Stumps...Beware!

[Treeskier]

Be aware that that with early season or low snow fall Stumps are ever present!

http://www.clubxtaski.com/091219_Stumps_web/photos/004_091219.jpg

With the cover of the new trail map.
http://www.clubxtaski.com/091219_Map_web/photos/043_091219.jpg
We are now advertising our secret jewels. But unfortunately not all editing is done to what I feel is a proper depths. I have worked for years in Slidebrook on the official cutting crews, to make that experience awesome. It took lots of work and attention to detail. “Hay remember to cut to the forest floor….no stumps or pongee sticks!” The crew that worked on Exterminator woods followed the same thought pattern.

Unfortunately other places on the hill both sides of trails and in the other old/new tree bands “cutting to the forest floor has not been a practice” Which has lead to another injury :(

I implore ski patrol/snow makers, when ever possible to dig deep and cut new damaged trees to the forest floor and keep a record of those not cut to the forest floor so that in the spring they can revisit each protruding stump”. In the summer/fall I truly hope the “trail mowers re-cut/remove any found stumps”

Last I understand the forest service advised that all new bands of tree runs leave stumps ~8” to 12” high. Which in the West, I suspect is the protocol and was written to help elevate erosion, however this is not practical in the East. Where we often ski on a 12” base but in the gully of bumps it can be down to 1” inch. Facilitating the quick emersion of stumps!!!!

In closing. The patrol did a great job with my friend! Thanks! But do not ski any of the new lines till we have a good 15”+ solid base. Keep your tips up! And be aware that land mines are ever present both on the sides of trails and in the woods. Especially on the new bands.

It looks like Santa may bring us a fine gift! Back to a cold snow dance!

[scharny]

I couldn't agree more. On the same topic, why are there still so many dangerous stumps at the bottom Egan's Woods - a very visible glade that can be seen from the chairlift? It's a great line, and it's excellent skiing, but if you don't know about the surprises at the end, you are in trouble.

Please don't take this as a slam on Sugarbush as a whole - my wife and I love the place and we wouldn't ski anywhere else - I'm just concerned about people's safety.

On the positive side, I watched the ski school teaching some 6-7-year-olds how to ski down Tumbler. Great instructors, and those kids rip! Can't wait until my daughter is old enough to ski here - I am confident that she'll be in good hands.

[ski_it]

sorry to hear about your friend. hope they make a speedy recovery.

[vonski]

Speed Control, I found some nice lines at North over the weekend in the woods, but on lower pitch stuff. The crust kept one from sinking in and I never went fast enough to sink my tips and stayed in the back seat. In fact skied Semi-tough woods to the bottom of the newly cut. I may have been the first! One could not go fast though! and needed to stay on the fresh stuff. I would not ski where others have skied as the snakes pop out once tracked.

Only thing I hit was my gut into a tree branch that was hiding, I thought it was just a pine branch not a log. Oh well, like I said was going pretty slow so, just bounced off and onto the ground and got back up. That was on the upper mountain.

Definitely need some more snow. But one must still be careful as the deeper snow will hide the rocks and nubs that one can still see at this point as rounded snow bumps. So, in my opinion need another foot of base building type and then some fluff on top.

Hope your friend is okay.

Doing my Snow Dance!!!

[HowieT2]

damn, I thought I was brave going into the upper mountain woods. you guys are certifiable. :lol:
Other than the stumps, how were the new on map woods?

[vonski]

damn, I thought I was brave going into the upper mountain woods. you guys are certifiable. :lol:
Other than the stumps, how were the new on map woods?

the areas I explored were good. Did not look for any moose on mooserun though as I did not have enough energy to do the lower FIS run out again. But the run down Lower FIS was sweet. So, I will let you know if I see a moose so you can see one Howie!!! Did the upper part of Brambles and it was good as well, but again needed to be fresh tracks and tips UPP!!! with minimal speed.

So, certifiable, but not totally insane!!!! :shock: :lol:

[HowieT2]

damn, I thought I was brave going into the upper mountain woods. you guys are certifiable. :lol:
Other than the stumps, how were the new on map woods?

the areas I explored were good. Did not look for any moose on mooserun though as I did not have enough energy to do the lower FIS run out again. But the run down Lower FIS was sweet. So, I will let you know if I see a moose so you can see one Howie!!! Did the upper part of Brambles and it was good as well, but again needed to be fresh tracks and tips UPP!!! with minimal speed.

So, certifiable, but not totally insane!!!! :shock: :lol:

This is the year of the moose. I can feel it. Besides, if I don't see one soon, my kids are going to kill me. :roll:

[jwt]

Moose on lower FIS Saturday - or was it Tumbler - either way, we skied over that lip half way down and there was a Blazer? group with their instructor.

The kids apparently skied over lip and frightened a large moose - who because he was spooked - slammed his antlers into trees as he was running into the woods off skiers left of trail.

He left BOTH large antlers for the kids - the instructor was quick - I mentioned that a fall with either of those things may cause impalement, so he skied with both of them until they got to the base. They should be mounted somewhere in the ski school lodge at North. They are big-ass antlers - 15-20 LBS each maybe?

Ya shoulda been there Howie.

[vonski]

Moose on lower FIS Saturday - or was it Tumbler - either way, we skied over that lip half way down and there was a Blazer? group with their instructor.

The kids apparently skied over lip and frightened a large moose - who because he was spooked - slammed his antlers into trees as he was running into the woods off skiers left of trail.

