Sugarbush, VT March 18-20

I've been to the Bush a few times in the past, but always solo. This time we made it a family affair. We woke up on Friday morning and made the 2 1/2 hour ride north and east. We pulled in the parking lot right around noon and promptly had a delish lunch at the Castlerock Pub. The conditions on Friday afternoon were really good. A combination of a few new inches and low traffic left the groomers in nice shape. Steins and Organgrinder had plenty of snow but the temps stayed below freezing the entire trip so we stayed on the groomers. I demoed the Head Supershape Rallys (177) for the weekend and that certainly improved my experience. Even after the trails were skied off in the afternoon on Saturday I could hold an edge like an ice skater. Awesome ski. I want to try the 170 and the Magnum if possible before I pull the trigger. Just about all the trails on the South side were in good shape and edgeable. We took the bus over to North on Saturday and it was lots of windswept glare ice, hard pack and frozen granular. I still had a hoot on the Heads, but nobody else in the group was interested in staying so we promptly hopped the bus back to South.

South still has plenty of snow


Obligatory HT with lunch


View from the top of Mt Ellen. WF is in there somewhere.


Upper FIS in background


Murphy's Glade


Ripcord


Someone liked the bumps on Ripcord


Snowball


New Valley House Lift


Castlerock in the distance


Lower Hot Shot


Couldn't find any Heady Topper for sale but hit an even better Jackpot IMO


There is still plenty of snow (along with good beer and food) left in northern VT. Barring a crazy serious warmup, conditions should be good through April. We had a great family trip and loved the vibe at Sugarbush and in the area. The trip was more than just a weekend getaway. It was a tryout to see if the family liked the mountain and the area enough to deal with the extra drive every weekend. We are thinking about (gasp) spending a season or two at the Bush to do something a little different. My wife and I have been passholders at Gore for the past 11 years and other than an annual trip or two to Whiteface, the wife has only skied outside of NY once in the past 10 years (Jay once).

The consensus was to go for it. Assuming we can make the logistics and $ work we will be Sugarbush skiers next year.

Anyone want to share a ski house?

Nice report. Sugarbush is a great place. I worked at Killington back when they were part of the same family so I got to ski there a decent amount but I haven't been there in real long time. I ought to get back there.

Looks like a great time, hope it works out for you. Don't forget a mad card and a day at the snow bowl, too.

Nice photos.
A big thumbs up for Sugarbush. It might be my favorite in VT. If only it were an hour closer. For you guys it is a great choice.

We skied there May 4th a few years back - and yes, I have it on video too.. Lovely mountain and that whole area in the Mad River Valley is just amazing.

Did your kid have a beer too  ?

Where you off to this weekend?

+1 on Sugarbush being a great ski mountain.  One of my favorites for sure. We've done a few late season family trips there and always end up saying it would be a great mountain to call home.