DECEMBER JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AT SUGARBUSH
Last night, I had a powder night in the Adirondacks and, when I woke up this morning, I decided to cross Lake Champlain, bound for the Mad River Valley in Vermont. One of these days, my drive to the Mad River Valley will take me to Mad River Glen, but today I was headed to Sugarbush for the third time this season. Just like many resorts in the region, they’ve had a strong start to the ski season and terrain is expanding rapidly, so I was excited to see what was open compared to my last time there.
Waterfall.
Spillsville.
Sugarbush is an interesting ski resort, because it’s split in two. On the south side you’ve got Lincoln Peak and on the north side you’ve got Mount Ellen. Each side is essentially its own thing, as they are several miles apart, though you can take a shuttle between them, and when it’s running, the Slide Brook Express. Today, only Lincoln Peak was open, but Mount Ellen is expected to open on Dec. 19.They had 66 runs open, including all of Castlerock, which is great for this time of year in its own right, but that trail count is surely to grow even more once Mount Ellen opens.
Pro Skier Darren White at the base of Lincoln Peak.
Westie on Domino.
When I got to the mountain I met up with my buddy Pro Ski Darren White, aka “The Monster,” as well as his friend Westie. I’ve skied with Westie once before at Jay Peak a couple years ago. Both of these dudes can rip in ways that I only wish I could. Darren may have been given the pro skier moniker in the Never Quit Skiing universe, but Westie is a skiing legend in his own right. Needless to say, they put on a clinic out there.
Pro Skier Darren White on Domino.
Organgrinder.
Lower Snowball.
Moonshine.
With so much terrain open at Lincoln Peak, we had a field day ripping around the mountain. There was a good mix of groomers, as well as runs that just had natural snow cover. You had to be careful with your line no matter where you were on the mountain on the natural snow trails, but even more so the lower you were on the mountain. The snow on the natural snow terrain was soft and powdery. Great to ski through. A lot of these runs were bumped up, and the bumps were soft as well.
Sigi’s Ripcord.
Whales on Downspout.
Looking up Spillsville.
Jester.
The snow on most of the groomers was also pretty good. Pro Skier Darren White even commented multiple times on how several high-traffic trails were holding up really well. There were a few firm runs, like Lower Organgrinder, and there were a couple of runs covered in slick whales, like Downspout and Spring Fever, but there was nice snow to be found on the sides of these trails. Personally, my run of the day may have been Jester, which is probably the busiest run off the summit at Lincoln Peak. This run tends to get icy as the day goes on, but today it was fantastic basically all day, with packed powder.
Unfortunately, I have once again aggravated my big toe. I hurt it two to three weeks ago and it’s an ongoing issue. I expect to ski tomorrow, but if I wake up and can’t, my next ski day will be Tuesday, as I have a doctor appointment Monday afternoon.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln