Sugar Valley Glades July 18

[highpeaksdrifter]

On Saturday, July 18th, S4L took me for a tour of the work so far on the Sugar Valley Glades. I expected to be impressed, but was completely overwhelmed by how great this area is going to be.

The crew had to make the Ranger trail first. It’s named for the 6-wheel drive vehicle that gets the crew and equipment where they have to be. The first part is an old logging road that had to be cleared out, the rest has to be made from scratch. So far about a mile has been made with another mile or so still to go. The Ranger trail will cut through the SV glades. Even though it won’t get as high up as the Wilmington trail it will be close in length because of all the turns. As you’ll see from the pics it is narrow and will be a blast to ski if you want to get out of the trees.

You’ll also see a couple of pics of a stream that is in the glades. When it freezes and gets packed in with snow we’ll be able to ski that too.

There will be 2 main entrances the lower one will be just below the Deer Valley section of the Wilmington trail and the upper one will be above Hickcock Hill. They still have to make the road up to the upper entrance. There is still a lot to do in the lower glade.

The crew is doing a fantastic job. It is a labor of love for them. S4L asked me not to list names right now, but many beers will be bought for these guys in the lounge It is a labor of love for these guys and it shows.http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_042.jpg

http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/mapped2.jpg

Bottom (start) of the Ranger trailhttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_025.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_026.jpg

Thinned out sectionhttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_027.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_041.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_037.jpg

More Ranger Trailhttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_029.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_031.jpg

http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_053.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_054.jpg
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_042.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_044.jpg

The Streamhttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_038.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_039.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_041.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_045.jpghttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_040.jpg

Slide out to Boreenhttp://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/adk_057.jpg

When folks talk about glade skiing in the Northeast it’s always Jay, Stowe, Sugarbush, Smuggs and lately our sister mountain Gore. When this monster is complete Whiteface will be in the conversation with any of them. Get used to it.

The pics don’t do it justice and they are not in good order. However, I know that several of you like any info you can get. I plan on doing it again next month as progress continues. As always S4L da man.

[Snowballs]

excellent! thanks for that HPD! i'm jealouse though, i wanna ride the Ranger trail, et al. Anybody wanna meet up? we'll unload my quads and poach that sucka. then we'll rip the Willie and whatever else we can till that Ranger joins the chase. 8)

JK. bet DHM or his ilk will hit it someday though.

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

many thanks, HPD!!

does the ranger trail basically "drain" all of the gladed area? in other words, does it mark the outer northern extremity of the gladed terrain? or, does it cut through the middle of the terrain between the green and orange squiggles?

[highpeaksdrifter]

many thanks, HPD!!

does the ranger trail basically "drain" all of the gladed area? in other words, does it mark the outer northern extremity of the gladed terrain? or, does it cut through the middle of the terrain between the green and orange squiggles?

It seemed to me that what is completed so far is more to the southern side then the middle. At some points you can look through the trees and see the Wilmington trail. However, at one point we had a very clear and seemingly much closer view of Esther. It has alot of turns back and forth. It's really cool I think you'll like it.

There's also a split. The old logging trail heads north and then ends. The new part goes south. I'm unclear if they will extend the old logging road part. They have thinned trees in that direction already though.

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

It seemed to me that what is completed so far is more to the southern side then the middle. At some points you can look through the trees and see the Wilmington trail. However, at one point we had a very clear and seemingly much closer view of Esther. It has alot of turns back and forth. It's really cool I think you'll like it.

There's also a split. The old logging trail heads north and then ends. The new part goes south. I'm unclear if they will extend the old logging road part. They have thinned trees in that direction already though.


thanks for that. i don't have a good sense of north/south, actually. what i meant was, when looking at the picture of the SVG area, does the trail stick to the right side of the gladed area for the most part, or does it bisect the gladed area haphazardly?

anyway, i wonder what'll happen to the ranger trail with regular skier traffic....i assume there'll be no snowmaking on it, especially since it's not an "official" trail (which would count against the constitution-imposed trail limit).

[highpeaksdrifter]

thanks for that. i don't have a good sense of north/south, actually. what i meant was, when looking at the picture of the SVG area, does the trail stick to the right side of the gladed area for the most part, or does it bisect the gladed area haphazardly?

anyway, i wonder what'll happen to the ranger trail with regular skier traffic....i assume there'll be no snowmaking on it, especially since it's not an "official" trail (which would count against the constitution-imposed trail limit).

CBMP, from what I could tell it stays more to the (south, map lookers left), but like I've said there are alot of turns.

You're right there is no snowmaking, it's main purpose is to get the work crew and equipment where they need to go. That said it will be very skiable. If someone wants to ski it start to finish they should be able to. If some one wants or needs to get out of the trees for awhile it will be good for that too. Also if Ski Patrol needs to get someone out on a sled that would be the best option. That's how it was explained to me anyway.

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

CBMP, from what I could tell it stays more to the (south, map lookers left), but like I've said there are alot of turns.

