Thursday, December 20, 2012
If you routinuely make ski and ride decisions based on weather forecasts, or even what you observe at the bottom of the mountain, you'd miss out on a lot of good snow. That fact was obvious this week, when the base area saw about three inches of snow and some rain, while the summits picked up fourteen inches, with no real changeover.
Elevation, aspect and latitude all conspired this week to maximize the margins, yielding accumulating snow, even as it rained just a few hundred yards lower. The peaks are winter wonderlands now. 
Rainbows and unicorns were spotted at Bravo today.
The new snow was enough to drop the ropes on some natural snow trails. Spillsville, Paradise and Domino opened today! This is some of the first natural snow terrain to open in VT. With Mount Ellen opening tomorrow, we will have forty-three trails available. Friday looks to be another wild weather day. The winds are only supposed to be blowing about 70 miles an hour, so windholds may be a factor.
Let's hope the forecast keeps getting the temps wrong too. We have consistently been 3-5 degrees colder than predicted and it has made a big difference. If we can hold the margins tomorrow, we should come out of it with another net gain event. Friday night is supposed to be all snow at elevation. The weekend and next week look good for snowmaking progress, plus chances for more storms. Stay tuned.
Over a foot on the summits this week! Coach Rick on Lincoln Peak.
Spillsville was sweet today. Nice turn, John!
Just about the only time you can make long cranking turns on trails like Spillsville and Paradise is the day they open. Once they get bumped, they tend to stay like that for the season. If you were wondering how they were today, yes, the non-stop GS runs were very nice.
Ripcord was ripping this weekend.
First Tracks Video Snow Report from this morning.
Snowmakerman.
Jack Staus enjoying a little Spillsville airtime.
Morning glory.
Railed! Mount Ellen park features open tomorrow.
The holiday period is here, with tons of fun things to do. Remember to be patient and leave extra time for everything. The snow is piling up at Sugarbush and the mountain is ready for your tracks. We hope to see you soon!
John Atkinson
Chairman, Sugarbush Stoke Exchange
Big check. The Mad River Riders and the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce received a $10,000 grant from the state of Vermont yesterday for building more trails at Blueberry Lake next summer!
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Follow our own 'John of all Trades' as he explores and documents adventures in and around Sugarbush Resort and the Mad River Valley.
802-583-6534
jatkinson@sugarbush.com
