Sugarbush, VT 1/2/00

<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 1/4/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>After the previous days' adventures I was preparing myself for disappointment on the ride up the Sugarbush Sunday morning. As I drove south on 100 my attitude started to change upon sighting the trails of Sugarbush and Mad River. Maybe there was some snow down here after all. <BR> <BR>My brother skied Castlerock on Monday and reported very thin conditions. On my first ride up Casterock I observed the same, but Liftline looked plenty passable -- unless you were looking UP the trail, in which case it looked like a rock climb. It hadnt started raining yet and the snow was still legitimate packed powder so I tossed myself down Liftline for old time's sake. <BR> <BR>The drops up top were in nice shape and there was even some untracked stuff left below them to cushion my landings. The headwall section required some careful line choice, but I got through without a scratch using two long swooping turns around the larger drop to skier's right. This got me screaming along much faster than my still-hungover legs wanted to go. The bumps tightened up in the middle and I had a hard time telling the SCXs to SLOW DOWN. I've gotten used to skiing these in the bumps, but their tendency to carve makes speed control difficult in really tight moguls. Shoulda brought the more obedient chicken-heart Dynastars instead. <BR> <BR>I was able to do the rest of the Castlerock area (Jaws of Mid Earth were a bit treacherous, Castlerock run was in fine shape) and even made it into the woods to skier's right of Paradise before the sprinkles started coming. By about noon the slop-line had made it to mid-castlerock and anything natural was really s-l-o-w. I did Mall just for kicks and actually found it to have the most consistent bumps on the mountain. Steins had lots of whales and lacked tight consistent lines. There were a lot of those wide pseudo-bumps forming due to the dearth of side slippers and snowboarders crowding the run. <BR> <BR>Around 1 the real fun started. Apparently some kind of ligthening sensor went off and they closed the lifts. The word was that if they stayed closed more than a 1/2 hour everyone would get a voucher for another day. Most of the people there were vactioners who were about to leave anyway, but the line at the Mt concierge was HUGE. <BR> <BR>By now it was raining pretty hard so I bailed and headed over for lunch at the Den with my brother. On his drive down he witnessed several big accidents on 89 near Richmond. Sure enough, the TV was now reporting 89 closed from Richmond down to Northfield. Ever the adventurer, I decided to take the Roxbury Gap over to Northfield to get around it. This turned out to yield some more adventure than anticipated when the SUV I was following down the other side hit a big patch of ice and did a pirouette into the ditch. Apparently these vehicles are designed for going off-road, but getting back on-road turned out to be problematic. <BR> <BR>I stopped and offered the use of my retired climbing rope but a guy with a F-150 already had a tow rope out and said he had it under control. Neither of them had studs though and I dont think the truck had 4wd so I'll bet they had a hard time getting out. This was the first time that I was really glad to have studded tires, without them I would either have been in the same ditch or embedded in that Explorer. <BR> <BR>The rest of the ride home was uneventful and a little easier (in a sick way) because I knew I wasnt leaving much behind. It's a lot harder to drive south when the conditions are on the up-swing. If any snow dieties are reading this though -- the above statement should in no way be construed as wishing away snow storms. On the contrary, let it snow... I'd rather kick myself for missing a storm than there be no storm at all.