Ski season, already?

Yup, you read that right. Sunday River is open.  Sugarloaf, as seen by this Nov. 5 photo, has begun snowmaking and is targeting a Nov. 20 opening. Saddleback is aiming for Nov. 27. So clean and wax the boards, find the mittens and socks, and get ready for the slopes.

A good place to pick up free tix, coupons, and info on deals and discounts at ski areas nationwide is the Boston Ski Show, Nov. 19-22, at Bayside Expo. Check the web site for a discount admission coupon.  If you want to avoid the parking fees, take the T. The Expo is less than a 10-minute walk from the JFK/UMass stop on the Red Line.

Snow!

Nothing prettier than a frost of snow against turning leaves. Check out this photo from Saddleback, taken this morning. And wait until another week or so, when the foliage gets closer to peak, then it will be spectacular.

You know it’s Reggae Weekend when…

• the Sheriff and the Staties have staked out their positions on Route 27 (and planning on balancing the state’s budget).

• there are bouncers at the base of the SuperQuad (Security checking backpacks for beer)

• a snowboarder drops his trousers as he passes in front of The Beach

• women in spike heels (what are they thinking) are hanging around the base

• kamikazies, suicide bombers, and cluster bombs menace the slopes

• the crowd on The Beach is most definitely not from around here

• parking is a contact sport (and it’s way too easy to be blocked)

• beer cans and bottles litter the slopes and the roadways

And it’s only Friday. C’mon, help me out, Sugarloafers…

For more on Reggae, visit Sugarloaf’s site or check out my article in SKI.

(By the way, skiing is still fabulous. Cover’s getting thin near the base, but summit and mid mountain still have plentiful snow and good turns.)

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.

Good to go at Sunday River

I went to Bethel seeking options for lunch and dinner. On a Tuesday afternoon. In late March. First choice for lunch was Barbecue Bob’s, the orange trailer next to the Good Food Store. Nope, day off. Next stop was Cafe DiCocoa, downtown source for all kinds of baked goodies and prepared items, including sandwiches. Nada, closed. Peeked over to Cho Sun, thinking maybe dinner. Not open Tuesday  nights. So back to the Good Food Store I went.

Now the Good Food Store doesn’t look like much from the exterior. It’s an old New Englander farmhouse hard by Route 2, but inside it’s a warren of tiny rooms filled with good foods. Natural foods and specialty items, bulk bins and designer chocolates, organic wines and soy cheese vie for shelf space. Lots of finds for foodies here.

All that’s good, but what really makes this gem shine are the prepared foods. It’s the best source for t0-go sandwiches, salads, and soups, and the refrigerated cases are the source of fabulous salads, burritos, and dinner entrees. I grabbed a pork burrito for lunch, which the clerk warmed for me. Yum.

Then I returned to survey the dinner entrees. Hmmm, white lasagne? Shephard’s pie? I chose the Moroccan chicken, which was a smart move. I  brought it back to the condo, popped it in the oven for 20 minutes as enticing aromas filled the room, then voila, a dinner comprising exotic yet comforting flavors (with leftovers for a second night, all for $13). Oh, and if you go, the cookies earn their renown. Better yet, they cost 75¢ each for a decent sized one. Stock up, you’ll be wanting more for the ride home.

And the skiing? Spring conditions with winterish weather. Colder than expected, but snow was soft with corn. One caveat: The Rivah’s trails have lots of ridges and rolls. Be careful when cresting, there’s sometimes exposed rock or ground behind that horizon line. Hey it’s spring! Still plenty of great skiing out there. Enjoy.

Burger queen

Saturday night, a Bagburger. The Bag, at the base of Sugarloaf, has been perfecting the burger for 40 years, and it is a beeyootiful thing. I had one of the designer versions, this one with blue cheese. Yes, perfection; ditto for the curly fries that come with it.

Last night, a burger at the Jolly Drayman English Pub, at the Briar Lea in Bethel. $5 burger night, and although I love the Briar Lea and know its portions are generous, I was figuring something more in the slider size. Hah! This is the same burger served other nights for $8.95. A gorgeous, perfectly cooked, half-pounder served with lettuce, tomato, onion and a bountiful side of crispy-yet-tender fries. Yup, all for $5. That’s every Monday night; gotta like that.

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.

C’mon up, the skiing’s fabulous

Would I lie to you?

Just off the slopes at Sugarloaf, a rather busy Sugarloaf for a Friday, I might add (by 10ish, already parking in lot E). Obviously, the word’s out. The skiing is excellent. It was a dite bit chilly up there this morning, but fun, fast, and  oh-so-sweet.

Sugarloaf’s groomers took that four or five inches of heavy wet snow received on Wednesday and they’ve worked it into the surface, grinding up the moguls on trails like Spillway and Skidder and even Double Bitter. (Don’t worry, those will build up again once the temps warm up.) Didn’t ski Spillway, but overheard one woman say the headwall was the best she’d skied it all season. Did ski both Skidder and Double Bitter, as well as Widowmaker/Flume and Nitro/Wedge. Love that roller coaster feel of Double Bitter when it’s groomed and you can swoop down it with big arcing turns.

Truth be told, I didn’t wander off the groomers. Those au natural trails had a bit of a shine to them, if ya catch my drift.

Topped it off with a Black Diamond burrito. Yum.

