❖Destination Report: East
Sugarbush Resort By Randy Mink
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Tucked in the Mad River Valley of Central Vermont, Sugarbush Resort has been one of New England’s favored ski resorts since 1958. The early years brought celebrities, Kennedys, New York models and jet-setters who lent a dash of glitter and glamour. During its heyday as the “Aspen of the East,” they dubbed it Mascara Mountain.
Sugarbush always offered great terrain and plenty of trails for all levels of skiers, but its physical facilities declined over the years under several different owners. A fresh infusion of pizzazz in recent years has restored its status as one of Vermont’s best winter resort havens. The newest landmark is Clay Brook, a barn-style condo building that opened in December 2006 as part of Lincoln Peak Village, a $60-million development that includes a base lodge and fine dining restaurant. A true ski-in, ski-out property, Clay Brook is located at the base of 3,975-foot Lincoln Peak, one of Sugarbush’s two ski mountains. A high-speed quad connects Lincoln Peak with 4,083-foot Mt. Ellen, the highest peak in Green Mountain National Forest. The 61 luxury condos, with Shaker-style furnishings, range from hotel-type rooms to five-bedroom units. Attached to the red-barn condo complex, distinguished by an oversized silver silo, is a round barn housing Timbers, a cavernous restaurant with a 45-foot vaulted ceiling and post-and-beam construction. Located across the courtyard from the Gate House Base Lodge, it serves upscale cuisine made with local, seasonal ingredients. Clay Brook also features a heated outdoor pool and two hot tubs, all surrounded by heated walkways. The Gate House and its Castlerock Pub last year underwent a $1-million expansion to accommodate all the guests flocking to the new Lincoln Peak Village. Castlerock, an après-ski lounge that doubles as a breakfast and lunch deli by day, now has a heated outdoor deck that walks off to snow. Other Gate House features include a special nonslip floor designed to shed water from snowmelt and flatscreen TVs with updates on trails, lifts and conditions. Steps away are the Super Bravo Quad Express lifts. www.skicmsc.org ❖ 2009/2010 DIRECTORY
Also new last season was the 12-passenger Pisten Bully cat cab that transports guests to Allyn’s Lodge, a cabin halfway up Lincoln Peak, for specialty dinners and fullmoon skiing, snowshoeing and tours. The snow tank, which looks like a typical groomer, also will take earlyrising guests (the first 12 who show up by 6:45 a.m.) up the mountain before the lifts start. Sugarbush is the only resort in the East to have cat skiing. Sugarbush, with a vertical drop of 2,600 feet and an almost perfectly balanced mix of terrain, has nearly 600 skiable acres, 11 gladed areas and 111 trails. The resort spent the summer adding 75 acres of new terrain at both Mt. Ellen and Lincoln Peak. Trails in the Castlerock area, accessed from the Lincoln Peak base area, are among New England’s most challenging expert runs. The resort’s sophisticated snow-making system supplements an average annual snowfall of 269 inches. Its 16 lifts include seven quads (five high-speed), two triples, four doubles and three surface lifts for an uphill capacity of 25,463. The resort also offers four terrain parks. Besides the new accommodations at Clay Brook, Sugarbush guests can choose from a variety of slopeside condos (one to four bedrooms), some with fireplaces. Another option is the 42-room Sugarbush Inn, less than a mile from Lincoln Peak. It’s a classic Vermont inn with floors that creak and fires that crackle. There’s casual dining in the Grill Restaurant, and the Hearth serves a made-to-order country breakfast in the solarium with views of Lincoln Peak. MIDWEST SKIER ❖ 17