Wicked good Maine lift ticket deals

Yes! It’s finally snowing in western Maine’s mountains: No PR hype here, I’m looking out my window near Sugarloaf and it’s white, white, white, with snow predicted to continue into Thursday. Total accumulation? Forecasters are using the word feet. So dust off your skis and snowbaords, and take advantage of some of these lift ticket deals at Maine’s mountains. I’ve rounded up the best, and presented them alphabetically, below. NOTE: Some are midweek only; at the smaller areas, be sure to check hours of operation.

Black Mountain of Maine: $29 full day, any day.

Camden Snow Bowl: Two-hour lunch ticket, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, $12 for any two hours between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Mt. Abram: 2 for 1 Thursdays, two lift tickets for $49; Carload Fridays, $75 for everyone legally seated in a passenger car, SUV, or minivan.

Saddleback: 2 for 1 Wednesdays, buy one adult lift ticket for $49 and the second one is free. Also, $35 lift tickets, as indicated, on: Maine Day, first Sunday of each month (Maine residents with ID), Monday/Ladies’ Day, Tuesday/Telemark Day, Wednesday/Men’s Day.

Shawnee Peak: Carload Mondays, $79 for everyone legally seated in a passenger car, SUV, or minivan; Two Fer Tuesdays, $57 for two; Thursdays Men’s Day/Friday’s Ladies’ Day, Lift and Lunch $40

Sugarloaf/Sunday River: Frequent Skier Card, $89 includes one ticket plus $25 off midweek, $15 off weekend/holiday; E-Tickets, purchase online at least four days in advance for 10 percent savings. At Sugarloaf only: Maine Day Wednesdays, tickets are $30; valid Maine ID required.

Titcomb Mountain: $15 midweek, $25 weekend/holiday

Maine Ski and Ride Card

Great snow, fine weather, what a perfect winter to learn to ski or snowboard, and the Maine Ski and Ride Card makes it easy and affordable (everything’s relative, I know).

Here’s the deal:

Purchase the $89 Ski and Ride Card at Lost Valley in Auburn, Titcomb in Farmington, or the Camden Snow Bowl, in Camden. It provides three days of skiing or riding as follows:

Day 1: Lifts, lesson, and rental equipment at Titcomb, Lost Valley, or Camden Snow Bowl

Day 2: Lifts and rental equipment at Titcomb, Lost Valley, or Camden Snow Bowl

Day 3: Graduation to Sunday River or Sugarloaf, including lifts and rental equipment.

I like this program because it allows you to learn the basics on a small, community-oriented hill, away from the hotshots and reducing the temptation to go beyond your abilities. Then, once you’ve managed turning and stopping, you can head up to one of Maine’s big guns and apply those new skills and see what all the fuss is about.

Sea & ski & slide for the roses

If you’re one of the many skiers and snowboarders who really don’t need a humongous resort, miles of trails, high-speed lifts, and the prices that go with, then you might want to check out Camden Snow Bowl, in coastal Camden, a town better known among yachtsmen than skiers.

The Snow Bowl exists in a time warp, with a vintage A-frame base lodge and retro food and ticket prices. The reward for riding the pokey chair or creaky T-bars is a cruise down nautically named trails that ebb and flow down the 950-foot vertical, delivering glimpses of island-salted Penobscot Bay. In addition to skiing and riding, the town-owned Snow Bowl has terrain and tubing parks,  a toboggan chute, and ice skating on Hosmer Pond.

After this weekend’s storm, it’s bound to have great conditions. As is its toboggan chute, home to the annual North American Tobogganing Championships (registration is still open for this year’s 20th annual slide for the roses). The championships, held the first weekend in February, is the winter wing-ding in Camden.

Image from Camden Snow Bowl.

Sugarloaf opens tomorrow with 12″ new snow

About time, eh?

According to info from the ‘loaf, the mountain last night received eight inches at the base and more than a foot at the top of the SuperQuad. That’s enough to allow the mountain to open tomorrow to experts for skiing and riding on Tote Road via the SuperQuad.