Sundance dreams

Almost everyone’s heard of Robert Redford’s Sundance film festival, but mention the ski resort of the same name, and the response is often a quizzical one eye raised, huh? If you’re a skier or snowboarder, put this Utah gem on your must-visit list. It is the yin to Park City’s yang, the antidote to overdevelopment and mine’s-bigger luxury.

Not that Sundance isn’t luxurious. It’s just subtle, wrapping guests in the warmth of a cozy cabin, with wood-burning fireplace; catering to their needs with an intimate, few frills spa, arts studio, and theater; serenading them with the gurgle of the Provo River, which runs through it; and feeding them at one of the state’s best restaurants, The Tree Room, decorated with Native American art and artifacts from Redford’s private collection.

Now add the Owl Room, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s original bar, transported here by Redford and again serving drinks, wines (some with the Sundance label), and brews; and Bearclaw, Jeremiah Johnson’s cabin at the mountain’s summit, a spot to grab a snack or relax on the deck soaking up the sun and the views.

In a way, Sundance is the ultimate Hollywood set, the perfect backdrop for one of Redford’s movies. It also reflects his environmental sensitivities; this place was green long before green became a household word.

If I had to choose only one or two words to describe this place, it would be easy-going. Yes, its a ski area; yes, it’s a resort, but at its heart, it’s an arts colony, with a creative mindset and relaxed attitude. No one’s in a hurry; those powder lines will still be there hours, if not days, after a storm.

With only three lifts, and none of those high speed, it’s easy to overlook Sundance in favor of its bigger neighbors, but don’t be fooled, Sundance skis much larger than its stats indicate. Not that those stats aren’t impressive enought: 2,150-foot vertical drop from its 8,240-foot summit, 450 skiable acres. Most of it is sustained vert, too. Unless you’re moving across the mountain on a cattrack, you’re making turns.

From the base, you can’t even see the main mountain, with its treeless summit bowls, steep ridge lines, and, yes, swaths of groomers. And from the summit, on a clear days the views are the best in Utah: to one side, they extend over Salt Lake City, far, far below. On the other, sigh-producing wilderness, all of it overlorded by Mt. Timpanogos, the state’s highest peak (or second-highest, depending upon who you talk with). And except on a Saturday (or school holidays), when Provo-area families arrive en masse, lines are few.

And Sundance is a bargain-hunter’s friend: Lift tickets are only $40, about half the price of tickets at other resorts. But it gets even better: Become a Facebook friend, and ski Sunday through Thursday for $2o (subject to change, although plans were to continue it for a while). Better yet, visit between March 23 and April 5, book three nights, and stay for $189 per room, including a full breakfast at the Foundry Grill and daily lift ticket (based on double occupancy, tax extra, blackout dates may apply).

And if you crave a day at a bigger area, the Park City area resorts (Park City, the Canyons, and Deer Valley), are only about 45 minutes away.

The Stowe Report

Last weekend, I schmmozed Stowe. It’s been quite a few years since I skied what many consider Vermont’s best. Truth is, the last time I visited I came for a hard-hat tour of the then little more than a hole in a ground Stowe Mountain Lodge, at the base of Spruce Peak. I used to love Spruce because it was off the radar screen for most skiers. My how things have changed.

The Stowe Mountain Lodges sets the standard for luxury lodging in New England and its restaurants, along with the fancy-schmancy food court in the adjoining Spruce Peak base lodge, set a new standard for on-mountain dining. New England has long lagged behind western resorts on both fronts. Stowe Mountain Lodge changes that. For a price.

For those who can afford to shell out $400 and up a night for a room—okay, a damn nice room, make that studio, with kitchenette, fireplace, seating area, and a bathroom alone larger than economy motel rooms—that’s steps from the lifts and has access to some pretty nifty facilities, this is the cat’s meow.

About those nifty facilities: the lodge comprises a full-service spa (see my post on that, here); a Cooper Wellness center, with every new-fangled and trendy piece of fitness equipment possible, along with a full slate of classes, and even a fully equipped Pilates studio (never done that, but it looks like a torture center); a huge outdoor, heated pool with heated deck; luxe shops; an adventure center that will arrange just about anything you want; and then there are the dining facilities.

Stowe Mountain Lodge’s restaurants are big on the farm-to-table movement, with most products served sourced locally. There’s Solstice, a casual fine-dining restaurant, the Hourglass lounge, and a lobby lounge, each with menu, as well as the Schuss take-out cafe. All are within steps of each other, on levels tiering up from the lobby . The spaces are open and soaring, walled with windows, and accented with fireplaces and artwork by Vermont artists and artisans. If you can’t swing staying here, treat yourself to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or simply pop in for some apres ski.

The lodge is steps from the Spruce Peak lifts and the gondola connecting to Mt. Mansfield’s lifts. Also here is a new base lodge with a food court that gives new meaning to the concept in New England. Fresh-made soups, salads, sandwiches, grilled items, pastas, even a risotto of the day. I had lunch at the full-servvice restaurant at the gondola summit, but frankly, I’d opt for this next time. Far faster, and a far more intriguing menu (although I must admit the lobster and asparagus risotto was pretty lush, mmmm).

And the skiing? Let’s just say that despite wind-chilled temperatures that were well below zero, I kept at it until the spa called.