MOUNTAIN GAZETTEER – SUGARBUSH RESORT
With the exception of the gondola being eliminated and the Slide Brook Express added to connect Mt. Ellen to Lincoln Peak, Sugarbush remains much the same as it was in the glory days of “Sugarbush North,” the heady, halcyon ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.
The resort has four peaks on the Lincoln Peak side – from skier’s right to left, Gabb, Lincoln, Castlerock, and North Lynx – and two peaks on the Mt. Ellen side, Mt. Ellen and Inverness. The two sides were connected in 1995 when the nearly two-mile long Slide Brook Express debuted, a quad chair that traverses the Slide Brook Basin for a whopping 11,012 feet in total. Before that, you skied one or the other or did a lot of hiking at dusk.
Sugarbush boasts a strong, often steep vertical drop, 2,400 feet of vertical from the summit of Lincoln Peak (elevation 3,975 ft.) to its base lodge (elevation 1,575 ft.) and 2,600 feet of vertical from the summit of Mt. Ellen (4,083) to its base lodge at 1,483 feet. That’s the third largest vertical drop in the east, behind only Sugarloaf and Killington, heady company. Its skiable footprint is also sweeping, covering 4,000 acres total with 508 acres of skiable terrain. That’s roughly 53 miles of trails and 11 mapped glades, as well as gargantuan adjacent areas for off piste adventures.
There are 111 trails at Sugarbush, 72 at Lincoln Peak, and 39 at Mt. Ellen. The split between novice-intermediate-expert is one of the best breakdowns in all of skiing: 20% novice, 45% intermediate, and 35% expert. Happily, everything at Sugarbush is equal to or harder than its designation on the trail map. Take the map seriously, especially the double black diamond runs. This isn’t Pennsylvania or Massachusetts; it is the apex of Vermont’s gnar and a cradle of extreme skiing in America. So be ready to shred or Sugarbush will shred you.
Better still, every trail pod at Sugarbush has interesting runs. Trails never feel the same or seem forced into rows like a cornfield. The variety of terrain is downright staggering, with just as many sidecountry and backcountry adventures to explore, including the Slide Brook Basin and the woods off the Castlerock area.
Sugarbush has never been known for the best snow, nor the best snow coverage, with only 70% snowmaking, though some areas like Castlerock and the Paradise run are deliberately kept ungroomed. While it once had old slow lifts, since the turn of the millennium, most of Sugarbush’s lifts have been replaced.
LINCOLN PEAK SIDE
This side is the Sugarbush of old, the original, before the merger with Sugarbush North…errr..the Mt. Ellen side. The old gondola is gone, replaced by the Heavens Gate Chair which services the Lincoln Peak Summit. Organgrinder still is the centerpiece of Lincoln Peak, although precious few get to try it, conditions usually being dicey at best. When open though, it is a true test of mettle: criminally narrow, steep at a goat path, bumped out like a measles breakout, and usually ice-tastic. It used to be the lift line for the gondola. Oh, the entertainment that provided, especially in rough weather!
Starting from looker’s left, skier’s right on the map, the Valley House Quad is where Sugarbush’s seasons traditionally begin and end. Iconic runs include Spring Fling and Snowball, where hotties in bikinis will be shredding every April. Experts will lap the gloriously bumped out Stein’s run, named for instructor Stein Erikson, the Mall, (the criminally narrow lift line) and the aptly named Twist. The Super Bravo Express Quad terminates a little further up Gadd’s Peak, providing access to a midstation, Allyn’s Lodge, and Downspout and the Lower Organgrinder, as well as a smattering of lower mountain intermediate trails.
The summit of Lincoln Peak is accessible only by the Heaven’s Gate Quad, but the view from atop the mountain one of the most breathtaking panoramas in the east, absolutely dazzling. On clear days, one can see clear across the Mad River Valley over the Green Mountain’s vast expanses. Jester is one of the most splendid summit runs anywhere in America, while expert runs Paradise and Ripcord are among the gnarliest runs east of the Rockies. And of course Organgrinder, the former lift line of the old gondola and still the most direct way down form the summit, belongs in the Pantheon of Greatest Ski Runs in the East. Only Cannon Mountain’s DJ’s Tramline or Jay Peak’s 601->Mickey can compare for sheer relentlessness in both steeps and narrowness. And when bumped out, it’s a meat grinder, not an organ grinder. But even that is just a warm up for what awaits the next summit over.
CASTLEROCK
This is the vortex, the pulse of the zeitgeist, the absolute lightning strike. When you ski the Castlerock Double you step back in time to the 1960s. Every trail on the Castlerock pod is white-knuckle, high-flying, hair-raising wildness. Even before you get on the lift, warning signs blare at you from every direction: “EXPERTS ONLY!” “WARNING!” “NO NOVICES!” and my personal favorite, “DID WE MENTION ROCKS?!”
Many industry insiders agree – there is no tougher trail pod in the east than Castlerock. Not Whiteface. Not Killington. Not Sunday River. Castlerock. Full stop. And it’s been that way since it debuted all the way back in 1960.
“It’s set off in its own little playground, and it’s a world away from anything else at the resort. If you weren’t paying attention or looking for it, you might not even see Castlerock,” Ed Brennan explains excitedly, recalling his glory years of the ‘80s and ‘90s as in instructor. “There is gonna be some air involved. The trails here are too steep and too narrow for wide, across the fall line turns; you absolutely have to ski the fall line, and that means you have to clear rocks. There is a reason why it’s called CastleROCK!”
That and it rocks metaphorically too.