Here’s the fine print: Snow coverage will be variable and unmarked hazards may exist. Some walking may be required. Lift ticket prices will be $25 for all ages on Sunday.

$50 lift/lesson/lodging package at the Rivah

Here’s a steal! Sunday River is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season with all kinds of deals (including $50 lift tix on many days). Most are midweek, but through Dec. 19, the Rivah is offering a lodging package (Snow Cap Inn), lift ticket, and 90-minute lesson for $50 per person/per day, based on maximum occupancy. On most days, you can’t even puchase a lift ticket alone for that, folks. The big birthday bash is Dec. 19, so plan now if you want to snag the deal then as lodging is limited.

And then there was one

Lift, that is. I thought it was lonely at Sugarloaf yesterday; today there were perhaps two dozen skiers. Only the SuperQuad is running—you can’t get to Spillway any more. Only four trails: Tote, King’s Landing, Hayburner, and Skidder. And with temps in the 80s (I kid you not), it’s going fast, fast, fast.

I took three runs this morning, and by the third run, the muddy strand of snow to the quad was just about gone. Not sure how they’re going to make it to tomorrow, never mind Sunday. Big gaps are opening–Tote required threading the needle a few times and had big ice flows. The other three are in better shape, but were a cobbly this morning (I know, given the temps, makes no sense, but they were).

The fat lady may not be singing yet, but she’s definitely warming up. With temps predicted to drop to the 20s tonight, she may be able to hold off the encore. We’ll see.

April 2 at Sugarloaf, no foolin’

Wow! I had to drag myself off the mountain. Spring skiing doesn’t get any better than it was at Sugarloaf today. Didn’t hurt that the rain which fell elsewhere was snow on the summit–all the trees were coated with frosty snow. Nor did the blue skies, warm sun, and temperatures that kept it somewhat wintry at the summit; corn at mid mountain; and spring at the base.

Didn’t start out fine, though. Thanks to a late freeze, not too much was groomed and quite a few trails were closed. That all changed, though. By 10 am, conditions were softening nicely. By 11, I was skiing Choker and Boom Auger. Super picks were Double Bitter and Binder, both of which had been groomed. When I quite around 12:30ish, they were just opening Gondy. From the Beach, it looked superb.

Really, no bare spots, no rocks; just plentiful and good snow, even on the natural snow trails. And when you look out at the Bigelows, they’re still white. Will it last until May 1, projected closing date? If the weather cooperates, I don’t see why not.

But I gotta tell ya, it was lonely up there.

My only complaint: Black Diamond Burritos was closed, sniffle. I’d been craving one all morning. Instead, I had a Greek salad from D’Ellies. Not a burrito, but damn good.

Super Saturday at Saddleback

Who needs spring when you’ve got winter ski conditions in the mountains? Snow may be melting or gone south of northwestern Maine, but up here, well, winter continues. I skied Wednesday and Thursday at the ‘loaf, and if I’d skied there yesterday, I would have dipped into the Backside Snowfields. Instead, my friend Karen and I bumped our way over Route 16 to Saddleback and Rangeley. She had an assignment for the new Portland Daily Sun to cover a Portland family competing in the box derby.

Let’s start with the skiing: One of the reasons I love Saddleback is that the uphill capacity, even on a weekend, doesn’t overwhelm the downhill. Even though there were short lines for the chairs, we managed to have whatever trail we picked practically to ourselves. And with Saddleback’s old-style wending and weaving, that’s particularly sweet. If you doubt the views, check our photo, taken from the summit on a hazy day. If it had been clear, the backdrop would have included the Presidential Range of the White Mountains capped by Mt. Washington. Nice, eh?

