Sugarbush/Mad River Glen 2022/2023

[ilovepugs]

Hi! Starting a thread for this season. I’ll be skiing at Sugarbush and MRG this year as usual. I know there are other Divas skiing in the Mad River Valley this year and I’ll let them identify themselves if they feel like it! Also, since Diva East will be partly here this year I thought I’d add stuff to contribute to the stoke.

Here’s a still from a video I took of @empogo yesterday at Sugarbush:



Looking forward to seeing Divas on the slopes this season!

 

[DebbieSue]

So impressed that you two got out there already! Bravo!

 

[empogo]

Just did day 2 at Sugarbush, I’ll be there tomorrow and Thursday for sure, probably just about every day for a while. Doing laps on easy stuff to work on skills, and a lot of very boring drills if anyone likes that sort of thing.

Plum jacket, black pants, white poles. General air of confusion. Say hi!

 

[Tvan]

We’ll be there soon…

 

[ilovepugs]

Whew! It was the first big snowstorm in New England. Roads were bad during the day so we didn’t bother trying to cross the Appalachian Gap. At night I got the itch to go night skiing… and came to the realization after years of going there on skis and a board that I don’t actually like the night skiing terrain at Bolton Valley! During the day I like the terrain just fine.

The snow was wet and heavy and variable and it was better to let the skis do the work for you. Definitely not my finest ski night - in fact I’d say it was a bad ski night - but hey, lightbulb moment! I have a training there tomorrow… hope it goes ok. Maybe I’ll throw my board in the car just in case and switch out at lunch if I need to.

On Sunday it’ll be MRG — they are opening the upper mountain with the usual caveats about water bars, variable conditions, rocks and ice!!

 

[ilovepugs]

Coverage is still good at Mad River Glen despite last week’s howling rainstorm and 98% of the mountain is open. There were patches of ice here and there and maybe a few rocky bits, but that’s all part of the experience. Skiing at MRG teaches you to shrug off weird stuff and keep your cool despite less than perfect conditions. If I only went out when the snow was perfect, the season would be very limited indeed.

I had a GOOD ski day for once and managed to get out of my head. Mostly stuck to blue groomers, but did one little short green bump run just to try to get back in the swing of things. Not so smooth on the bumps, but I made it down without ever feeling like I wasn’t in control so that’s a win for me.

By the way, Dr Pugs and I became shareholders at MRG a few weeks ago, so we can buy up to two discounted tickets per day at the shareholder rate. If anyone wants to take advantage of that discount, feel free to reach out and I’ll be happy to help out.

 

[empogo]

Update: today was day 30 for me this season. Been skiing in alllll the conditions (except for the actual big storm we got, because of course I was out of town for those days). Today and yesterday were like spring, lots of misty fog and corn snow. Have had bitter cold days and way too warm days, lots of ice, some dust on crust; but then there have also been lots of beautiful days of easy skiing on nice trails. Fell in love with Mt. Ellen (the other half of Sugarbush that isn't Lincoln Peak) last week. Beautiful cruising when the snow is nice, and still pleasant when the conditions are less than ideal.

I'm at Sugarbush nearly every day right now; teaching littles at the ski school a couple of days a week, then taking advantage of training clinics offered for employees, oh and then pretty much every day other than that. Please let me know if you're going to be there, hard to take a run during ski school but I usually can at the end of the day!

I post to my instagram story every day that I ski. I have a public account, please feel free to follow me and get in touch there.

Emily Pogozelski (@empogo) • Instagram photos and videos

1,140 Followers, 1,490 Following, 3,708 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Emily Pogozelski (@empogo)

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[ilovepugs]

Conditions were, uh, pretty darn bare today at Mt Ellen but we had some fluffy snowflakes fall while I gave an adaptive snowboarding lesson at Lincoln Peak. I saw @empogo with a wee little skier too which was pretty adorable.

Up high in the Appalachian Gap there was a fresh dusting of snow but not enough to open the main mountain of Mad River Glen this weekend. When I drove past MRG I got a good look at things… it was pretty sad!

Hopefully more snow will fall soon.

(I got my athlete making progress towards linking turns on a snowboard… it was only their second time on a board so I’m pretty psyched for them!)

 

[ballen]

So glad Vermont got more snow in time for ski diva east, despite some thin cover on mogul runs the snow was amazing this week at Sugarbush and Mt Ellen.

 

[ilovepugs]

We had a lovely 3” on Valentine’s Day at Mad River Glen and I enjoyed some soft turns among variable lines. Today at my clinic it started off sketchy but warmed up during the morning with pseudo-spring skiing conditions… but it is getting bare. Since it was soft today a few of us hit the easiest bump run on the mountain and I manage to link some turns getting down confidently while avoiding grass patches. :D :D

Hopefully winter will come back next week!

 

[Jilly]

"make your happy"!!

 

[echo_VT]

Monday: Uphill on Sugarbush's Lincoln Peak up Birch Run. This time we went to almost the top but decided against going up hill on bumps (or perhaps using the woods to get up there, we decided against it). My friend was not okay with bumps so we went around them. The uphill, the snow was grippy and windblown in spots. There was one icy steep spot we hit close to the top. The transition was easy (but deep off to the side!) and the way down was super fun. The snow was really good coming down, especially as we got to mid mountain. The upper mountain was a bit windblown. We used headlamps and we enjoyed the full moon lighting the way for us.

Tuesday: race day for kiddo at MRG. I got a lift ticket and did the top, then did some black woods at mid mountain. It was a little skied out in spots, but windblown in others. I lapped near the race course a lot to see the clubs and kids. The top had terrific snow. I wanted to go into the woods at the top but it was a little tight and I didn't feel comfortable going alone. The groomers were great, but at lower mountain, there was an ungroomed trail and it was hard. Kinda unfortunate!

 

[ilovepugs]

Had a couple of great lunchtime laps at MRG today. There was excellent coverage most places I looked. The main mountain is still pretty much 100% open. Conditions were springy in the sun and slightly firmer in the shade. Was a good opportunity to head into the bumps and practice some of the cues I learned from my mogul clinic there with @jthree a week and a half ago. Still have to write that one up!

 

[echo_VT]

Ping @ilovepugs and @jthree for the write up!

 

[echo_VT]

Last day at Sugarbush this past Sunday. It was pretty epic with two runs down. Got to ski with @empogo … met some fellow instructors and enjoyed some turns.

some screenshots of empogo’s stories on IG.

 

[echo_VT]

It was a fantastic last day!

 

[echo_VT]

Stein’s double black bumps!

 

[empogo]

So glad you could make it!

 

[echo_VT]

Me too!!