Sugarloaf 23/24

[Jack M]

LFG

Could be a big year...

https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/weather/weather-blog/what-can-maine-expect-for-snow-this-winter-weather-noreaster/97-c0707bbf-ace2-4b48-a80d-685fef30f76b

To be capped off by the total solar eclipse going straight over Sugarloaf on April 8!

[trailertrash]

A new lift doesn't hurt either. The ski in/out parking lots to the new lift could really change the flow of the mountain.

[dhamann]

new lift, new spot, eventually. "Fat-bottomed girls you make the rocking world go round". hopefully it runs midweek. riding S M T. test samples available if interested.

[Jack M]

The new area is big!  Hard to judge slope on foot but it looks like it could be awesome terrain for letting a GS board fly.

Pic from this spring after initial cutting:

[Jack M]

On 11/14/2023 at 9:21 AM, dhamann said:

hopefully it runs midweek

New trail map says it will run 7 days a week.

[jl1]

The website is a little vague on when the new lift will open. What is the local gossip on when it will be turning?

Denise and I will be up the week of Feb 5. She got us a condo up in the Timbers this year!!  I think its like our 26 th year we have been coming up and we are really looking forward to it. Sugarloaf is the best in the East in my book. Plus we met a lot of really great people over the years. 

[Jack M]

Originally they said mid February 2024 then they moved it up to mid to late January.  A Sugarloaf response in this post 3 weeks ago repeats that, but this page says late Jan/early Feb. 

I've walked around the area a few times now and it looks like it will be great cruising terrain.  Pretty major expansion, and not just for real estate.  I'm looking forward to trying it.

The lift is 6574' long with 1433' vertical rise.  For comparison, SuperQuad is 6800' long and 1800' vert.  The runs are long!

 

[Jack M]

A local with some connections posted elsewhere that everything is supposed to be up and running by around Christmas, but that then they will have to test and debug everything for about a month.  Another guy who is working on the project posted about transporting the 76,000 lb haul rope to the bottom terminal today.

[lonbordin]

I walked over there at the end of last season... they opened up a lot.  The shredded chunks were huge. 

https://imgur.com/mJy6ac3

 

[trailertrash]

Hayburner and Kings were worthy today, before the warm up. Snow Sunday, next week should be decent.

[dhamann]

Upper comp. So skinny but not for long. Great surface out there from a quick afternoon inspection prior to this foot of mixed precip over the next 24. Counting on Thursday Friday. Spillway is owed a turn or two. 

Edited January 9, 2024 by dhamann

[trailertrash]

It's 14" for sure, well, it was. Full on rain now. A lot of ice in the face on the skin up this morning but worth it.

[dhamann]

fiddled around most of the morning with some snow cleanup, molding insoles to new liners, etc. since lifts were all on hold and saw the change from snow/mix to full on wet around 9. forecast said a change coming around noon so suited up and headed out around 11. drenched gore-tex until midway up skyline. then snow started to fly. the winds helped "dry" things a bit at the top. some sleet for a half hour and then stopped around 12:30. got a good couple of hours of heavy slashing and looking for the goods. skidder was kinda done so i called it. tomorrows another day. same flexible approach, but keeping a keen eye on temp drop/winds/etc. slopes should drain well and groom out good if they have half care. i hope they groom everything.

noticed the headwall got narrower by at least 12' with that new line of guns. completely ruining one of my favorite lines. glad they have pads on the guns.

[Jack M]

1 hour ago, dhamann said:

noticed the headwall got narrower by at least 12' with that new line of guns. completely ruining one of my favorite lines. glad they have pads on the guns.

Wtf?  Sluice Headwall?  Do the guns swing out of the way, restoring previous width?  Guess I'll find out this weekend but

[trailertrash]

No, it's roped off on skier's left.

[Jack M]

Sugarloaf absolutely confounds me sometimes. 

Hopefully it's temporary.

[dhamann]

34 minutes ago, Jack M said:

Sluice Headwall?

that headwall. the fixed gun footings/posts are positioned into the slope away from lift towers at least 12'. the arms of the new guns are swung into lift towers for storage, but assume they swing over slope as needed when making snow. friggin sugarloaf! for goofy, no more transitional heelside into a nice toeside at the steepest fall line part of the headwall to rail off of. if you do, it is at least 12' smaller of a radius to work with now.

i got one of those skinny tankers to demo tomorrow. probably do a power "hour" to warm up with bxfr and then futz with the tanker to feel what i need to feel with the tanker. closest thing they had in current demo fleet to what i was looking for.

[Jack M]

[dhamann]

pretty much. i drive four hours and hope conditions are appropriate for these two turns a few times a year. no soup for you! at least the lift towers aren't in gondi line. may have to try that tomorrow, but don't know if it'll be ready.

[dhamann]

No comment on today’s conditions. Tomorrow will be better. 

[trailertrash]

From tomorrow until the end of next week will have great carving conditions getting better every day.

[Jack M]

It turns out our memories aren't what they used to be.  It has been pointed out to me with photographic evidence that those guns were there last year.  Maybe the rope placement is a little more cautiously out into the trail this year, but, the guns were already there.

[dhamann]

i wasn't around last year, so i guess that's why it popped out to me. ropes are definitely bumped and the guns (if new last year) definitely are the culprit. bummer. i do remember it being listed open really early in December last year. go figure. maybe we need to work a little bit on mountain awareness?

[trailertrash]

I can confirm the headwall was carvetastic today.

[Jack M]

New lift spins February 9.