The big race: What a great event! A straight chute was set near the base, so it was easy for anyone to walk up and watch the kids climb into their boxes and descend. The creativity was superb, with boxes done up as airplanes, popcorn boxes, rafts, and all manner of movie scenes, from Winnie the Pooh to  Top Gun. Plenty of crashes and burns. Most kids emerged from their boxes grinning ear to ear, but there were a few tears among the younger ones. This event is just one sample of Saddleback’s emphasis on families. There’s a retro feel here, an easy comfort that’s hard to find at other resorts. I hope the resort holds onto that as it grows.
The matchmaker: On weekends, one of the lift attendants at the base of the Rangeley Chair makes a point of not only matching singles, but also introducing them to each other by name. As my friend Karen said, if it doesn’t work out, you just have to either ski faster than your chair date or hang back and drop down another trail. If you run into him/her again, just claim you thought he/she was right behind or that you thought he/she had taken another trail.

Pond Skimming: April 4 at Saddleback. If you’ve never seen one of these events, where fools folks try to waterski across a slush pond on alpine skis, well you simply must go. Ultimate spring event. And afterwards? Hanging out on Saddleback’s sunwashed deck. Priceless.

Lift tix: Did I mention lift tix are a budget-friendly $40?

(box race photos courtesy of Karen Cummings).

Saddleback buys marina; announces expansion plans

Wow, Saddleback is on the move (remember that ole Maine slogan from the Angus King years?). This year, paid visits are up 22 percent, with season-pass sales up 23 percent, and real estate sales totalling $4 million. No wonder its bullish on the future. With an eye toward four-season operation, the resort has signed a lease-purchase for Oquossoc Cove Marina. It’s also announced its plans for on-mountain improvements and developments.  Let’s start there.

On-mountain: This summer the emphasis is on planning. This includes:

• design and pre-selling of an 80-room condominium hotel adjacent to the base lodge;

• designing a 1,000-seat expansion of the base lodge (thank you, thank you);

• planning the replacement of the Rangeley double with a quad (Big woohoo for this!);

• planning the installation of a new quad in the Magalloway area of the mountain to serve an existing and two new real estate areas.

Planning and funding is expected to be completed by the spring of 2010, with construction beginning that summer.

The marina: The 60-slip marina has the potential to expand to 120 slips. This gives the mountain access to Rangeley Lake, a big plus for visitors during nonski months. The resort plans to open a real estate office in town and offer “vacationers tours of the lake, the mountain and the area, introducing people to the history, culture, and outdoor recreational opportunities.” Current marina owner Larry Koob will continue as manager.

In anticipation of its growth, Saddleback is helping fund and participaing in the Rangeley Lake Heritage Trust’s affordable housing study and studying alternative energy solutions to support housing expansions as well as the resort’s overall energy needs. Currently, the resort
employs 40 staff members year round; during the winter season staffing increases to around 180. Saddleback anticipates its staffing needs will increase 15 percent next year, and another 15 percent when the hotel is completed.

Nice to hear that Saddleback is thinking big picture here and realizing that the Rangeley region is pricey for service-wage workers. Also good to hear it’s thinking green. This should all benefit Rangeley big-time in the long term.

Grazing through Portland

After attending the Gov’s conference on tourism earlier in the day, and taping a 207 show (yup, that’s me yapping about skiing), and stopping in to see Backstage Pass, the rock and roll photography show at the Portland Musem of Art (you MUST go), and browsing at Longfellow Books, I was hungry. I’ve been hearing good things about Caiola‘s for quite a while now, so I went. Now I understand all the accolades.

Caiola’s is everything a neighborhood restaurant should be, and so much more. It’s cozy, comfy, friendly, welcoming, and, the food exceeds all expectations, given the casualness. Maybe I shouldn’t be so effusive in my praise, afterall, I only had an antipasto platter. But what a platter! There were at least a dozen, probably 15 or so different items: meats, cheeses, veggies, bread, even egg salad. And the usual antipasto items, such as olives and cheeses, weren’t that usual. Fried gouda? Yup, whoda thunk it, but it worked.

So I waddled out of there and decided that I simply had to go to Bresca. Yeah, been there, done that for dessert previously, and the memory lingered. So, back I went. Same order, financiar (cranberry and pear, this time) and Bresca blend tea. As good as I remembered.

That’s the trouble with Portland. I know there are other places I should try, but it’s so hard to branch out, when my faves are calling me back. Guess I just have to more publications to send me here on assignment. (It’s always nice to dine on someone else’s budget!).