We made it! I want to personally thank all of you who helped make this season special. Amidst a global pandemic, we were able to provide the Sugarbush community with a safe and healthy way to get outside, recreate, and have social connections in the Green Mountains through May 2nd. This would not have been possible without the support, cooperation, and enthusiasm you all showed us and the entire ski industry this winter. We know this season’s weather and COVID restrictions were not what you were hoping for, but we are extremely grateful for your help in making a 2020-21 ski season happen.
After a late start last fall due to an incredibly mild November, we started spinning lifts on December 9th and remained open for 140 days. While that is a little shorter than what we normally strive for, it is still quite impressive considering this winter’s weather. We did experience great snow conditions from MLK Weekend to late February and without those 5 weeks of true winter I’m not sure we would have made it to May. The rest of the season amounted to a lower than normal snowfall year with above average temperatures. In fact, our 178” of snow total ranks 4th worst for Sugarbush (behind the 2015-16, 2011-12, and 1979-80 seasons). This fact highlights the remarkable work our mountain operations team, and all of our staff, did to keep the resort open to our scheduled closing day.
As the 2020/21 season comes to a close and your thoughts start to focus on summer, know that the team here is already working hard at improving the mountain for next year. One of this summer’s bigger capital projects has already kicked off, as we have begun replacing all the snowmaking lines on Northstar at Mt. Ellen.
This snowmaking project is important as it will allow us to get beginner terrain at Mt. Ellen open much earlier in the season, which is feedback we hear from many of you. Other projects this year are focused on cleaning up our skiable wooded areas and slope maintenance (water bars, mowing, trail edging). We are also finalizing some other additional improvements and will be sharing them with you soon. But right now we are mostly excited about returning to normal operations next winter while keeping what we learned and worked well during this “interesting” COVID season.
Of course, let’s not forget summer. While we are busy working on winter operational plans for next season, we are also excited for the warmer months ahead. The Sugarbush Resort Golf Club will look to build upon its record breaking 2020 summer and we look forward to welcoming you back to our scenic Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course. It will be open daily starting May 22nd along with Hogan’s Pub. Rumble’s Bistro & Bar will take a few well-deserved weeks off and reopen for summer dining on May 22nd. We then plan to open our on-mountain summer season on June 26th. We will host activities such as mountain biking, disc golf, and scenic lift rides Thursdays through Sundays until mid-October. Summer Camps and events are back, like the Brew-Grass Festival and July 4th Fireworks, as well as some other fun new event offerings.
On behalf of myself and the entire team here at Sugarbush Resort, Thank You. We look forward to getting back to fun, adventure, and camaraderie this summer and next winter, and seeing you back at Sugarbush again soon.