Sugarbush Resort

Sugarbush Resort
Sugarbush's Mt. Ellen area
Location	Warren, Vermont, US (2 miles ESE), Waitsfield (4 miles E)
Nearest major city	Burlington (45 miles NW), Montpelier (26 miles NE)
Top elevation	4083 ft (1244 m)
Base elevation	1483 ft (452 m)
Skiable area	578 acres (2.34 km2)s (2.34 km²)
Trails	111
Lift system	16 chairs: 5 highspeed quads, 2 fixed grip quads, 2 triples, 4 doubles and 3 surface lifts
Snowfall	262 in (6.7 m)
Website	Sugarbush Resort Home Page

Sugarbush Resort is a ski resort located in the Mad River Valley in Warren, Vermont. It is one of the largest ski resorts in New England. The resort encompasses more than 4000 acres (16 km²) total, 578 acres (2.34 km²) skiable, 53 miles (85 km) of trails, and 16 ski lifts. Sugarbush has 111 ski trails, 18 additional marked wooded area, substantial off-piste skiing and riding, a summit elevation of 4,083 ft (1,244 m), and a vertical drop of 2600 ft (790 m).

History

Sugarbush was opened on December 25, 1958, by Damon and Sara Gadd and Jack Murphy. In 1977, the Gadds sold the resort to Roy Cohen. Cohen purchased the Glen Ellen Ski Area (Mount Ellen) in 1979 and annexed it to Sugarbush. ARA Services purchased the resort in 1983, replacing the original gondola with the Super Bravo and Heaven's Gate triple chair lifts, effectively increasing uphill capacity from 450 skiers per hour to 1800.

Claneil Enterprises bought the resort in 1984 and transformed it into a four-season resort, purchasing adjacent tennis courts, restaurants, condominiums, and a golf course. Claneil improved the chairlift system by installing three new lifts on Mount Ellen. The American Skiing Company purchased Sugarbush in 1995 and installed seven new lifts, increased snowmaking by 300%, and built a sixty-three million gallon reservoir for snowmaking. During this period, Mount Ellen and the main part of Sugarbush were connected by the Slide Brook Express two-way quad chairlift; when it was installed was the world's fastest chairlift, and is still the world's longest detachable chairlift.

When the American Skiing Company bought Sugarbush, the Original Green Mountain Express (GMX) chair at Mount Ellen was moved to replace the aging North Ridge Double. Then the GMX was replaced with a new fixed grip quad from Doppelmayer that ran up to the base of Cliffs to encourage use of the new North Ridge Express and the Slide Brook Express. This lift became known as the "Slug" because it was slow and impractical. Current Sugarbush owner Summit Ventures replaced this chair with a Poma high speed quad which runs the full length of the original GMX (up to the Glen House), and "the Slug" is now Jay Peak's Metro Quad. Also, the North Lynx Triple was formerly the Sugarbravo triple chair, and was moved to the North Lynx peak to replace a platter lift when the Super Bravo detachable quad was installed. The Castlerock double was also replaced in 2001 with another double following the same chair spacing specs as the original lift.

Summit Ventures (Win Smith, Bob Ackland, and Adam Greshin) purchased the resort in 2001, and has since replaced and reconfigured some of the lifts, made further snowmaking improvements by adding new low energy nozzles to the system, and has most recently completed the $60 million Lincoln Peak Village [1], which includes the Claybrook luxury condiminium complex, a new 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m²) Gate House lodge, and Timbers, a post-and-beam restaurant.

According to resort president Win Smith, the resort had no plans to add any further high speed chairs. The intent was, rather, is to keep lift capacity approximately the same to maintain the current uphill/downhill capacity relationship.

In 2008, Sugarbush purchased and refurbished a 12-person snowcat to be used for transport to Allyn's Lodge for dining as well as moonlight ski and snowshoe tours. There are plans to open Mt. Ellen to cat-accessed skiing in the spring of 2009 when the lifts are shut off for the season. Also in 2008, Sugarbush celebrated its 50th Anniversary in December.

Skiing at Sugarbush

Sugarbush has two mountain areas separated by Slide Brook Basin. The south side of Sugarbush, Lincoln Peak, is the resort's main mountain area. Most of the resort real estate is located at Lincoln Peak, including the new Claybrook condominiums and hotel. Lincoln Peak has 2,400 vertical feet and a summit elevation of 3,975 feet (1,211.6 m), with 72 of Sugarbush's 111 runs. Also at Lincoln Peak are several other smaller peaks: Gadd Peak, Castlerock Peak, and North Lynx Peak.

Castlerock

Castlerock Peak is known to for its steep, narrow, winding, New England-style runs. It is also the only peak of Sugarbush that does not use snowmaking, although there are several runs such as Paradise and Domino not in the Castlerock area that also do not incorporate snowmaking. Castlerock is also home to Rumble, arguably the most difficult trail at Sugarbush.

A view of Mt. Ellen's Black Diamond (left) and F.I.S. (right) trails from the Summit Quad. Photo taken during 05/06 season.

