Category: Maine

2012-2013 Season, January, Shawnee Peak

Shawnee Peak

Mount Washington Undercast from Parmalee's

With Shawnee Peak crossed off, The List has now dwindled down to only one area per state (domestically). I expect the remainder of the stateside list to fall in short order leaving only the Quebec areas. Perhaps The List will expand to include more of New York such as the Catskills.

Exploring new areas has become a favorite part of my season even when exploring areas that I know I will never return to. I knew pretty quickly that Shawnee was such an area but that only heightens the feeling of exploration, knowing that this is not only a first time, but also a last time.

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2012-2013 Season, November, Sunday River

Sunday River: Right Stuff, Wrong Conditions

Right Stuff Was Aptly Named Today

After loosing the first to open battle to Killington, Sunday River responded by offering significantly better terrain at a cheaper price for the Veteran’s Day weekend. While Killington offers two trails off North Ridge with hiking to download and a top to bottom route that “may require walking”, Sunday River has three and a half unique top to bottom runs in addition to a connector trail. Unfortunately for Sunday River, the snow condition quality did not match the route count quantity.

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2011-2012 Season, November, Sunday River

Turns Sweet Turns: Sunday River

I hoped for a half dozen runs before the lines and downloading became overwhelming. Instead, I got a baker’s dozen before the lines and downloading became barely a minor annoyance. The guns were on and then they were off. The turns were good on variable man made blow with natural and skier induced terrain obstacles. Skier’s right on T2 was sweet and Upper Punch sucked the big one. Coming off a mammoth earned turn powder day last week, this wasn’t much to write about. But it was still turns sweet turns and I’ll be back for more next weekend if the natural hasn’t returned.

2010-2011 Season, AlpineZone Meet Up, March, Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf: Following the Wind

Sugarloaf

Riding up the Superquad, I noticed that Spillway and Timberline were not spinning. After a quick rip down Lower Winter’s Way to Lower Misery Whip, I found out that King Pine was not spinning. And after a long run out on Cross Haul, I found out that Whiffletree was also not spinning. Looping up and over to the top of King Pine, I found that the new trails off the Brackett Basin ridge were closed.

Today was all about flexibility and patience. Quality snow and good turns could be found, especially after I got past my initial disappointment. With the singles line for the Superquad back to Double Runner, I decided it would be a Double to T-bar day.

Excellent wind loaded snow was found on skier’s left of many trails. The MO for the day was traversing looker’s left from the T-bar and skiing skier’s left on the trails. Spillway, Winter’s Way, Misery Whip, and Ripsaw all offered nice turns, scraped in some places and creamy in others. I found Bubblecuffer to be especially nice. But the run of the day was saved for last as we took Haul Back on Greg’s suggestion which yielded epic wind blown pow.

I was fortunate to meet up with some of the AlpineZone crew after lunch. Skiing solo was okay. But on such a day as this, the company changed the day from somewhat blah to incredibly fun. Skiing with a crew made my day and made the afternoon something special. Last chair came all to quickly and my legs gave out just as the lifts came to a stop.

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2010-2011 Season, January, Powder Day, Saddleback

Saddleback: The Perfect Plan

Casablanca Entrance 2

Or perhaps the title should be The Perfect Weather Pattern. Seven inches since Thursday and double that since last weekend with the coldest weather since 2009 moving in for the weekend. Crowds stay home and I ski untracked all day at Saddleback: home to the best on map soft wood glade skiing in New England.

Saddleback already had some damn fine glade skiing. But the recent addition of Casablanca solidifies Saddleback’s position as the New England leader in the soft wood glade category. Casablanca is just as expansive as it looks on the map. Virtually the entire area is thinned out and skiable. But the cutting was inspired–still retaining a few uncut sections to give the glade some definition rather than just one big sprawling big box glade. Very few on map glades in New England have been so well planned and cut.

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