Jim Schley

We lucked out with some absolutely gorgeous sunny weather for our last weekend skiing for the season. It was warm and comfortable, and the snow was great. Ripcord and Stein’s were the primary attractions, and they were both awesome with wall to wall coverage and great snow.

19/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 279 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

Despite an above average late season snow pack, the meltdown can happen fast this time of year. Rain on Friday night made a dent, but things held up pretty well, overall. The skiing was nice, especially on Stein’s. It got very cold on Saturday night, but the bright sunshine came to the rescue on Sunday leaving great corn snow and excellent Spring skiing.

25/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 279 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

The middle of April is often fickle in Vermont with weather ranging from mid-winter to summer-like. This weekend had it all. Saturday and Sunday were funky days with snow, fog, and even some sun at times. The temperatures warmed up low on the mountain for some decent skiing. The snow actually added up to some real accumulation, although the conditions were pretty sticky due to warm temps.

The Monday Patriots Day holiday was an absolutely spectacular ski day. Bright sun and warm temperatures reaching toward sixty degrees meant that conditions were perfect all over the mountain. There was still a lot of snow, too, with natural snow trails off the summit open and skiing nicely without too much concern for rocks. The Spring conditions were just perfect.

36/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 278 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

Saturday was a spectacularly sunny Spring day. Unfortunately, the weatherman botched the forecast and the temps came in way below normal, struggling to get above freezing on most of the mountain. Lower mountain trails, especially those on Gatehouse did soften and offered really nice corn snow– perfect Spring skiing. It took a while, but it was quite nice once it got there.

The weatherman also botched Sunday’s forecast, but this time it ended up being totally in our favor. It was supposed to be cloudy and rainy but ended up being sunny and beautiful. Unlike Saturday, it was nice and warm, allowing for soft snow all over the mountain. My first run down Spring Fling has absolutely perfect Spring snow conditions. It was positively buttery. Conditions were great everywhere. Coverage was great for April, too. Lower mountain trails like Domino were awesome. Stein’s Run was perfect in the afternoon with huge bumps and impeccable corn snow. It was a very memorable Spring ski day.

68/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 272 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

Our first trip to Deer Valley was a bit eye opening as they really do operate the ski resort differently than any other places we have been to. The food, the lodging, and the customer service are unparalleled.

They pay attention to every detail. Walking into the cafeteria in any of the day lodges is disorienting as you contemplate the carving station, the flank steak sandwich special, the duck tacos, or the capicola panini.

The skiing is great there too. They groom more trails there than other places we’ve skied in Utah, but the terrain was very similar to Park City Mountain Resort next door. We found a pretty diverse range of skiing options, from mellow groomers, to sweet bumps, to steep bowls and chutes.

This was the first trip to Utah that we’ve taken where it hasn’t dumped snow at some point while we were there. Instead we had warms temps and bright sunshine. It was sweet Spring skiing with perfect conditions for hanging out on a deck aprés ski.

photo courtesy of sugarbush.com

Phenomenal conditions! Sugarbush received over 20” of snow over the work week. Another 6” fell Friday night making for a sweet powder day on Saturday with snow still falling. Another 2” fell Saturday night making for great powder conditions continuing to Sunday. The woods really filled in with deep snow allowing for a full speed assault. Highlights of the weekend were runs on Castlerock, especially Liftline. All of the favorite woods lines across the mountain were blitzed. What a blast!

111/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 265 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

We were told we missed some pretty great skiing while we were in the Florida Keys the second weekend in March. Another brutal warm-up with significant rain hit right after we returned. A lot of damage was done, and the snow depth was pretty heavily impacted. The good news came in the form of over a foot of new snow falling over several days through Friday night. The drive up was horrible.

The Castlerock lift was closed, as was the Paradise trail, but it didn’t matter as we really didn’t ski the trails very much. The woods required more caution due to the decreased snow depth, but the conditions were generally awesome, especially at the higher elevations. Saturday featured the discovery of what we consider to be the best line we have ever skied at Sugarbush. It was out of bounds and not obvious to find, and it was amazing. Untracked.

Unfortunately, luck ran out for Murph who suffered leg injuries in three separate crashes over both Saturday and Sunday. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

108/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 236 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

A good, solid foot of snow fell mid-week making for some nice conditions for the first weekend in March. The woods lines were skiing nicely and weren’t too tracked out.

Castlerock was great. There were the typical challenging spots, but overall, the trails had decent cover and good packed powder conditions.

Sunday was a really nice day featuring an excellent run in Slide Brook.

The elusive Murphy was caught on camera.

A good weekend in the woods.

It was very fun to see Danielle back out enjoying the trails, too!

111/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 218 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

The last weekend in February was a good one. My buddy Dan and kids joined us for the weekend. While the kids enjoyed ski school, we shredded as much terrain as possible, starting with North Lynx. Several inches of snow had fallen a few days earlier, and snow was falling as we set out on the mountain. The new snow made for some nice turns on both Birch Run and Morningstar, if you turned in the right spot. Morningstar had thin cover, but was a lot of fun.

From North Lynx, we traversed over to Castlerock. Rumble had some significant challenge with exposed rock at the top, but the turns were great below.

The company and advice were good at Castlerock. The woods were excellent with lots of untracked lines.

On Sunday, we mostly skied the woods off Heaven’s Gate. Conditions were pretty great.

111/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 205 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season

President’s Day weekend is always one of the busiest of the season at Sugarbush. The conditions had improved with the snow from the big blizzard, even though the amounts were much lower in Vermont than they were in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, there still wasn’t enough snow to open Castlerock or Paradise. Ungroomed, natural snow trails that were open had pretty challenging conditions. Sugarbush did make a lot of  manmade snow ahead of the long holiday weekend, and the conditions were pretty nice on North Lynx where Birch Run and Sunrise both saw the love. Stein’s Run was winch groomed flat and snowmaking was in progress both Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday was a challenging day with winds closing lifts, brutal cold temps, and heavy crowds. We called it a day pretty early and joined a crowd waiting for the pub to open.

Monday was extremely cold and extremely windy making for very uncomfortable skiing. The snowmaking on Stein’s had completed and the conditions there were stellar. After a bunch of silky smooth laps on Stein’s, I called it a day to thaw out the toes.

105/111 trails open at Sugarbush. 188 inches of snow so far in the 2012-2013 season