appears that money for seasonal programs is also due by the May 3 deadline. Will seasonal programs increase in price after the early deadline similar to how pass prices have increased in years past? Killington offers a payment plan, three installments due by Oct 1 with a 2% admin fee. I think Epic is on sale at the early price until the fall, effectively creating its own payment plan. I had no issue buying passes in May and programs in September, but I'd rather not lay out $5k (4 passes and 2 programs) now if I don't have to. Win-were payment plans ever considered?


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[winjr]

[QUOTE=noworriesvt;227257]After five of the best ski days in recent memory...question about next season's pricing. It appears that money for seasonal programs is also due by the May 3 deadline. Will seasonal programs increase in price after the early deadline similar to how pass prices have increased in years past? Killington offers a payment plan, three installments due by Oct 1 with a 2% admin fee. I think Epic is on sale at the early price until the fall, effectively creating its own payment plan. I had no issue buying passes in May and programs in September, but I'd rather not lay out $5k (4 passes and 2 programs) now if I don't have to. Win-were payment plans ever considered?

The reason we sell passes in the spring at lower prices is to have cash to do summer maintenance projects, so we have not considered payment plans for that reason. In the past a number of people have asked if they could buy seasonal programs in the spring along with their passes so that is why we decided to do that this year at the same price as last year. There will most likely be a slight increase in price in the fall.

[noworriesvt]

[QUOTE=noworriesvt;227257]After five of the best ski days in recent memory...question about next season's pricing. It appears that money for seasonal programs is also due by the May 3 deadline. Will seasonal programs increase in price after the early deadline similar to how pass prices have increased in years past? Killington offers a payment plan, three installments due by Oct 1 with a 2% admin fee. I think Epic is on sale at the early price until the fall, effectively creating its own payment plan. I had no issue buying passes in May and programs in September, but I'd rather not lay out $5k (4 passes and 2 programs) now if I don't have to. Win-were payment plans ever considered?

The reason we sell passes in the spring at lower prices is to have cash to do summer maintenance projects, so we have not considered payment plans for that reason. In the past a number of people have asked if they could buy seasonal programs in the spring along with their passes so that is why we decided to do that this year at the same price as last year. There will most likely be a slight increase in price in the fall.

Thanks Win. I completely get it, it was just a bit of a surprise when I realized I had to come up with double the amount of money now...


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[brave fellow]

Just bought For30's passes for my wife and I for next season. Sadly, she turned 30 on Saturday so we had to get her a big girl pass for next season. Still, $1100 for our passes for next season is a great deal. Leaves us plenty to hand over to Sean and Rich at the end of each day.

I only got to do a half day on Wednesday last week, but it had to be one of the best ski days of my life, if not THE best. I have skied in Switzerland, CO, UT and BC...never had I had a powder day like that in any of those places. I was skiing stuff so deep it was up to my chest in some drifts. We'll be talking about that storm for years.

[cdskier]

Nice! I bought my For30s the other night.

[Sugarbushskier9]

Really disappointed the written snow report had no mention of the entire mountain being closed due to wind...or even a mention about wind being an issue at all.

It was only if you went to the lift status tab...but why do that when there's no mention of trouble on the report?

Even at 2pm still no mention the entire mountain is on hold. I got halfway there until a friend text me they were closed.

[winjr]

Really disappointed the written snow report had no mention of the entire mountain being closed due to wind...or even a mention about wind being an issue at all.

It was only if you went to the lift status tab...but why do that when there's no mention of trouble on the report?

Even at 2pm still no mention the entire mountain is on hold. I got halfway there until a friend text me they were closed.

The best way to get real time updates is to get our app. Dispatch updates the status of all lifts as soon as they occur.

[BarkingDog]

The reason we sell passes in the spring at lower prices is to have cash to do summer maintenance projects, so we have not considered payment plans for that reason. In the past a number of people have asked if they could buy seasonal programs in the spring along with their passes so that is why we decided to do that this year at the same price as last year. There will most likely be a slight increase in price in the fall.

If you want cash for the summer projects, I'll also buy 2018/2019 season passes now at today's prices - 20%.

[Chewbarka]

If you want cash for the summer projects, I'll also buy 2018/2019 season passes now at today's prices - 20%.
We would jump at that too!

[cdskier]

The best way to get real time updates is to get our app. Dispatch updates the status of all lifts as soon as they occur.

It's great that the lift status is updated on the app in essentially real time, but I think it would also be helpful for extended downtime to put the info at the top of the snow report. This was done in the past and worked great. I remember seeing things like this in years past:

*All lifts except Super Bravo on Wind Hold*

It may not make sense to do that for a short delay, but I think for a long term thing it can be very helpful to put this information in as many places as possible for maximum awareness.



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[Sugarbushskier9]

It's great that the lift status is updated on the app in essentially real time, but I think it would also be helpful for extended downtime to put the info at the top of the snow report. This was done in the past and worked great. I remember seeing things like this in years past:

*All lifts except Super Bravo on Wind Hold*

It may not make sense to do that for a short delay, but I think for a long term thing it can be very helpful to put this information in as many places as possible for maximum awareness.



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Yeah I agree and guess I need to use the app more. I just always see that stuff on the beginning of snow reports at Stowe/Jay/Killington and forget not everyone does it. I mean there was no mention of winds at all (not even that they may affect operations) even through 2pm on yesterday's reports.

Stowe often leads their report with it and Killington does to just like you mentioned with a written statement at the very top.

I don't use their app much but stowe has also been sending notifications that I think are real helpful. If I turn on notifications on the days I'm there they send out lift updates if anything isn't running. It looks like the app developer is the same for Bush and Stowe. Resorts tapped or something. Wonder if SB could do this.

[djd66]

If you want cash for the summer projects, I'll also buy 2018/2019 season passes now at today's prices - 20%.

I have always thought they should do something like this. Say give 10% off if you commit to 2 years,... 20% off if you commit to 3 years

[Benski]

This would be especially useful if a ski area needs lots of cash for one summer, like for a big new lift.

[Sugarbushskier9]

that's a great idea for cash up front... buy a pass for one year and get 15% off the next season if you buy them together.

[Nick Danger]

I'm wondering what the price will be for a college pass for my daughter. Will it be less than the for 20s pass?

[BarkingDog]

that's a great idea for cash up front... buy a pass for one year and get 15% off the next season if you buy them together.

And there is the chance that we move, lose interest in skiing (unlikely), get hurt, etc. We may be buying discounted passes for 2018/2019 now that never get used. It's like the quadpacks, except you won't have people roaming the parking lots and FPF with tickets for sale in March and April.

[Dblshot]

Is the cabin cat going to Mt Ellen for daily rental?

[djd66]

Is the cabin cat going to Mt Ellen for daily rental?

Has anyone ever done it? Someday - i would love to do this. Can you imagine what it would be like after a 20" dump in April! You and 11 friends skiing untracked pow all day

[winjr]

It is being used Saturday afternoon for a memorial service and Lincoln Peak and then going over to ME. It has been rented by a group of 36 for this Sunday. Walt's will also open for them. If you are interested contact Guest Services at 583-6590.