Sugarbush was the chosen location for a sparsely attended AlpineZone.com Meet Up for spring skiing in late March. This was the last weekend for Mount Ellen and Lincoln Peak was holding a pond skimming. I got a later start than normal and suffered through quite a line at the lift ticket window. The combination of end of season festivities and good weather brought out the crowds.

Lincoln Peak was still 100% open on all trails but snow conditions were rough to start. A recent rain/freeze event made the non-groomed trails rather variable and interesting despite a warm start to the morning. After a warm up down Lower Organgrinder and The Mall, I met up with a small crew and headed for Heaven’s Gate.

Bumps off Heaven’s Gate were variable and firm with unevenly spaced bumps and gaping scraped sheets of flat snow between the moguls. Spillsville had the best bumps from the summit but far from perfection. Over on Castlerock, Middle Earth had some decent lines and occasional thin cover to keep things interesting. And Rumble delivered as well with more thin coverage and obstables amongst its unever and rugged bumps. From Spring Fling, The Mall had good lines on its delightful moderate but narrow pitch. But Stein’s had the worst bump lines I have skied in a long time featuring monster sized bumps with huge stretches of scraped snow between the moguls. Absolutely horrid bumps on Stein’s.

After lunch, we returned to the summit for a few more runs. I found Paradise to be a delightful combination of thin coverage, interesting lines, challenge, and character. Spillsville got the nod for best bumps up top. And I ended my afternoon on The Mall which had the best bump lines of the day. A great spring bump day at the Bush and essentially my first day skiing bumps all season.