Sugarloaf, ME 3/14-17/00

Nile · Apr 18, 2000

(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/20/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.) My wife, Linda and I decided on a short ski vacation to either Sugarloaf or Mt Tremblant. After checking the prices on their respective website's we picked Sugarloaf. Their midweek package equaled or bettered Mt. Tremblant. I assumed they must be trying to attract Canadian business to offer Canadian rates. We stayed at the Grand Summit Hotel at the base. The room per person, included lift ticket and a daily group lesson was $70. Pretty good deal considering that a lift ticket goes for $49. We had initially made a reservation for two nights. My back was bothering me from a missed pole plant, on Doc Dempsy (Smuggs), the Wednesday before so I could bearly bend over enough to get my socks on. That Saturday I thought it would be easier on my back to snowboard, instead of Tele. I don't know what I was thinking. During my second run at Smuggs I sat down for a rest, I didn't think I was going to be able to get up. I certainly didn't want to have to ask some thirteen year old to prop me up and point me downhill. I was so stiff I could of passed for an entrant in the "Big Air Dummy" contest at Sugarbush. After two runs I headed for the hot tub. Anyways, I was afraid I was going to be sitting in our room watching TV for two days while Linda skied. Fortunately the Hotel had a large hot tub, which I immediately visited after our 5 hour drive on Rte. 2 from Burlington VT, Tuesday afternoon. I was quite surprised to find that it loosen up my back quite well. Feeling much better we went to dinner at Gepettos at the resort village. We got lucky for dinner, Tuesday night is their special two dinners for $19 night. We both had very good meals. Later that evening I made another visit to the hot tub and felt even better. Skiing was looking better. Our room at the Summit Hotel was very nice. We had a refrigerator, microwave and small sink. They supplied dishes, silverware, cork screw etc. I wish I knew most of their rooms were setup this way. Their Website didn't mention these amenities. Wednesday, Linda had a group lesson at 9:00. Most of the people in her group had been there for the whole week, with the same instructor. They didn't have any Tele lessons and as much as I would of liked to take an advanced snowboard lesson, I though it better not to press my luck with my back. I took off and explored. There was lots of snow in the woods. They have fared the recent thaws much better than northern Vermont. Unfortunately with the crust, turning was near impossible, unless you enjoy kick turns. On the other hand most of the opened trails were very well groomed, no ice. Less bumps than most any section of frost heaved Rte 2. A few busy areas off the King Pine Bowl did develop moguls by afternoon. Aside from the woods and glades being off limits we were slightly disappointed that there were not more narrow trails. Many of the "trails" at Sugarloaf are wide slopes, not always what the trail map indicates. In the afternoon we skied a couple runs at the Timberline area which is the only access to the top of the mountain and the snowfield area, which was mostly closed. The Timberline area has a couple nice cruising Blue square trails with some great views. Since the Timberline quad is high up the mountain, with a 980 vertical, conditions were packed powder while the lower mountain was starting to get a little mushy. After another visit to the hot tub we went to Gepettos again for Caribbean night and had another excellent meal, but not quite the bargain of the previous night. Thursday, it was suppose to rain and turn to snow that night. Since my back was feeling good we decided to stay another day. Unfortunately we had to move to another room, but it was worth it. We moved to a even larger corner room with a view of the slopes. As it turned out the rain passed to our south. We had occasional sun, fortunately not enough to turn the snow to mush. As the temperature dropped in the afternoon the snow started to stiffen up and become quite fast. I would of not wanted to ski the next day without the "Brutal Grooming". After skiing we headed down to the Sugarloaf Inn for an after ski party for all the people taking lessons, during the week. Lots of free eats. The Shipyard BrewHaus bar had some great brews on tap. That evening they had a bonfire and a "torch light" parade down the mountain and then fireworks. That night we had dinner at the Double Diamond Pub at the Summit Hotel. An then of course, back to the hot tub. Friday we had about 4 inches of new snow that fell overnight and stopped coming down around mid-morning. It made for an odd combination. Skiing on powder with a very crunchy frozen granular base. The noisiest "powder" I have ever skied. They opened up a few un-groomed trails. I got "first tracks" on a couple trails, but I surely couldn't of sneaked up on anyone who wasn't totally deaf. Linda had a new instructor, Carl, who also shows up on WSKI. WSKI is Sugarloaf's closed circuit cable TV station. They do live broadcasts a couple mornings a week. It's rather fun to watch. Carl is a dynamite instructor and helped Linda a great deal in just an 1-1/2 hours. Not too mention he is a first class character and people person. I'm sure they don't pay him enough. Except for Wednesday, Maine resident day ($25), 2/3 of the people I met were from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. Most of the Canadians were there for the week. Some of them had gotten very good deals on Condo's through their local travel agent. One woman said they got their ski week for half the rate they were quoted when they called the ski area directly. The Summit Hotel was quite nice and a pretty good bargain. The customer service was excellent, very friendly and helpful staff. Amy at the front desk was great. I think this place has ruined my wife, no more Motel 6 off the mountain for her. It was sure nice to walk back to our rooms in a minute for lunch. We might have had dinner in our room if we had known about the microwave and refrigerator. The only disadvantage is sitting down in the comfy wingback chairs and having lunch, is getting back up to go out skiing. I had considered getting a 2:00 PM wake up call. If I closed my eyes for a few minutes my skiing day would have been over. We really liked Sugarloaf and plan to go back, especially with a group of people.

Sugarloaf, ME 3/14-17/00

Nile

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