Pamola
New member
This is my first TR in quite a while, and unfortunately it will be a short one.
So I rolled out of bed at 5:30 on Saturday morning in the pitch black. Hopped in the car, and after a quick breakfast at Crossroads Cafe in WRJ I headed up toward Warren, VT and the two fine 4000 footers it hosts.
My plan was fairly simple: hit two peaks in the winter and snowboard down. I was going to hike up the ski trails, drop pack and hit Abraham, then go over the ridge on the long trail to Ellen, pop on the snowboard boots and head down. After a beer catch the bus back over to the other parking lot. I was hiking the ski trails because it would be slightly easier and I have found through experience that hiking with skis or a board on regualr trails, depending on the trail, can be a serious pain in the butt. Sounds easy.
When I stepped out of my car once I had reached Sugarbush the wind blasted me. Gusts of about 40-50 mph were going to make the day interesting. Laden down with my board on my pack, boots in them, crampons, extra clothing, etc, I starting snowshoeing up the hill. In most places the snow wasn't deeper than 8-10 inches but there were a couple times i fell into a powder pit easily up to my waist. With all the weight on my back, i must have looked like a turtle, an upended turtle with snowshoes anyways. The skiers who passed me were friendly, per usual. That much powder can put anyone in a good mood. Well, almost anyone.
About a third of the way up a ski patroller cruised up to me. No hi, hello, howya doin. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Do you have an area use pass?" My answer was fairly immediate, "What the h*ll is an area use pass?" He goes on to tell me that one needs to pay to hike the trails and what I was doing is a misdemeanor. Either I could keep going and risk running into a patroller with more of an urge to prosecute or turn around, go down, and buy a pass. He skied away leaving me dumbfounded and in a conundrum. Did I keep going? I wanted to. Did I go down and buy a pass? No way that was happening. So eventually I sat down in the foot of powder and proceeded to change boots. I wasn't going to risk it. The 5-minute trip down was wonderful, conditions perfect, but I wasn't going to buy either kind of pass from them at that point. I went straight to my car and drove home.
Epilogue and poll:
This experience left a very bad taste in my mouth regarding Sugarbush. I understand it's private land and it's their right to charge whatever they want for whichever activity they want. I have hiked multiple ski mountains (Sugarloaf, Saddleback) in winter and the only thing I was ever told by patrollers was, "Have fun and stay to the side so you don't get mowed over". I know that booth creek resorts (Loon, Cranmore, WV) has no rule regarding hiking on their trails. I know that Cannon allows no hiking on the trails at any time and sells no pass to do so due to environmental and bear concerns. These are obviously different to the corporate policy of Sugarbush and I find it very disappointing. No, that's too mild. I was really, really angry. Who agrees with me? Who feels differently and wants to stop me before I rant to their PR department over the phone?
So I rolled out of bed at 5:30 on Saturday morning in the pitch black. Hopped in the car, and after a quick breakfast at Crossroads Cafe in WRJ I headed up toward Warren, VT and the two fine 4000 footers it hosts.
My plan was fairly simple: hit two peaks in the winter and snowboard down. I was going to hike up the ski trails, drop pack and hit Abraham, then go over the ridge on the long trail to Ellen, pop on the snowboard boots and head down. After a beer catch the bus back over to the other parking lot. I was hiking the ski trails because it would be slightly easier and I have found through experience that hiking with skis or a board on regualr trails, depending on the trail, can be a serious pain in the butt. Sounds easy.
When I stepped out of my car once I had reached Sugarbush the wind blasted me. Gusts of about 40-50 mph were going to make the day interesting. Laden down with my board on my pack, boots in them, crampons, extra clothing, etc, I starting snowshoeing up the hill. In most places the snow wasn't deeper than 8-10 inches but there were a couple times i fell into a powder pit easily up to my waist. With all the weight on my back, i must have looked like a turtle, an upended turtle with snowshoes anyways. The skiers who passed me were friendly, per usual. That much powder can put anyone in a good mood. Well, almost anyone.
About a third of the way up a ski patroller cruised up to me. No hi, hello, howya doin. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Do you have an area use pass?" My answer was fairly immediate, "What the h*ll is an area use pass?" He goes on to tell me that one needs to pay to hike the trails and what I was doing is a misdemeanor. Either I could keep going and risk running into a patroller with more of an urge to prosecute or turn around, go down, and buy a pass. He skied away leaving me dumbfounded and in a conundrum. Did I keep going? I wanted to. Did I go down and buy a pass? No way that was happening. So eventually I sat down in the foot of powder and proceeded to change boots. I wasn't going to risk it. The 5-minute trip down was wonderful, conditions perfect, but I wasn't going to buy either kind of pass from them at that point. I went straight to my car and drove home.
Epilogue and poll:
This experience left a very bad taste in my mouth regarding Sugarbush. I understand it's private land and it's their right to charge whatever they want for whichever activity they want. I have hiked multiple ski mountains (Sugarloaf, Saddleback) in winter and the only thing I was ever told by patrollers was, "Have fun and stay to the side so you don't get mowed over". I know that booth creek resorts (Loon, Cranmore, WV) has no rule regarding hiking on their trails. I know that Cannon allows no hiking on the trails at any time and sells no pass to do so due to environmental and bear concerns. These are obviously different to the corporate policy of Sugarbush and I find it very disappointing. No, that's too mild. I was really, really angry. Who agrees with me? Who feels differently and wants to stop me before I rant to their PR department over the phone?
