A Ski Weekend at Sugarbush in Vermont

With swaths of natural snow, plenty of vertical drop, and a micro village at the base, Sugarbush is a top choice for a New England weekend getaway. The mountain, or should we say, two mountains, is three and a half hours from Boston and five plus from NYC.

Why two mountains? Part of Sugarbush used to be the Glen Ellen Ski Resort. The owners of Sugarbush acquired Glen Ellen in the late 70s. It took a decade and a half for the resort to connect the two mountains via the Slide Brook Express Quad, the longest quad in the world at just about 2 miles.

Unfortunately, it was the final weekend of operation at Mt. Ellen and the Slide Brook Quad was shutdown when we went.

Friday at Lincoln Peak

In a turn of events that your parents or grandparents couldn't have forseen coming, you can't purchase tickets at Sugarbush from the walk-up window at the lodge. As this becomes the norm, alongside cashless resorts, it begs the question, how much research does one need to conduct prior to arrival at the slopes?

We'd say enough research to purchase a lift ticket, er, card, earlier than day of. Casual plankers take note, a day pass late in the season pushed above $200.

Anyway, most of the corduroy had been skied off the warmup run greens, Pushover and Easy Rider by the time we hit the slopes Friday morning. Note to the youth, moving out of your teens and twenties changes your perspective on mountain heroics and going straight to the top on the first run.

We'd say the top is for the second run nowadays, but you cann't access Lincoln Peak or Castle Rock from base lifts. So we took the Gate House Quad back up and hopped on North Lynx to continue the warmup down Birch Run, before glided through Castle Rock Connection to the Run Out so we could hop on Super Bravo and take it to the summit of Gadd Peak.

The compact and multi-tiered peak structure of Sugarbush grants the resort the ability to offer challenging terrain at lower elevation levels. For instance, Stein's Run, accessibile by both Super Bravo and the Valley House Quad, is an ungroomed, icy double black whose exit point is right into a green circle not far from the Lincoln Peak Village.

Downspout gave direct access to Heaven's Gate, which takes you to the top of Lincoln Peak. Lincoln rests 25 feet shy of being Vermont's 6th 4,000 footer. With a vertical drop of 2,400 feet, your only route down is blue square Jester if you aren't an experienced skier, as single black Organgrinder and double blacks Paradise and Sigi's Ripcord round out the trail options.

Lincoln Peak offers a terrific vantage point to see both Whiteface in New York, and Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Given that we were rolling on a pair of Ski Skates, we leaned hard into Jester to get down.

If must know why, it's because Ski Skates operate best on hard packed corduroy, and Organgrinder wasn't looking musical to our ears. All in all, it was the best run of the day with Lower Jester offering acres of carvable snow.

Lunch at Castle Rock Pub

If you're taking your turns on Lincoln Peak, then you're probably stopping at the Castle Rock Pub for lunch. Service was friendly, the fries were excellent, and the beer was cold.

The pub featured plenty of local brews on tap, including Zero Gravity's Sugarbush Light, a 4% lager that won't inhibit your desire to make it to last chair.

Après at Lincoln Peak Courtyard

The highlight of the micro Village is the Courtyard, with views of the mountain, a Waffle Cabin for the kids, and a firepit for warming up your gloves. The Container Bar converts the Courtyard into one of Vermont's most enjoyable beer gardens. It's also a great spot to wait out a reservation at Rumble's Bistro & Bar.

Looking to demo? It's there. Rentals? Also there. Coffee and burritos? There and there.

The Village isn't on par with the ski villages found all throughout Europe, or even out west at globally renowned resorts like Whistler Blackcomb. That's why we'ere labeling it a Micro Village.

Dinner at American Flatbread

Located at the Lareau Farm is the original American Flatbread, an excellent choice for dinner for Sugarbush guests. First, it's a short drive, 4 miles to Mt. Ellen and 6 miles to Lincoln.

Open Thursday to Sunday from 4-9pm for dinner, this wood-fired pizza joint is filled with both ambiance and delicious craft beer.

Late Night

Unlike it's counterpart, Killington nearly 50 miles to the south, Sugarbush's doesn't have a true late night scene. Thus, we retreated to the rental condo after flatbread for an evening of adult cocktails and ski movies.

Ok, we're lying. We broke the cardinal rule of ski weekend and binge watched hit Crave TV show, Letterkenny. While not quite the majesty of a Warren Miller masterpiece, sure as God's got sandals, it beats watching anything on Bravo.