Sugarloaf 4/6/24

snowphoenix

https://newenglandskiconditions.com/viewreport.php?reportid=3604

What an incredible day at Sugarloaf! With around 1.5’ of snow from the recent storm and several inches more coming down during the day, it was midwinter conditions in early April. At the base, the temperature was just over freezing, while the summit had temps in the low 20s and moderate wind. The visibility was decent on the lower mountain, but got worse the higher up you went. Pretty much the only closed terrain was some of the snowfields and some of the trails around the Bucksaw Express/West Mountain.

The snow was a nice packed powder which had a bit of weight to it but wasn’t too wet at all, although the lower mountain did get a bit sticky, so I didn’t go down to the base too many times. The snow had blown off and formed drifts on many of the steeper areas around the summit, so there were random ice patches that I could have avoided more of if I could see where I was going.

In the morning, Timberline was closed to begin with, but it opened after a couple hours. All other lifts were running except the two T-Bars and Double Runner East. Lift lines were very manageable, with a few-chair wait at most for King Pine, Timberline and Skyline. Whiffletree and SuperQuad had around 5-minute lines at midmorning, but SuperQuad was down to about 1 minute by the time it closed at 4:20, a half-hour later than the other lifts.

The skiing was very fun, although it would have been more enjoyable if the visibility was better! Sugarloaf is one of my favorite ski areas of the ones I’ve skied, and today only made me appreciate it more. With all the new snow, the mountain should easily be able to stay open into May.

Riding up the SuperQuad

Upper Scoot

Upper Whiffletree

Moose Alley

Upper Timberline

Riding up the Timberline Quad

Barber Chair Glade

Upper Boomauger

White Nitro Extension with poor visibility

Upper Winter's Way

Riding up the Skyline Quad

Gondi Glade

Upper Bubblecuffer

Ripsaw

Riding up the King Pine Quad

Brackett Basin

Misery Whip

Branding Ax Glade

Double Bitter

Narrow Gauge

ciscokid

Awesome report!
Looks fantastic
60 degrees in Mich and mid winter in the mountains of the north east

TomWhite

Excellent Sam, makes me wish I was there.

NewEnglandSkier13

Excellent Sam, makes me wish I was there.

My area, but not me, I'll be at Sugarloaf in a couple weeks.

Great report though!

TomWhite

Sorry, excellent Snowphoenix.

pagamony

That is a beautiful report. Sixteen years ago we had the same conditions in late April and our pictures look almost so similar. This is probably on Ramdown...

snowphoenix

While I didn't do any downhill skiing after Saturday, I thought I'd post a brief recap of the remainder of my long weekend at Sugarloaf.

On Sunday I relaxed in the morning, then spent a bit of time explored the base village at the resort. It was a bit cloudy in the morning but it became a bright bluebird day in the afternoon and warmed up quite a bit. Here's the mountain seen from the base:

In a gift shop I found an interesting-looking book, “Titcomb, a Mountain of Ski Memories” by Megan Roberts. It seemed well-written and had plenty of historic photos of that area. Perhaps NewEnglandSkier13 is familiar with this book?

Yesterday morning I went XC skiing for the first time in over a decade. My technique was very poor but I liked having a more laid-back way to ski and having another way to enjoy the outdoors. The Sugarloaf Outdoor Center has a great network of trails, although it is relatively expensive to use them compared to other XC-only areas. It was even warmer than Sunday and the snow was typical spring mashed potatoes. Cover was very good on every trail I tried.

For the eclipse, I hiked up past the Upper Log Yard on Burnt Mountain via the logging road to an overlook in the lower part of one of the sidecountry glades. It was a very scenic spot and the glade looked very fun to ski. After the eclipse, multiple groups of skiers passed me on their way down from higher up on the mountain. I wish I had found some way to carry my skis up so I could ski down too.

With a bit of both winter and spring weather, it was a very memorable weekend and a highlight of my season!

NewEnglandSkier13

Yes, I am familiar with that book, although I don't have a copy myself.