Better Outside Than In: Mad River -> Sugarbush South

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Mad River -> Sugarbush South

I think this is known as the Monroe Skyline. We started early so we could get up Mad River before the lifts started. We made our way up freshly groomed trails as the sun came up. I found that going up a groomed trail is harder than going up hills in the woods. The skis didn't grip as well and there was some sliding back. We made good time to the Long Trail just off the summit of Stark Mtn. From there we headed South. There is a lot of snow in the mountains still! Probably 6+ feet. The trail markers were just above the snow and probably a number of them were below the snow. The trail was narrow since you were 6 feet higher up in the branches. I had been on the trail last summer and it was a different world!
The next mountain on the ridge after Mad River is Mt Ellen. The trail got harder to follow and narrower as we continued South. The ridge drops off on both sides so you can't go too far wrong but we did end up off the trail a few times. At one point while we were looking for the trail we skied through and area where the "trail" wasn't wide enough to get both skis through at the same time!
After Mt. Ellen we continued into the Sugarbush South ski area. The first lift you get to is Castlerock. We decided that was as good a way down as any even though Castlerock is all black diamond trails (steep). You can continue on the Long Trail to get to Heavens Gate and other parts of the ski area. The trail eventually goes to Mt. Abe and Lincoln Gap.
After a day of all powder and too much snow we headed onto the lift fed trails. The trail we went down had good snow on the sides but some scraped up areas and firm snow in the middle. All in all it was pretty nice skiing once we got used to skiing moguls on back country skis.
There is a bus that runs from the base of Sugarbush South back to Mad River. We took that after resting up a bit in the bar.