Mark Renson
New member
MRG was closed for the weekend and I seriously considered other ideas, but I also saw this weekend as an opportunity to work on <BR>skills by taking lessons. With prices 10% less than Stowe and close proximity to the bunkhouse, I went to Sugarbush to work on basics and edging skills. I had not skied there since April 1997. <BR> <BR> Trails at South and Glen Ellen were BRUTALLY GROOMED due to the cruel thaw and <BR>refreeze and the skiing was not very interesting. But I did get some very good <BR>instruction and worked hard on technique all day long. It was actually a bit mentally draining. <BR> <BR> It was also cold, especially at Glen Ellen. I caught a touch of frostbite for <BR>the 3rd time in 6 weeks .... umm, I think I gotta' watch this and be more careful. <BR> <BR> At the end of the day, I took the summit lift. Almost 20 years since they removed the gondola and I still can't get used to that blank area where the summit gondola station used to be. I recall that many used to bash the <BR>Sugarbush gondola and apparently, it was prone to many breakdowns, but I thought it was kinda' cool, especially with the odd 3 person seating. A reminder of the old "Mascara Mountain" days!! The Sugarbush 3 person gondola and the Wildcat one <BR>were my favorite gondolas - they seemed to have character to me. <BR> <BR> Final run down Jester was enjoyable. I always loved the corkscrew roller coaster ride design of that. With the addition of snowmaking, it was slightly homogenized a bit since I first skied it in 1984, but they didn't go hog wild <BR>and destroyed the character and fun of it. <BR> <BR> Today, I returned 'da Bush to work on those techniques. There was good news - <BR>Snowball/Spring Fling were opened with fresh snowmaking AND they did NOT BRUTALLY GROOM these, which meant that there were many fun whales to be had!! I love snowmaking whales! <BR> <BR> They were still making snow which left some nice fresh stuff on the surface, albeit a bit artificial feeling. But, it made for some fun skiing. I did laps on this all day long, except for one run that I took from the top, down through Jester and back to Snowball/Spring Fling. <BR> <BR> At about 3PM, the snow started to fall. I also ran into Lars on a whale. We could not hear each other very well due to the roar of the vomiting snowguns. I think Lars misinterperted something I said and he responded with "Do you need help" to which I repsonded with "yeah, I'll need professional help tomorrow when this storm leaves 2 feet of fluff and I'm at work. <BR> <BR> Folks, if you thought last weekend was awesome, wait 'til ya' get a load of tomorrow. There's plenty of base. For sure there was a thaw, but much remained and tomorrow will be ..... well, you know. <BR> <BR> Like I said, the skiing was a lotta' fun, today. Not many people showed up (not many people go to 'da Bush anymore) and surfaces on both days were pretty good, especially given the nasty thaw-freeze cycle. <BR> <BR> The drive home to Massachusetts was extremely arduous, but I somehow did it in <BR>5 hours. Geez, the things I do for my white collar posh stuck up dork yuppie job ...... oh well, it generates checks to buy the toys.