Sugarbush Resort
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| Sugarbush Resort | |
|---|---|
| File:Sugarbush.jpg | |
| Location | Warren, Vermont, US (2 miles ESE), Waitsfield (4 miles E) |
| Nearest major city | Burlington, Vermont |
| Top elevation | 4083 ft (1244 m) |
| Base elevation | 1483 ft (452 m) |
| Skiable area | 508 acres (2.06 km²) |
| Trails | 111 |
| Lift system | 16 chairs: 5 highspeed quads, 2 quads, 2 triples, 4 doubles and 3 surface lifts |
| Snowfall | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Website | Sugarbush Resort |
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 4000 acres total (16 km²), 508 acres (2.06 km²) skiiable, 53 miles (85 km) of trails, 16 ski lifts. Sugarbush has 111 ski trails and a vertical drop of 2600 ft (790 m).
History
Sugarbush opened on December 25, 1958, by Damon and Sara Gadd, and Jack Murphy. In 1977, the Gadds sold the resort to Roy Cohen, who invested millions expanding it. 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 skiiers 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 Otten's ownership of the resort, Mount Ellen and the main part of Sugarbush were connected by the Slide Brook Express two-way quad chairlift which, when it was installed was the world's fastest chairlift, and was and is still the world's longest high speed quad chairlift. [1]
Summit Ventures 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 begun the Claybrook development.
Sugarbush is in the process of a nearly $100 million project adding a major new lodge at the base of Sugarbush South (Lincoln Peak), as well a a luxory condominium complex called Claybrook, and several other various additions and upgrades to the resort.
When Les Otten bought Sugarbush he moved the Original GMX chair at Mount Ellen to replace the aging North Ridge Double. Then he replaced the GMX with a new fixed grip quad from Doppelmayer that ran up to the base of the cliffs, to encourage use of the new Northridge Chair, and the Slide Brook Express Chair. This lift became known as the "Slug" because it was slow and was impractical and is now Jay Peak's Metro Quad. 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.
The North Lynx Triple is the Sugarbravo triple chair and was moved to that slope to replace a platter tow when the Super Bravo chair was installed. Currently, Sugarbush is going through a huge revitalization of the base area, a brand new lodge, guest service center. Condominiums, named Clay Brook, are to open December 2006. [2]
Despite rumors that the resort was going to replace the Valley House Double chair with a high speed quad, they are going to replace the chair with a fixed grip triple or quad chair. According to resort president Win Smith, the Alpinezone.com area challenged the plans for the high speed quad which accidentally appeared in Claybrook brochures. The resort has no plans to add any further high speed chairs, instead keeping lift capacity about the same to prevent over crowding.