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View Full Version : 4/9/08 - What Can I Say???



shadyjay
04-09-2008, 05:33 PM
The list of first-time trails for me experienced today could fill a book... well, maybe a couple lines on a page. Its amazing what riding with people will do to you. Come 'on Jay, let's do Paradise! Done. Let's do Ripcord and Spillsville. Done. The Mall? Sure.

The reasoning today was... "if you're gonna do these runs, today's the day to do them". Why? The bumps were ever so soft, and so was the snow. Riding with a sweatshirt (even that was overdressed), and my good ole' foakleys on (one of a few times they leave their regular post on the rearview in my 'Cruiser).

At present, my Lincoln Peak trail roster is only missing Steins, Liftline (& lower), Rumble, and Paradise Ext. Every other trail has felt my board (or my skis, pre-1999).
And while my season's not over yet, I still may get the missing part of Ripcord, plus Paradise Ext. Don't see Liftline or Rumble in my future, and the gang today tried to get me down Steins, but I backed away and voted for the Mall.

Full trip report posted right here... along with a slewful of pics.

After burnin' down the Mall, Organgrinder, a Castlerock Run, Paradise, Ripcord, etc... the Castlerock Ale tasted "oh so sweet".

see below......

shadyjay
04-09-2008, 08:42 PM
Trip Report Wed Apr 9 2008
Mountain Sugarbush - Lincoln Peak
Day 45th day for the season
# Runs 14
Time 11am to 3:30pm

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/Trip45SugarbushLincolnPeak

What was going to be a relaxing weekday at Sugarbush turned into my second best day ever at the mountain... with the first best day being March 2. Just like back in March, today's epic day was courtesy of some friends / co-workers who showed me that there's more to the Heaven's Gate chairlift than just Jester. Arriving at the mountain, it was already quite warm so I put on a sweatshirt and sunglasses.
As usual, my first grouping of runs was off Gate House, spliced in with a couple North Lynx runs. Coverage had deteriorated quite a bit since the weekend, due to the very warm temperatures, but there was still plenty of nice soft snow. Trails getting hit the hardest were Sunrise and the upper portions of Sleeper / Sleeper Chutes, down the latter, a section reduced to a foot wide path between bare spots. It was a little "technical" as they say, but with noone else on the trail, it was completely manageable. After some time on the Gate House side, I migrated to the Super Bravo for some runs from the summit. Downspout had very nice snow, which wasn't clumping into "moguls" so that made it pleasant. The summit was nice and warm and a cruise down Jester was followed next by Upper Organgrinder. Half of Organgrinder was bumps, the other half was smooth, leading to some very nice conditions and a great run. Next... it was over to Castlerock. I knew there'd be bumps, but I figured on getting over there one more time before I'm kicking myself for not doing it come summer. At the top, I talked to a ski patroller and he said their pick of the day is Rumble, and tried to convince me to give it a shot. Now, I thought ski patrollers were supposed to not get you to go down any trail you don't want to go down. Perhaps he thought I was a diehard - after all, I'm riding in the 60 degree weather enjoying the great snow. I said thanks for the advice, but no thanks, and gave Castlerock Run a try, splitting it with the Hi & Lo Road. The bumps were plentiful but nice and soft, and coverage was very good up top. Things got more technical once Troll Road split off... a section had no snow and I had to ride down a small waterway, but only for a couple of feet. I then veered onto Bailout to head back over towards Heaven's Gate, mainly since the Castlerock Runout at the base of the Castlerock chair had very thin cover. Plus, I had never done Bailout before. Trail maps show it as a flat-out, but it did have an ever-so-slight pitch, and despite me getting too close to the edge, I kept the feet strapped in and made it to Lower Ripcord. Having never been on it, I gave it a shot and discovered more soft moguls. Nice!
At the base of Heaven's Gate was Chris, a fellow employee at my company. We headed up to do Jester, then he met up with Evan (another employee), his wife, and a couple others. We headed down Downspout to Heaven's Gate, then up to meet my destiny... Paradise. I had told Chris of the trails I have yet to ride at Lincoln Peak, and by the time the day was over, that list would go from some 10 trails, down to 3.
Paradise was my first-ever double black diamond... I had nervous thoughts of taking this trail, just like I had back in March when I did Castlerock for the first time, and just like March, I was in good company, being urged to "take the plunge". I'm not going to lie - it was loaded with bumps, but the steepness didn't seem too bad. The crew didn't fly down it and leave me at the top to struggle... we took our time and I enjoyed it immensely. It was challenging, but the coverage was there and was perfect. It couldn't have been better. The next run up was Ripcord into Spillsville. I stared at the Ripcord drop-in at the top of Heaven's Gate, again a little nervous, but once I was in, it wasn't bad. The soft snow and soft bumps were quite forgiving. We turned right into Spillsville and dropped down the narrower chute. Then back into Ripcord to run out the bottom. Awesome! I was actually enjoying the bumps. Then it was back up and something that I did earlier in the day... Organgrinder. I flew down it faster than Ripcord or Paradise, and while the crew headed for Lew's Line, I went for Downspout again. One more time back up to the top for Jester to Valley House Traverse to The Mall. The Mall was quite interesting - perfect coverage, lots of big bumps, and one long ass trail. The steepness wasn't there, like Ripcord or Paradise, but the bumps were. Again, we took some breaks so it wasn't like a balls-to-the-walls 90mph run. It was quite relaxing, but the most relaxing part of the day came when we got to the bottom... a nice ice cold Castlerock Ale at the Castlerock Pub in the Gate House. It was 3:30 and I had been riding for 4 1/2 hours. Wow. Sweat was pouring off of me and my sweatshirt was heavier than in the morning. But with a smile and a grin on my face stretching from ear-to-ear, I sat down to enjoy my beverage and around 4pm, headed for home. A perfect spring day and several "first-time trails" for me. Thanks to Chris and Evan for giving me the confidence I needed to take my riding to the next level. Also thanks to Mother Nature for providing the perfect day for riding... 60 degrees+, bluebird skies, soft snow, and a great day all around!