You're right there is no snowmaking, it's main purpose is to get the work crew and equipment where they need to go. That said it will be very skiable. If someone wants to ski it start to finish they should be able to. If some one wants or needs to get out of the trees for awhile it will be good for that too. Also if Ski Patrol needs to get someone out on a sled that would be the best option. That's how it was explained to me anyway.



aaaah, ok, got it. thanks for the further clarification. seems like a good idea, safety-wise.

so, basically, since the SVG area drains into a valley away from the wilmington trail, another "trail" separate from the "ranger trail" will necessarily develop somewhere along map lookers right near the orange boundary line to get people back to the lift-serviced mountain.

[Xtremeskiier]

That loooks absolutly amazing :)

[highpeaksdrifter]

aaaah, ok, got it. thanks for the further clarification. seems like a good idea, safety-wise.

so, basically, since the SVG area drains into a valley away from the wilmington trail, another "trail" separate from the "ranger trail" will necessarily develop somewhere along map lookers right near the orange boundary line to get people back to the lift-serviced mountain.

My understanding is the glades narrow down and come out to the last pic I posted that leads out to Boreen. They don't want people to come out above Kids Kampus (where the Ranger Trail starts) and skiing through there.

[highpeaksdrifter]

That loooks absolutly amazing :)

It is and the pics don't do it justice. Like many others I was really disappointed that there will be no snow making on Hoyt's this season, but if this gets finished it will more then make up for Hoyt's.

[Harvey44]

That looks so sweet. HPD...I've been sitting here all summer waiting to see those pics!

(Other forums have a drool emoticon!)

Sorry if this may have been answered elsewhere but....how much continuous vertical?

[highpeaksdrifter]

That looks so sweet. HPD...I've been sitting here all summer waiting to see those pics!

(Other forums have a drool emoticon!)

Sorry if this may have been answered elsewhere but....how much continuous vertical?

I'm not sure, looking at the map I'm guessing around 1500 when it's all done. I'll try to find out.

[campgottagopee]

HPD---thanks for putting those up---wow, simply wow!!!

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

I'm not sure, looking at the map I'm guessing around 1500 when it's all done. I'll try to find out.



that figure could be correct if you ski from the top of the SVG to the bottom, but, to do so, you'd have to negotiate a serious double fall line the whole way down.....if you want to follow the fall line it looks like the drop is much shorter....maybe 400-500 feet? so, if you take SVG is a straight shot instead of side-stepping the double fall line, you'll get a sweet steep shot and then a run out in the valley along the orange line (hence my question about the ranger trail).

that guestimate of 350-450 feet is based on the picture....it looks like the continuous fall line in SVG is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the fall line of mountain run, which i think is roughly 1,000 vertical.

of course, nothing beats actually exploring the woods, as opposed to just looking at a picture! no matter what, can't wait.

[highpeaksdrifter]

I’m told work continues daily. The crew size varies between 2 – 5 guys dependent on other off-season maintenance needs, but progress is being made. The Ranger road has not been extended up to Hickcock Hill yet, but the hope is to get that done this off-season.

I can’t wait to ski in there this season. :D

[highpeaksdrifter]

I was told that the cutting for the glades is done up through the Deer Valley entrance. The ranger trail will not continue up to Hickcock Hill this summer because of time constrants. However, they still plan to haul equipment through the woods and continue cutting glades up to the top of Hickcock Hill.

Getting these glades complete seems to be a real priority this summer. Hats off to management, they are making alot of people happy. :D

[Snowballs]

that's gotta be alot of work. just climbing thru the woods on a mtn side on a daily basis is work. busy beavers.

wonder what they do with the brush they cut. do they haul it out? grind it up? pile it off to the side? feed it to the beavers?

[NPN]

Hats off to management, they are making alot of people happy. :D

Agreed, but, and I apologize for not saying it more often, hats off to you as well for the constant flow of information that most of us would never have access to otherwise.

Tasty malt bev in your future from me, and, as I might suggest, any other SkiADK readers who get so much as well.

[highpeaksdrifter]

Thanks for that NPN.

[Face4Me]

Hats off to management, they are making alot of people happy. :D

Agreed, but, and I apologize for not saying it more often, hats off to you as well for the constant flow of information that most of us would never have access to otherwise.

Tasty malt bev in your future from me, and, as I might suggest, any other SkiADK readers who get so much as well.
Agreed ... I must admit, whenever I access the board, and I see 'HighPeaksDrifter' as the last post on a thread, I can't wait to take a look and see what's going on!

Thanks for all you do ... this beer's for you!

Looking forward to seeing you again in December ... or with a little luck, November!!!

[highpeaksdrifter]

Crew of 6 in there today making the push up the mountain. The next stop will be a second entrance across from where Look Out Below is, then on to a third entrance on top of Hickcock Hill. All 3 entrances will be rated double diamonds. We will be skiing 2 miles of trees this year that will run both sides of the creek. I am so happy, this will truly be spectacular.
:D