Sugarbush Resort on Sunday, December 22, 2019

		Sugarbush Resort Sunday, December 22, 2019
		Submitted on December 22, 2019 by rocket21 (1408)
	Session	Full Day
	Ticket Type	Ikon Pass
	Lift Lines	6 to 10 minutes
	Trail Conditions	45% open; Loose Granular, Variable Conditions
	Glades	Did not venture in, but the trees were in play and there was powder to be found on the Mt. Ellen side.
	Moguls	Mostly on natural trails.
	Terrain Park(s)	I don't recall seeing a set up, but they have snowmaking whales ready to go on Lower Snowball and at the Sunshine complex.
	Run of the Day	Exterminator
	Food and Beverage	Grilled cheese at the Glen House was good, but pricey.
	Comments	Nice weather and decent conditions today, but one can tell Sugarbush is struggling operations-wise. The Super Bravo went down mid-morning and the diesel backup appeared to be having some issues (they did eventually get everyone off, but I don't know if I've ever seen lift mechanics run around so much while trying to keep the diesel going). Meanwhile, the Green Mountain Express apparently broke down recently and has a part on order, but they fortunately have two diesel motors, so one was running it today. They also apparently had some snowmaking issues, so there isn't quite as much proportionately open here as compared to other majors. We started at Lincoln Peak, where there were no lines for the first hour. Spring Fling was the only groomed trail off the Valley House and was decent. Snowball to Racer's Edge was open with large snowmaking whales, but one had to watch out for ice on the back ends. Stein's was open ungroomed with partial snowmaking, but we didn't get to it before the lift issue. Jester was the only groomed trail off Heavens Gate. It was nice packed powder this morning. Organgrinder (not sure if they made any snow on it yet, but it was ungroomed and looked icy), Spillsville (sounded a little icy from the lift), and part of Ripcord (they have ground guns waiting to go down low) were open, and I think Paradise. Definitely rock ski terrain on the naturals with lots of grass and rocks, but folks were skiing it. Castlerock and Lynx were closed, as was the Slidebrook Express (would have been handy today). Good skiing off Gatehouse and Village quads. Sleeper Chutes to Sleeper had recently opened after snowmaking and was in good shape (glad to see it hadn't changed much with the proposed off season widening). Hot Shot/Waterfall also skied well, groomed on skier's right and quasi bumps on skier's left. Easy Rider was good too. We didn't take any more runs though, as the Gatehouse line was spilling out beyond the queue by 9:30 (before Super Bravo went down). Before it broke down, Super Bravo had four groomed ways down. Valley House Traverse was crunchy but fine, Lower Jester was good, Lower Organgrinder was variable with patches of ice and golf balls, and Downspout had some ice in the middle (did not ski it below the triple). The line was out to the end of the queue after 10 before it broke down. After it broke down, the Valley House line was stretching out onto the slope, so we packed up and drove to Mt. Ellen. We did not ski the Sunshine beginner area, nor did we ride the Inverness Quad (Inverness was closed for racing, while other open trail (Northridge Expressway) was accessible via Northway). Northridge Expressway had just been groomed out after snowmaking, so it was decent with a few thin spots. Northway was natural with a few waterbars somewhat open, but good. Only one way down from three-lift-junction (Crackerjack), though it looks like Straightshot could be groomed out soon. No lines for the GMX. From the North Ridge Quad (virtually no lines), Lower Rim Run and Elbow (upper was great, lower was had some thin areas on the sides) were groomed, as well as Whichway and Northstar to Mainstream. With two high speed quads emptying into these two lower trails, it was a little busy/scraped. Hammerhead and Encore were open on natural, but had a enough thin areas visible that I opted to ski them. Lower Northstar is groomed out, so that presumably will open soon. Bravo and Exterminator were open on natural, the top of the former and the middle of the latter being the best (just below the crossover on Bravo, there was some rocky carnage, and Exterminator was closed below Way Back). The Summit Quad was not operating. I'm not sure if they made any snow on Rim Run yet, but there wasn't any made on FIS. One thing I will add is that, despite some of the operational issues, the experience was improved by the staff being very friendly/polite throughout the resort. Quite a contrast with some other larger resorts.
	URL	https://www.instagram.com/p/B6YaDxflRmL/
	Report Rating	4