Love Sugar Bowl. You covered it perfectly. Even the busiest days don't feel overly crowded. Being in the Bay Area I can get an early morning start, be there for first chair, ski all day, then be back home by dinner.
I have skied Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Homewood, Palisades (both sides), Kirkwood, Heavenly, and Northstar over the last several years and Sugar Bowl is my favorite out of all of them. Lots of snow, none of the corporate BS, and lower crowd levels than the big corporate resorts.
Also, during the winter of 16/17 I had an ikon pass and at the time it gave you maybe 5 or 6 days at sugar bowl. This was before they installed the gate system and I would just skate past the lifties at the bottom and then ride the upper mountain all day. So probably rode there a dozen times. I spent several of those days in the Palisades zone and it's some of the sickest terrain I've skied. Nearly vertical with huge drops but there was so much snow that season that as long as you cleared the cliffs they were all soft landings. I clipped a rock and cart wheeled off a 40 foot cliff and landed on my back. Totally unscathed. It's wild shit
I'm heading to Sugar Bowl with my family next week. I've never been. I grew up in the Bay Area and have skied a number of Tahoe Resorts but never SB. After seeing this video and reading the comments, I'm very excited to check it out! I love the idea of a less crowded resort (who wouldn't).
i was an instructor there back in 1985 or "86. Sugar bowl has plenty of runs for the advanced and expert skier. For some reason the moguls are very well shaped. Crows nest chair has lower pitch mogul fields where as the disney chair has excellent steeper moguls right under the chair at the top. And the Lincoln chair has a lot of moguls under the chair and to the right as you look up the hill. My favorite runs, besides the mogul runs, were working the front of the Disney chair. There is always some interesting stuff to ski like wind blown hard pack, wind drifts, and even a beginner chute the requires some tight turns with "no" consequences. The other area that is super fun with endless interesting features and lines is the gully to the right of the Lincoln chair as you look up. ( The original chair used to go right up this gully so you could strut your stuff in front of a lift full of spectators.) Finally, if you take the very short hike up from the top of Disney, you can traverse to a nice bowl that is a little adventurous with some cornices, chutes and what not.
I've skeid sugar bowl many times as a kid to learning . Back in the 80s. Loved it.
It was have been amazing in the 80s and even smaller crowds 😁
Love Sugar Bowl. You covered it perfectly. Even the busiest days don't feel overly crowded. Being in the Bay Area I can get an early morning start, be there for first chair, ski all day, then be back home by dinner.
I have skied Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Homewood, Palisades (both sides), Kirkwood, Heavenly, and Northstar over the last several years and Sugar Bowl is my favorite out of all of them. Lots of snow, none of the corporate BS, and lower crowd levels than the big corporate resorts.
We couldn’t agree more!
Thanks for creating this video! My lady and I will be visiting Sugar Bowl for the first time next weekend to top off our last day of the season.
Hope you had a blast :)
Great review, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Also, during the winter of 16/17 I had an ikon pass and at the time it gave you maybe 5 or 6 days at sugar bowl. This was before they installed the gate system and I would just skate past the lifties at the bottom and then ride the upper mountain all day. So probably rode there a dozen times. I spent several of those days in the Palisades zone and it's some of the sickest terrain I've skied. Nearly vertical with huge drops but there was so much snow that season that as long as you cleared the cliffs they were all soft landings. I clipped a rock and cart wheeled off a 40 foot cliff and landed on my back. Totally unscathed. It's wild shit
Sounds like an incredible experience
most underrated resort in norcal
We couldn’t agree more, thankfully the other mega resorts steal all the limelight and Sugar Bowl thrives in the shadows.
I'm heading to Sugar Bowl with my family next week. I've never been. I grew up in the Bay Area and have skied a number of Tahoe Resorts but never SB. After seeing this video and reading the comments, I'm very excited to check it out! I love the idea of a less crowded resort (who wouldn't).
Sounds amazing, make sure you let us know how your trip was!
i was an instructor there back in 1985 or "86. Sugar bowl has plenty of runs for the advanced and expert skier. For some reason the moguls are very well shaped. Crows nest chair has lower pitch mogul fields where as the disney chair has excellent steeper moguls right under the chair at the top. And the Lincoln chair has a lot of moguls under the chair and to the right as you look up the hill. My favorite runs, besides the mogul runs, were working the front of the Disney chair. There is always some interesting stuff to ski like wind blown hard pack, wind drifts, and even a beginner chute the requires some tight turns with "no" consequences. The other area that is super fun with endless interesting features and lines is the gully to the right of the Lincoln chair as you look up. ( The original chair used to go right up this gully so you could strut your stuff in front of a lift full of spectators.) Finally, if you take the very short hike up from the top of Disney, you can traverse to a nice bowl that is a little adventurous with some cornices, chutes and what not.
Is that the insta 360? Footage looks real sharp. My gopro starting craving out anytime it got cold, last season.
It’s a GoPro max, the colder days it died pretty quick :(
super helpful. Subscribed.
Thank you ☺️
Any discount codes ? 😊