Mt. Ellen

To the north, separate from Lincoln Peak, is Sugarbush's other mountain area called Mt. Ellen. Mt. Ellen's top elevation is 4,083 feet (tied for third highest in the state with Camel's Hump), and it has one of the largest continuous vertical drops in Vermont at 2,600 feet (790 m). Several states and southern Quebec are visible from the summit of Mt. Ellen.

Formerly an independent resort (founded by Walt Elliot in the early 1960s), Mt. Ellen has Sugarbush's steepest run, FIS. Mt. Ellen also has a secondary peak, Inverness Peak, which is home to the Green Mountain Valley School's (GMVS) racing slopes Inverness, and Brambles.

Mt. Ellen is also home to Sugarbush's terrain park and half pipe. Although some terrain features can be found all over Sugarbush, the primary terrain parks are behind the base lodge at Mt. Ellen and on Mt. Ellen's Riemergasse trail. The half pipe is located on the Riemergasse trail which is named after deceased partner Joe Riemer.

Mt. Ellen traditionally opens later and closes earlier than neighboring Lincoln Peak. After the Lincoln Peak Village's Phase 1 development opened in Dec of 2006 Lincoln Peak opens first and closes last versus Mt Ellen.

Snow at Sugarbush

Ascending toward the summit of Mt. Ellen the morning after an 8-inch snowfall. Photo taken Dec 23 2010.

Sugarbush receives an annual average of 262 inches (6.7 m) of snow, but in the winter of 2006/2007 it received 314 inches (8.0 m) during the 150 days the resort was open. Sugarbush has approximately 70% snowmaking coverage, but some areas are intentionally devoid of snowmaking systems.

Sugarbush and the Environment

The resort switched much of its snowmaking equipment to low energy nozzles. Sugarbush's Mt. Ellen was also the first resort to operate all of its grooming equipment on bio-diesel. The entire resort now runs all of its diesel equipment on bio-diesel.

The Slide Brook

The area between Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen is called the Slide Brook Basin. This wooded wilderness area comprises over 1000 acres (4 km²) and is skiable only with a guided tour and is for expert skiers only.

Mountain Stats

The Mountains

• Mount Ellen: 4,083 ft (1,244 m)
• Lincoln Peak: 3,975 ft (1,212 m)
• Castlerock Peak: 3,812 ft (1,162 m)
• North Lynx Peak: 3,300 ft (1,000 m)
• Gadd Peak: 3,150 ft (960 m)
• Inverness Peak: 2,750 ft (840 m)

Lodges

• Valley House (LP)
• Gate House (LP)
• Mount Ellen Base Lodge (ME)
• Allyn's Lodge (LP)
• Glen House (ME)

Stats

• 4,000 acres (16 km²) total
• 508 acres (2.06 km²) skiable
• 53 miles (85 km) of trails
• 11 wooded areas
• 4,083 ft (1,244 m) summit elevation
• 1,483 ft (452 m) base elevation
• 2,600 ft (790 m) vertical drop
• 262 inches annual snowfall
• 68% snowmaking coverage

Lifts

• 16 total lifts

• Quads: 7 (5 are high speed detachable)
• Triples: 2
• Doubles: 4
• Surface Lifts: 3

• Uphill Capacity: 25,463

Terrain

Green Circle	Blue Square	Black Diamond	Total
24 trails, 82 acres (330,000 m2)	51 trails, 184 acres (0.7 km2)	36 trails, 142 acres (0.6 km2)	111 trails, 508 acres (2.1 km2)
20%	45%	35%	100%

Off Season at Sugarbush

Sugarbush has a health and racquet club, known as the SHARC (pronounced "shark"), with three indoor tennis courts, four outdoor clay courts, two outdoor hard courts, one racquetball court, two squash courts, a weight room, indoor and outdoor pools and hottubs, steam rooms, massage rooms, a rock gym, and a dance/exercise floor.

Sugarbush also has an 18-hole par 71 Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course, known for its mountainous topography.

Sugarbush is also available for hiking and biking, with mountain terrain for a variety of ability levels. The Bravo lift runs Friday through Sunday from late June through Columbus Day weekend and lift accessed Mountain Biking and Disc Golf is available as is a 600-foot (180 m) Zip Line. This past summer the activities were expanded to seven(7) days per week. The zipline is 800 ft. Sugarbush has two top-rated Disc Golf course. The mountain course requires a chairlift ride and is rated by the PDGA(Professional Disc Golf Assos)as the 3rd most difficult in the country. This past summer Sugarbush hosted the National Deaf Disc Golf Championship and the New England Championship.

In the fall, Lincoln Peak offers Foliage Lift Rides Fridays and weekends through Columbus Day.

External links

• The resort website
• Sugarbush History Website (not affiliated/endorsed by Sugarbush Resort)
• 3dSkiMap of Sugarbush Resort (South)
• 3dSkiMap of Sugarbush Resort (North)