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Opening weekend, part deux

It was actually the second weekend Sugar Bowl was open, but with the midweek closure and a big storm, it sure felt like deja vu all over again.

Saturday had one of the biggest crowds that I’ve seen in a good while waiting for Disney to open .  To say there was a lot of pent-up excitement would be an understatement.  Still, by “biggest” I mean big for our little fishbowl — it was still just a few minutes even though it looked like a lot of people to this mid-week skier, and thinned out by mid-day.  The snow was solid but tons of fun to slice buttery turns through, and there was lots of it.  This was a weird storm that dumped lots of snow on us, but less on everyone else.  Sugar had two feet up top, other mountains in the west had between a foot and two, and some of the Eastern mountains had almost nothing (Mt. Rose reported an inch!).

Sunday was nice in the morning, and brought a surprise snow shower in the afternoon.  Conditions were generally good on and off-piste, high-traffic areas got scraped off as usual, but what are you going to do?  Crow’s chair didn’t open, but everything out there is open with a traverse back to Disney.  For those of you who are nostalgic for the old Crow’s experience, get on out there and get hiking!

Sugar is open for the season (7 days a week now), and there’s some small storms predicted for early in the week to fill things in.  Enjoy it while you can.  I know I will!

-J snow

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Phantom Phriday

Like everybody else I spent too much time Thursday and Friday watching the storm.  It did start with a little rain Thursday morning, but switched over to snow at Sugar earlier than it did down here in town, not too long after noon Thursday.

Sugar Bowl swapped out the learning center cam for a “Powder Picnic Cam”.  I’m not sure Mother Nature got the memo on cooperating, even at a foot and change the whole thing was an unreadable snowy mess, but they cleaned it off for next time anyway.  A little cheesy, but hey, compared to how much some other mountains are alienating their regulars, its hard to complain about a little cheese.

The storm wasn’t the bottomless blizzard folks get themselves a little too worked up about, but a foot or two all in isn’t anything to sneeze at and will be lots of fun to push around.

A little strange to have wait until Saturday even though the storm petered out Friday morning, but hey, that’s the early season for you.  It sounds like they’ll be more terrain open this weekend than the first couple months of the season least year, and with light snow as far as the forecast can see, its definitely putting a smile on my face.

Looking forward to a ton of fun Saturday.

-JS

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Opening weekend report

It was great to hit the slopes again!  Last week’s storm left more on the mountain than I expected to see, and Lincoln was spinning.

The bad news was that overall, conditions were kind of iffy.  Saturday was heavy, wet snow reminiscent of a smoothie, and dense fog with very little visibility.  Sunday greeted us with a surprisingly hard freeze overnight.  Groomers softened up a bit during the day but also got scraped up quick.

Nevertheless I had a blast.  Met some new friends, saw some old buddies and kept it positive.  I was a bit bummed out after the rain last week, but coverage was actually really good for so early in the season.

Of course everyone is abuzz about the storm coming in on Thursday and Friday.  Temperature and snow levels are still wavering a bit, but it looks promising for Sugar Bowl.  Saturday could be a good one!

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Opening day!

Hi, I was away for Thanksgiving and took a small break from updates, and Sugar Bowl’s opening date slid from Nov 26th to today, December 6th.

I guess they just couldn’t open the mountain without me, so today is the day!  It is a a little wet out there, but I’ll make it over at least to check out the conditions.  Plus it always takes me a day or two to figure out how to gear up again.

Sugar Bowl is open for the weekend, closed during the week and then open for the season on Saturday the 13th.  Looks like we might even have a proper storm.

See you on the slopes!  -JS

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Thursday Tease

A little storm for us this Thursday.  No snow in town yet, but Sugar Bowl is getting a little dusting.

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Sugar bowl sure looks nice with a fresh coat.

Another one still looks on track for Saturday , but it might be a bit too warm.  Keeping my skis crossed it stays cold enough to snow the whole storm.  A layer of our good old Sierra cement for a base would be perfect.

-JS

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Fake snow and real snow

Looks like Sugar is serious about their opening date.  Snowmaking is underway!  Here’s some pictures from their web cams yesterday afternoon.

gondola-2014-11-16_15_36_58.631NobHill-2014-11-16_15_30_01.876children-2014-11-16_15_30_02.116

For those of you who aren’t satisfied unless its the real deal, it looks like we might be getting a decent storm in the Thursday night to Saturday range.  Keeping a close eye on this one and thinking positive!

 

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Thanksgiving bowl

Sugar Bowl has announced an opening date!  November 26th.  That’s right, just 15 short days away.

After a sunny week bicycling and worrying over the forecast, I was totally prepared for a December opening like last year, but it seems Sugar is stepping up their game.

See you soon!  -JS

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Open Sesame

Our neighbors over at Boreal are open!  Just their usual early-season mini lift and park, but hey, if I had a comp (or a pass there), I’d gear up and have fun getting out there.

Mt. Rose is open too!  No lifts yet over there apparently, just a conveyor belt so far, but looks like they’ll have more soon.

The bigger resorts have opening dates announced in time for Thanksgiving.  Northstar on the 21st and Squawpine on the 26th.

Sugar hasn’t put anything on their website yet.  December 6th is the best rumor (guess?) I’ve heard so far.  Since that’s less than 30 days out now, I can officially get Excited.  Of course it depends a lot on the weather — even blowing fake snow on Trailblazer needs the temperature to cooperate.

Getting my last bicycle miles of 2014 in until then, and hoping to be making turns soon.

 

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Talking a lot about less and less

Wow, I feel like folks are getting a little over-stoked.  Even my friends from the bay area are calling to see if they should drive up.  I guess there’s a lot of pent-up anticipation after the last few years.

Yes, there’s definitely a storm coming in.  No, it isn’t gigantic enough to get the season started or anything.  Alas, no resorts are going to open.  Not even our neighbor Boreal, who would usually have the snow guns going in time to open something by Halloween without a storm.

Sugar looks to get about a foot to a foot and a half.  Perhaps just a tease, perhaps another storm on the way next weekend?

I’m going to relax, make a fire and dream about making turns on opening day.

-JS

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What’s this all about then?

Hi!

Inspired by Unofficial Alpine,  I thought we Sugar Bowl skiers needed a site of our own.

Contributions are welcome!  Do you have something to say about Sugar or life in the area?  Your heated opinion on Crow’s peak?  Your sick new video from the mountain?  Get in touch,  the site is for everyone.

Who am I?  Nobody special.  Just another local who spends too much time at Sugar Bowl.

-John Snow