Ayuh! .. Skiing In Maine

PHOTO: In the rain Kris skis towards the SuperQuad at Sugarloaf. While we were in Maine, Mother Nature threw all the weather she could think of at us. For a minute she did offer up a colorful rainbow while we skied. Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine’s biggest ski resort has over 1300 skiable acres, 176 glades and 2,820 feet of vertical. Of course the weather has to cooperate to be able to ski the only lift-serviced above treeline skiing in the East. Sugarloaf is on the IKON Pass.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Kris and I drove more than three hours to get to Sugarloaf to ski. Rain was in the forecast and it was already misty when we arrived. We had planned this trip weeks ago and we decided to go and hope for the best. We both have the IKON pass (Sugarloaf) and the Indy pass (Saddleback and Black) so our lift tickets were covered for our Maine ski trip.
The summit of Maine’s second highest mountain, Sugarloaf elevation 4,237 feet, was covered with thick dark clouds. The upper lifts were not running due to high winds and no visibility.
So we were happy to stick to the Super Quad and we yo-yoed on that lift for 11 runs. We had a blast skiing Narrow Gauge and Haymaker. The snow was soft and the rain came and went while we skied. Sometimes it was hard to see. One run we did get to see a rainbow as we skied.

Kris appreciated that I brought an extra pair of rain pants for her to wear over her ski pants. It was also special for us to have the trails all to ourselves. Very few people chose to ski in the rain.
The next day was disappointing but the weatherman had warned us. We had spent the night at the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel right at the base but we wouldn’t be walking to the lifts in the morning. The flash freeze accompanied by even higher winds than the day before had most all the ski areas in Maine closed for the day. Even the cross country ski trails at the Sugarloaf
Outdoor Center and at Rangeley Lakes were closed.

We enjoyed a long breakfast and then drove to Rangeley. More disappointingly, we didn’t see any moose along the way.
We joined our friends in Rangeley at a house that one of the gals had rented and organized all the meals for a big ski weekend (thank you Peg).
Kris and I went for a walk and ended up at the River’s Edge Sports and we spent a lot of time going through the album of photos of the hunters with their big moose and deer. There were a lot of deer that were well over 200 pounds!
The next morning the flash freeze had not let up yet, it was minus 7 degrees but it did warm up to 14. Some went to Sugarloaf and the rest of us went to Saddleback. It was a super clear day and thankfully there was little wind. We skied all day with just a couple of warm-up breaks in the lodge. Thank goodness the groomers did an excellent job of making the rain soaked-frozen snow into nice loose granular ski-able snow.

The next day Saturday nearly everyone went back to Saddleback to ski. But a few of the gals decided to hike up to the firetower on nearby Bald Mountain. Rangeley is a pretty area, the big lake was ice and snow covered. There are beautiful mountains all around and the Appalachian Trail crosses over Saddleback and nearly to the summit of Sugarloaf on its way to Katahdin.
Saturday was a little busier but the lift lines were still small and they opened up a few more trails too, including the steep straight Tight Line Trail. Surprisingly I got Kris to ride the T-bar with me! It’s not her favorite lift and it went well.
Sunday morning we all headed home but Kris and I had one more ski day left in us. We drove home through Rumford so we could ski at Black Mountain. No high-speed chairlifts but there is a nice triple chair that gives a good lift to the top and a fine view of the Sunday race series. The finish line announcer was precious, “nice work you almost beat your mother” and “you better stop now you’re a lot slower than your first two runs”–the race sure kept us entertained.
Black had a lot of trails open and it was almost 45 degrees and sunny. We had fun skiing on the soft snow. We made ten runs before we called it quits.
We experienced it all: rain, bitter cold and sunny warm days on the slopes. And lots of time spent together with friends on the lifts and together back at the rental house.
What a good time we had in Maine.
Have Fun.