Jim Schley

What a difference a week makes! 29″ of new snow fell over the course of the week, dramatically changing the landscape. The bottom layers of snow consolidated nicely to form a nice base for the copious amount of lake effect fluff that dropped on top of it. The locals all said that Friday was a spectacular day, and it was clear that many had been out to track up the fresh, but there was still plenty to be found on Saturday morning.  All of the trails at Lincoln Peak except for the beginner terrain were opened, including Castlerock. Focus was on the upper mountain on Saturday with five runs on Ripcord, two on Paradise, and one on Spillsville before the early season, underconditioned legs gave out on me, and I retreated.  The natural snow skied fantastically, even after it tracked out. Early runs on Ripcord and Paradise with lots of pockets of untracked were sublime, especially with great coverage and no big bumps.  On Sunday, the focus shifted over to Castlerock. Packed powder was the rule, and the skiing was very nice. Coverage was a bit thin, and I did manage to nail quite a few rocks, but hey- it’s Castlerock. Also did a run down the Mall which was in great shape despite being somewhat thin. We skied hard. I felt like I had been run over by a truck on Sunday night, but in a good way. 48/111 trails open at Sugarbush and 34″ of snow so far this season.