Mark Renson
New member
It was my job to bring an MRG sled to Glen Ellen for a Senior S&T clinic. I stopped my truck in front of the lodge and pulled out the sled and 2 Sugarbush employees popped outta' nowhere and told me to relax and they'd bring it up and place it outside of the Patrol HQ. Now, didn't we just have a thread about customer service and how cool the Sugarbush staff is? Apparently, good manners and hospitality at Sugarbush is a rule and not an exception. <BR> A bunch of us MRG patrollers met up with some from Sugarbush and Smuggs as well as Bill and Rena who were examiners from Smuggs. <BR> First run was a warm-up down Hammerhead. I expected nasty crusty ironclad bumps. But whaddya' know, there was much soft snow and some user-friendly bumps to be had! Skiing was actually very good. <BR> Afterwards, we did some ski skill clinicing on Encore and Cliffs. Last year, it was deemed by the S&T folks that I was not edging enough and hence, I was uninvited to the S&T exam which disappointed me. So, in fornt of the same folks, I was very deliberate with my skiing and made sure that on every one of my turns, anyone downhill from me looking up would see the bottom of my skis loud and clear. Because of this, I received some especially great compliments this year. <BR> We headed over to Tumbler for sideslip-transition-snowplow. Snowplowing continues to be difficult for me, but I ruled in sideslipping. Tumbler actually had some very good snow and great skiing albeit a few patches of ice and a crusty bump or 2. Rena emphasized the importance of getting your arse foreward and thrusting your hips with a snowplow. So, right before lunch, I kept at it on a run down Rim Run and I clicked. At lunch, I mentioned it in our bull session and I deemed it "The Intercourse Effect" and how it was very helpful to me. <BR> In the afternoon, we worked on our sledding on Exterminator. Exterminator was AWFUL. Blue Frozen McDung with patches of soft snow bumps. I pulled the first sled and was dumb by trying to be cute 'n fancy and do some transitions in it. I got us down alright, but it was not pretty and I learned an important lesson to keep it simple. Later, I struggled a bit with the Tag Line, until I got it together when I got a good falling leaf rhythm. It was the toughest tobogganing I ever had. In my defense, the ski conditions were some of the most treacherous I had ever seen. <BR> At the end of the day, we free skied down Tumbler and found that good skiing I had mentioned before. Afterwards, I took a ride to the summit and found good groomed snow all the way to the bottom, avoiding Exterminator like a nudist avoids a porcupine. On the descent, I traversed ofer to the Inverness area and had a nice cruise down the skier packed novice Walt's Trail and had a ball schussing down that roller coaster ride gem. I liked it so much, I repeated it. For the final run, I found my way to some McTrail that had a nice carpet of wind blown powder which made for a nice way to end the day. <BR> The skiing at Glen Ellen was actually very good, especially when ya' consider the thaw and freeze we just had. This was the third time I skied at Sugarbush over the last month and I actually forgot how good the skiing could be there. I think I like it even more than the much ballyhooed Stowe. Except Sugarbush does not have anything to offer regarding off-piste like Stowe has ..... ahem, yeah right, ahem-ahem-ahem ..... I have not heard much about off-piste at 'Bush ..... [snicker] [snicker]. <BR> <BR> Now, if Sugarbush would only bring back that funky 3-person gondola 