Unofficial Sugar Bowl

More ice on Friday, but this time with holiday crowds.  I can’t remember the last time I saw Sugar so busy.  Still, somehow the chock-full parking lot and people everywhere didn’t translate into much in the way of lift lines.  It took longer to get a drink at the Belt Room than it did to get on the lift!

And then.. poof!  Just like that, everybody went home and the mountain was quiet as could be Sunday.  I pulled into the parking lot and couldn’t believe it was a weekend.  The warmer temps mellowed out the ice and lots more terrain was suddenly fun again.  Monday was much of the same, but even warmer, starting to get a little springtime sticky in the afternoon even.

I was a little surprised Mt. Judah was on money hold Monday and presumably weekdays through the rest of the season.  That explains the recent terrain park relocation (so it can still be accessed from Jerome lift).

Nothing in the forecast but days of sunshine, which is nice for a little while, but we definitely need some snow out there soon.  Juneuary is thinning things out quickly.

-JS

Back on the mountain for the new year!

Conditions are definitely super-firm, otherwise known to native West Coast skiers as “ice”.  Those of us who grew up skiing in the East know what real ice is.  😉  Despite the firm conditions, it was sunny, cold and great to be outside making turns again.  Word on the mountain is that this was the past few days had been colder and windier.

The sunshine did soften things up as bit towards the end of the day.  I was tipped off to some surprisingly good proto-corn out at the far end of Judah bowl, and Summit was open to get there.

Unfortunately the weather outlook is sunny and dry for the next week at least.  Temps will warm up a little.  I’m planning on refining my follow-the-sun strategy, getting a good goggle tan, and in general enjoying the January spring.

-JS

Definitely dust on crust conditions off-piste for Christmas day.  A few linked pow turns in a windblown stash here and there, but hard as a rock underneath everywhere.  Props to the brave souls who kept trying anyway.

A little snow did wonders for the groomers, on the other hand.  Patched up the bare spots and softened up the surface most everywhere.  It was cold and kept trying to be sunny but not quite succeeding.

Dana E. wrote in the comments and asked what conditions are like now — I don’t know, I expect there’s lots of crowds, ice and sunshine.  🙂  Like other Slightly Restricted and Midweek passholders, I’m blacked out between Christmas and New Year’s.  If anyone would like to write in and let us know the real skinny on conditions, I’m happy to pass that along, otherwise, my snow reports resume New Year’s Day.

– J. Snow

It started snowing around 1pm Wednesday at Sugar, and really picked up by around 2pm.  There was definitely enough to enjoy fresh turns on the groomers, but off-piste was pretty sketchy and icy underneath.  Weather was brutal — some of the worst storm skiing I’ve done at Sugar Bowl.  Especially toward the end of the day, winds picked up and really pushed the lift chairs around.  I was surprised Lincoln, Disney and Judah were still running until 4pm.

Alas, it looks like the storm kind of fizzled out for the evening, not dumping a bunch on us.  I’ll still be out early Thursday – if nothing else, it will be sunny, fun, and the last day of 2014 for Midweek and Slightly Restricted pass holders, so I’m going to get my turns in!

– John S.

Alas, it warmed up a little and the tail end of the storm brought some less-than-ideal weather to Sugar Bowl over the weekend.

Saturday wasn’t too bad.  A little foggy and heavy, not the best visibility, but still some fun pow to be found from Friday’s storm.

Sunday was pretty awful.  Rain in the morning, heavy and slushy in the afternoon.  I’m pretty die-hard, but it was hard to stay stoked for these conditions and I left early.

Monday was sunny for a change, which was a welcome relief.  Like I said to someone on the chairlift, that’s Tahoe for you.  If it isn’t snowing, its warm spring weather.  We did get a freeze overnight, so it was a follow-the-sun day.  Unfortunately, the second shortest day  of the year doesn’t bring too much sun, but it was still nice to be out on a warm day enjoying the sunshine.  Crowds were out in force, the parting lot was full, but liftlines were barely there.

Looking ahead we have a little storm coming through Wednesday and Thursday as a small Christmas present.  After that there’s nothing on the horizon except crowds and traffic through the end of the year.  🙂

– J. Snow

 

Thursday was a rare break in the week’s series of small storms.  Visibility was better than it has been in a while.  I took some new pictures of the mountain this year and will upload them soon.

Friday was full on storm skiing with free refills!  I couldn’t believe how empty things were, it felt like there were only a dozen or two of us lapping Crow’s all morning.  I suppose it was still a pre-holiday weekday, and there’s no doubt that skiing in a storm can be brutal if you’re not geared up for it.

After a chance for a last little bit Saturday night, it looks like the storms clear out for Christmas week.  Like many passholders I’m blacked out from the 26th through the end of the year, so no on-snow reports after Thursday, unless someone else wants to write in and let us know how things are.  🙂

 

Alas, equipment trouble kept me off the slopes Monday and Tuesday.  Super excited to have made it back today!

Word is that Monday was super empty .  Tuesday was one of those sleeper miracle pow days where Sugar gets dumped on like twice as much as anywhere else (17″ on Tuesday morning!), but everybody said visibility was tough.

Today it snowed lightly all day, but without brutal winds or much accumulation.  A decent number  of people having fun out there, but still midweek so no lines and lots of fresh turns.  Fuller’s and Silver Belt are open now.  Had a ton of fun in the new terrain, as well as my old favorites Sugar Bowl and Strawberry.

Alas, Strawberry isn’t what it used to be since they took trees out and shoved a shitty groomer in the middle.  But hey, I’m not a hater, I do still like the new Crow’s chair.  And if you don’t, hey, do the hike with me while Crow’s chair is still closed this week.  🙂

Don’t forget to keep it safe out there!  Coverage is good, but it is still the early season, so things aren’t always as filled-in I expected.  Also, the snow came in suddenly and wet, so there’s lots of running water.  I had to do more than one sketchy stream crossing.

Looking ahead, Thursday looks to be mostly clear, and then another small storm is rolling in our way on Friday.

-JS

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

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!