Issues → November/December 2008 → Travel →

Skiing Maine: 17 Mountains

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(page 2 of 4)

DAY 2

7:30 a.m.
Sunday River, Newry

Management cranked the lifts early for us. We skied the most perfectly groomed and untouched corduroy as the sun rose, casting our morning in orange glow. Sunday River was ours for those two runs. sundayriver.com

10 a.m.
Black Mountain of Maine, Rumford

The morning developed into a sunny, bluebird-sky day, and the reflection from the snow was nearly blinding. Everything at Black seemed to be sparkling. The downhill trails were quiet, but at the base of the mountain, where cross-country routes intersect, a crowd of parents were ringing cow bells as their Nordic-ski-racing kids shot by wearing shiny Lycra outfits. The lodge may be new, but the T-bar atmosphere is timeless. skiblackmountain.org

11:30 a.m.
Titcomb Mountain, West Farmington

Even before my first run, the sound, smell, and feel of Titcomb, another community ski area, evoked memories of the mountain where I spent all my childhood winter weekends. Inside the lodge, excited kids squealed as they layered on clothing and booted up next to a huge stone fireplace, while logs crackled and scented the air with a fragrance that could be bottled and sold as "ski-lodge memories." Outside, a dad was pulling his child, swaddled in fleece, on a wooden sled, with the family's black Labrador puppy tagging along.

Riding up the T-bar, I scoped out Dare Devil's Plunge to Dire Straights, a series of tight and twisty old-fashioned trails that follow the natural contour of the mountain. I skied through the mellow hero bumps -- the kind that are so perfect you feel like the best skier in the world for that moment -- then stopped halfway down and basked in the quiet that surrounded me. I felt utterly content with this sweet trail and its perfect snow. That run soon became my official favorite trail for this Ski Maine odyssey. Ten minutes later, and after a lunch of homemade turkey and dumpling soup made by faithful volunteers, Titcomb became my official favorite mountain for the Ski Maine odyssey.

Like many other community ski areas in Maine, this might not be your vacation destination if you're "from away," but if you're a local and grow up skiing here, you're very, very lucky. Thank goodness places like this still thrive. Progress is good, but mountains like Titcomb have a soul: They're living memorials to a bygone era of skiing. titcombmountain.com

1:30 p.m.
Saddleback, Rangeley

My first visit to the area occurred sans snow two years ago, when I attended a late-summer meeting here. At a cocktail reception to welcome our groups of ski writers, most of whom I knew already, I noticed an unfamiliar man, probably in his seventies, sporting a flannel shirt and a green foam baseball hat with plastic mesh. It said "Saddleback Is Back," and I assumed that he'd just finished a day of off-season mountain maintenance work and had stopped by to add some local flavor to our party.

In fact, he was Bill Berry, a retired geology professor from the nearby University of Maine at Farmington. In 2003, with his family, he purchased Saddleback for more than $8 million. Since then, the new owners have built a new post-and-beam lodge, increased snowmaking and grooming, and have developed an approved 10-year plan for additional improvements. But here's the part that counts: The Berrys bought Saddleback so that they could provide affordable skiing to Mainers, because they love the mountain, and because they wanted to see it flourish to its potential. They're developing Saddleback's amenities and skiing quality to compete with the large resorts while retaining its small-mountain friendliness.