Four iconic trails run from the peak back to the chairlift: from looker’s left to right, Castlerock Run (with Lower Castlerock), Lift Line, Rumble, and Middle Earth. Take your pick – each one of them is all you can handle. The flanks, Castlerock Run and Middle Earth, are your classic, old school, Golden Age New England trails: narrow, windy, and bumpy. Rumble is exactly the same, but with mandatory cliff jumps as well. Indeed, Rumble is still reputedly the toughest trail at Sugarbush, Sugarbush North, or Mad River Glen, (although some MRG fans will certainly claim Paradise is tougher). Who is right? It depends on conditions.
“Actually, as you enter Rumble and turn left and go into the woods that is the finest fall line in all of Sugarbush – Rumble Woods!” Brennan interjects with a smile. “You’ll see all kinds of locals ripping it up in there.”
And then there’s the Lift Line – absolutely petrifying to anyone but experts, who, instead, find it glorious. Rocks, stumps, moguls, towers, narrowness, and trees – is there anything Castlerock doesn’t throw at you? Maybe rubber chickens or GI Joes with Kung Fu grips, but that’s about it. Additionally at this Lift Line, you must know before you go know there’s a jump at tower 11. And more importantly, know which one tower 11 is in reverse, because you’re coming from the other direction.
Castlerock is the line between expert skier and everyone else. Nowhere in the east is the dichotomy more on display. But if you are an expert, then this is your happy place.
“One time with Dan Egan and Steve Kassin, Dan made us ski Castlerock Run and traverse over to Lift Line. We were wondering what was up, and he holds up his hand and says, ‘Watch this. This is gonna be a smoke show,’ and out of nowhere his brother John Egan comes literally flying – literally flying – out of nowhere, barreling through the air faster than anyone I have ever seen taking the sickest line down Lift Line ever. He took huge sections of terrain in single turns, chewing up that run so fast yet effortlessly, it was like he was barely moving at all.”
Unstoppable!
The Castlerock Pod is an imperative of American skiing, required reading so to speak, as is Mad River Glen. They both have similar gnarly terrain, but even more poignantly, it’s the vibe. Look at the passion and respect for skiing people have in the region. You get that same feeling and experience at Castlerock. And it stays with you for life. It’s impossible to overstate this case: If you’re a serious skier, Castlerock is where you want to be.
“Castlerock is best when the chair is closed because we hike over from Heaven’s Gate and have untracked pow,” Brennan confides. “The traverse is an interesting trip along the spine of the Green Mountains and the Long Trail. There are sections you have to hike, but the skiing lines are narrow twisting paths with rocks placed inconveniently for braking. So, your hurtling along, and out of nowhere you have to dodge these rocks right as you’re at full speed – so it’s a gas even before you get to Castlerock. And then we’d come out and have Castlerock all to ourselves.”
The North Lynx Peak, by contrast, is a bit of a denouement to the climactic excitement of Castlerock, but the mostly intermediate runs there are a nice palette cleanser to round out a day of gnarly shredding. Two lifts run in succession to get you to the top of the trail pod for just under a dozen runs. One can even access the condos from here as well as head to Mt. Ellen on the Slide Brook chair, which begins between the Gate House and North Lynx chairlifts, and terminates not far from the base of the North Ridge Express Quad on the Mt. Ellen side. The ride between the two sides takes about 12 minutes, but the lift is only open on weekends and holidays.
MT. ELLEN SIDE (SUGARBUSH NORTH!)
The Mt. Ellen side may be smaller, but it is by no means a weak sister, and skiers and boarders spend many days lapping the summit, the lift lines or their favorite pod.
“Mt. Ellen has the highest summer chair on the property and its serves an absolutely exquisite piece of terrain that includes quintessential eastern runs Black Diamond and FIS,” Brennan notes pointedly. American skiers have not truly ridden the east until they have been challenged by FIS and Black Diamond. You’re eastern experience is incomplete without those two trails.
Formerly an independent resort (founded by Walt Elliot in the early 1960s), Mt. Ellen has Sugarbush’s steepest run, FIS. Mt. Ellen’s secondary peak, Inverness Peak, which is home to the Green Mountain Valley School’s (GMVS) racing slopes as well as popular runs Inverness and Brambles. Inverness also hosts Sugarbush’s summer concert series, featuring legendary acts including hometown favorites Phish.
Starting from the icy, frigid summit, Black Diamond Rush, FIS, and Exterminator form the sturdy backbone of the main peak. With gargantuan and relentless moguls, the most ferocious of Sugarbush’s steeps, and in the case of Black Diamond a narrow chute straight down dodging the chairlift poles, the summit of the North Side and its Summit Chair are a most worthy place to lap the morning away. Rim Run and Elbow offer more scenic and slightly less bumped out ways down.
To get to the Summit Chair you take the Green Mountain Express Quad. It’s lift line, The Cliffs is also one of the North Side’s iconic runs, and its relentless moguls will prove exhausting to anyone but the best conditioned skiers and boarders. I was a grommet trying to tackle a black diamond. The run is actually called “Black Diamond” and that fed into “The Cliffs.” Four yardsales later I picked myself up yet again and stepped into my bindings when WHAM!!!!! some dude himself falling down the slope smashed into me and I yuard sale allover again.
That’s the Ski Gods having a laugh at my expense again, by the way…they’re almost as bloodthirsty as the Golf Gods.
Expert runs Hammerhead, Encore, and Tumbler are skier’s right of the lift line and offer slightly less of a challenge than the Cliffs, while a smattering of blue squares populate skier’s left of the chair. A run called Northway connects Mt.Ellen to Inverness while Walt’s Trail or Walt’s Woods take you back.
Mt. Ellen is also home to Sugarbush’s terrain park. Although some terrain features can be found all over Sugarbush, such as on Slowpoke at Lincoln Peak, the primary terrain parks are on Mt. Ellen’s Riemergasse and Sugar Run trails.
