Sugarbush: penultimate day 2006

With great weather, I couldn't resist the temptation of $10 tickets for one more shot at lift-served skiing in Vermont. I managed to cobble together a nearly-functional ski/binding combination, as my "good" rock skis are still dangling an edge that attempted to escape during the skivt-l partee, and I arrived at the snow-deprived base of Mt. Ellen around 0930. Despite some misgivings as I noted the surfeit of grass at the base area (one that continued well up the mountain as even the area surrounding the drive terminals of the North Ridge and Slide Brook Express chairs was bare), Sugarbush had massaged the snow uphill from the Glen House to allow skiing from the GMX to the drive of the Summit Quad and continuous skiing from the return back to the Summit drive. Rim Run and Elbow were both quite decent through most of the morning but started to get a bit slushy with increased traffic and sun after noontime, while the bumps on FIS remained quintessentially Eastern until early in the afternoon (and skier's right remained frozen well into the afternoon).