He left BOTH large antlers for the kids - the instructor was quick - I mentioned that a fall with either of those things may cause impalement, so he skied with both of them until they got to the base. They should be mounted somewhere in the ski school lodge at North. They are big-ass antlers - 15-20 LBS each maybe?

Ya shoulda been there Howie.

So we are looking for a bald moose then! :shock: :lol:

But that is totally cool. for the blazer group!

[noski]

Moose on lower FIS Saturday - or was it Tumbler - either way, we skied over that lip half way down and there was a Blazer? group with their instructor.

The kids apparently skied over lip and frightened a large moose - who because he was spooked - slammed his antlers into trees as he was running into the woods off skiers left of trail.

He left BOTH large antlers for the kids - the instructor was quick - I mentioned that a fall with either of those things may cause impalement, so he skied with both of them until they got to the base. They should be mounted somewhere in the ski school lodge at North. They are big-ass antlers - 15-20 LBS each maybe?

Ya shoulda been there Howie.

I KNOW he just groaned at this story. We're pulling for you this year, Howie!

[Hawk]

Unfortunately injuries are going to be more and more prevalent. It used to be that people did not entertain the woods until there was a good 2 foot base that solidified. This would ensure that the ugliness was cover and encased. Now with the advent of the NEW woods population people are skiing the woods earlier and earlier every year. What's worse is that the skill level of some of these people is questionable. In the end all that's accomplished is hammering the snow down to the dirt and inevitably people are going to get hurt.

I am sorry for the injury Tree but I have to say, when you f*&% with the bull you get the horns. When you have this little a base it has little to do with the cutting of the stumps.

Again Sorry. :(

[gone.skiing]

Unfortunately other places on the hill both sides of trails

Hawk, I think in this particular case bull was a trail side... Granted everyone f#$%^ with other bulls on Friday as woods off North Ridge were tracked out pretty good by the end of the day.

[Hawk]

Oh it was on a trailside? That is different. Still Sorry. Get better fast.

[HowieT2]

Moose on lower FIS Saturday - or was it Tumbler - either way, we skied over that lip half way down and there was a Blazer? group with their instructor.

The kids apparently skied over lip and frightened a large moose - who because he was spooked - slammed his antlers into trees as he was running into the woods off skiers left of trail.

He left BOTH large antlers for the kids - the instructor was quick - I mentioned that a fall with either of those things may cause impalement, so he skied with both of them until they got to the base. They should be mounted somewhere in the ski school lodge at North. They are big-ass antlers - 15-20 LBS each maybe?

Ya shoulda been there Howie.

I KNOW he just groaned at this story. We're pulling for you this year, Howie!

I start off every season thinking it's in the bag. It's not 'till March or so that the deep depression sets in with the realization that the moose is like Santa.

[Lostone]

Wait a minute! Moose bring presents??? :shock:


And all this time I've been expecting . . . the squirrel! :lol:

[Last Tracks]

why cut the tree at all? if you are going to leave a 12" stump you might as well not even bother.

as a long time bush woodchuck i agree with treeskier.. the trimmers could have done a better job with some of the newer lines..

[HowieT2]

Unfortunately other places on the hill both sides of trails

Hawk, I think in this particular case bull was a trail side... Granted everyone f#$%^ with other bulls on Friday as woods off North Ridge were tracked out pretty good by the end of the day.

I don't know if you guys are referring to the same incident, but a kid in my son's blazer group got seriously hurt falling into a stump on the side of liftline on saturday. From what I understand badly fx wrist and face messed up. Not good.

[skibum1321]

It's a different incident. This one was on Hammerhead. He hooked a stump and then landed on the one pictured.

FWIW, I did a similar thing on the Mall the week before except I landed in soft snow luckily.

[thinksnow]

Considering the limited amount of natural snow the east has gotten this season, why is anyone surprised that there are hazards out there? Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.

[skibum1321]

Considering the limited amount of natural snow the east has gotten this season, why is anyone surprised that there are hazards out there? Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.
It's not that anyone is surprised that there are obstacles (especially in the woods). It's the fact that greater care should be taken when maintaining the trails to cut stumps to the ground. 6-12" stumps are ridiculously dangerous and completely avoidable when cutting a trail.

[thinksnow]

Considering the limited amount of natural snow the east has gotten this season, why is anyone surprised that there are hazards out there? Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.
It's not that anyone is surprised that there are obstacles (especially in the woods). It's the fact that greater care should be taken when maintaining the trails to cut stumps to the ground. 6-12" stumps are ridiculously dangerous and completely avoidable when cutting a trail.

I agree that stumps are dangerous. So are rocks & boulders & cliffs & other skiiers and naturally occurring stumps-- many of which can't be seen until too late either. It just doesn't take much common sense to know how little snow there will be in the woods when there hasn't been much natural snowfall yet. Sorry to hear someone got hurt, but hey everybody, quit yer bitchin and get a clue folks, geeesh.

[skibum1321]

It just doesn't take much common sense to know how little snow there will be in the woods when there hasn't been much natural snowfall yet
The point is that this was on a trail - not in the woods. You don't expect stumps or any of the other hazards that will be covered by a few inches of snow to be in the middle (or edge) of a trail. It really doesn't take any more effort to cut the stumps to the ground instead of leaving 6" on the ground to impale someone.

[win]

Our team makes and will continue to make every attempt to make our trails and the wooded areas as safe as possible. Despite that fact that skiing in the woods and on the edge of a trail requires extra caution, we appreciate people like Treeskier pointing things out which allow us to make Sugarbush better and safer for all.