On Thursday November 24, Sugarbush Resort opened for the 2011/2012 winter season. We opened with 3 trails (Jester, Allyn’s Traverse, Downspout) served by 2 lifts (Super Bravo Express and Heaven’s Gate chairs) providing one run of 1440′ vertical (and downloading on Super Bravo). For the first two days, I returned to my role at Heaven’s Gate and for the weekend remained at the base of Super Bravo. I didn’t hear any complaints over the 4-day weekend. Conditions went from mid-winter on Thursday to spring-like by the weekend.
My first run of the season at Sugarbush on Downspout Thanksgiving morning reminded me of so many powder days from last season. There was about 10-12″ of new snow which had fallen throughout the day on Wednesday and carving my way through it was like a dream. It wouldn’t be long, however, before the 600 or so guests we had took that powder run and turned it into a mogul field. Jester was bumped up by that afternoon, but was able to be groomed for Friday morning, leaving a very nice cruising run even at the end of the day.
By the time Saturday hit, the temps at the base area had risen to the 50s, taking a toll on our ramps and corral areas. A shovel and toboggan party consisting of us lift operators and a large group of ski patrollers all assisted. On Sunday, we had a pile of snow deposited within the corral itself, so the pile just needed to be distributed.
All throughout the weekend, however, the snow cover continued to diminish, especially on Downspout. We all knew the handwriting was on the wall, and were surprised when we got the go-ahead to come in Monday morning. An extremely warm wind had showed up overnight, however, and a snow-eating fog had taken its toll on Downspout. The plug was pulled around 8am Monday morning, suspending operations until the return of cold and natural snow.
Thanks to everyone who came out to ski and ride over the Thanksgiving holiday. A big thanks goes out to the snowmakers, who did the best that they could to get us open despite Mother Nature’s curveballs. You just can’t make snow when its 50+ degrees and unfortunately in November, those days were plentiful. We are all hoping for cold temperatures so that snowmaking can resume by midweek… and another snowstorm wouldn’t hurt, either!