photos:http://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/Trip45SugarbushLincolnPeak

Lostone
04-09-2008, 09:28 PM
Good report of a good day. :)

I thought the top skied much better than the bottom, today.

My pick of the day was likely Ripcord. Lots of soft bumps, but not nearly as tight as Paradise.

There's a lot of snow up there, on the hill! 8)

beelze
04-12-2008, 08:04 AM
And while my season's not over yet, I still may get the missing part of Ripcord, plus Paradise Ext. Don't see Liftline or Rumble in my future, and the gang today tried to get me down Steins, but I backed away and voted for the Mall.

I'm surprised you chose Mall over Steins. I've always found the bumps on Steins to be easier handle on a board than the Mall and theres more room to navigate too.. though the Mall does mellow out about half way down.

I personally tend to avoid Paradise.. I just seem to have bad luck on that run - rocks, ice, etc. I've even been on it on a (windy) day with well over a foot of fresh (and still snowing) and it was sketcy windblown. I think main reason people go over there is for the woods, not the run.

shadyjay
04-12-2008, 08:43 AM
I've done the extreme lower half of the Mall a few times as part of coming down Twist. Steins has a lot more exposure (read-more visible and appears more steeper) while the Mall is hidden, less trafficked, etc. That helped to keep its snow cover perfect. Paradise was my first-ever double diamond run and it too had perfect coverage, though halfway down, my crew wanted me to launch off a icey rock. Ripcord is now up on my regular springtime rotation, also doing it on Thursday (the whole thing this time), along with Paradise Extension.

As for Steins, well, maybe next year.. or if I run into that crew again before the season's out, they'll try to get me to wipe that one off my "trails to do" list. But I'm pretty content with having it, Lift Line/Lower and Rumble as the only ones left. [Reverse Traverse, In/Out Rd, Village Run, First Time, O/2/Lunch don't count]