Maine

Maine's Forgotten Skiing Mountains - Saddleback, Squaw offer Big Pleasure without Fanfare

 

Two Slopes offer Classic Skiing
 

This story was Published in The Maine Sunday Telegram, The Providence Journal and Foster’s Sunday Citizen

 

Written: January 1999 (but we revisited these 2 great mountains in 2002 and NOTHING has changed)

By Heather Burke

Do you long for the days of yesteryear with knee-deep snow au natural (see photo right circa March 2002) and low speed lifts that mean less skiers and riders on the trails? Looking to take a break from the big ski factories with their high speed this and high capacity that? Here’s your chance. Saddleback and Squaw Mountains both offer big mountain skiing without all the fanfare of Maine’s conglomerate-owned ski areas. In a different league from the American Ski Company’s fancy resort villages, high-speed lifts, and snowmaking systems that pump 16 gazillion gallons a minute, Saddleback & Squaw offer something else. Skiing in its essence! Unspoiled, classic New England surroundings with natural snow and unadorned downhill skiing! These are two areas that have thus far maintained their independence – no mergers, no Haute Cuisine, no one-piece Bogners here – just great Maine skiing at old-fashioned prices.

SADDLEBACK
Saddleback is located just 30 miles west of Sugarloaf, 125 miles from Portland, 6 miles from the popular summer playground and winter snowmobile destination of Rangeley Lake. Saddleback is unchanged by the hands of time. With 1,830’ of vertical and a summit elevation of 4,120’, it’s the 2nd highest alpine skiing mountain in the state. The facilities are nothing fancy, two double chairs and three T-bars that serve some honest to goodness big mountain terrain. Saddleback’s feel is casual, skiers can still park a stone’s throw away from the base lodge where a friendly employee hand stamps your ticket. Saddleback’s tag line: “Affordable skiing is back!” Tickets are $27 Midweek and $42 Weekends and Holidays. Purchase full price tickets for Saturday and Sunday, and you can ski Friday or Monday free!

All the necessary skier services can be found by following the hand carved signage in the rustic Base Lodge, including rentals and a ski shop, ski school and daycare, a cafeteria with great $2 cheeseburgers. There is even entertainment in the Painted Pony Bar upstairs!

Saddleback claims 50% snowmaking, but it is best enjoyed with good natural snow. You won’t find anything high speed or detachable here. Keep in mind the advantage of the slow lifts and lack of crowds is the snow stays fresh run after run. When is the last time you skied over your own tracks, 2 runs later? The biggest lift line we witnessed on a February weekend with perfect snow was a 20-person line on the Stagecoach Double!

The Surrey Double chair features nice beginner terrain like Goldrush and Panhandler. It is also the lift to take to reach the long Stagecoach Double. This 1,200 foot vertical lift accesses most of the great groomed cruisers like El Hombre under the lift and White Stallion. If you miss natural snow, you know, untouched by modern grooming equipment, give yourself an old fashioned challenge on Gunslinger or Rough Rider. Saddleback trails have real character, winding down the mountain, through the beautiful evergreens with awesome views of the Rangeley Lakes region and western Maine.

For the hard core skiers, and the not T-Bar timid, the Wells Fargo T-Bar climbs 975’ of leg aching vertical to the wind swept summit where you wander into black diamond mania. Bronco Buster is home of the Annual Bronco Buster challenge, “Ski top to bottom without stopping or falling and win a three-day lift ticket”.

For the next best thing to an out-of-bounds experience, try Mule Skinner. A 10 minute climb traverse out to the middle of nowhere and you find this wildest of trails. Snowboarders be warned, we are talking a bit of a hike here in wind drifted snow that will swallow you up! When your legs start to wobble, try a 2 ½ mile saunter down Lazy River. Finish up the day with an ego soothing Wildfire or Desperado. Are these great names or what?!

Saddleback offers some beautiful and spacious slopeside condominiums but you better pack for the duration and bring your own entertainment because when the lifts shut down it gets really quiet around here! The lakeside town of Rangeley, just 7 miles down the road, offers almost 500 beds to choose from. At one time these beds were filled with skiers every weekend, but today Rangeley is a snowmobilers’ haven! On the weekend we stayed at the Rangeley Inn and walked the snow-covered streets of this quirky lakeside village, every bed in town was sold out, and we felt like two of four skiers in residence.

For skiers in search of un-promoted New England trail skiing, here is big mountain skiing at its purest for a fraction of today’s costs. Call Saddleback at 207-864-5671 for information and 207-864-3380 for daily ski reports.

BIG SQUAW MOUNTAIN
Squaw is located on the southern tip of Moosehead Lake, 155 miles north of Portland. A trip to Moosehead is a real eye opener for those who haven’t seen the “real” Maine. The approach, 60 miles from Interstate 95, reveals long stretches of road with as many deer, moose and logging trucks as cars.

“Ski the View”, the billboard reads at the base of Squaw’s access road. This is the only promotion for Big Squaw you are likely to see, as they didn’t have a brochure. So it makes sense that we were unable to find them on the web.

Big Squaw Mountain is a humble ski area content in the 70s. Talk about flashback prices! Lift tickets are $15 midweek and $20 weekends for adults, kids 4 and under ski free. With the change left over, buy a $.25 hot chocolate or a $.30 soda.

The triple chair serving the lower section of the mountain leads to a choice of 4 great cruisers or you can take Squaw Brook trail over to the main base area. At this more lively base, standing tall over Moosehead Lake is the ski area hotel, with rooms starting at an unbelievable $39 night – by far the greatest slopeside lodging deal to be found. The hotel is connected to the ski school, rentals, cafeteria and bar. The only lift choice, a precarious 6,000-foot long double chair carries skiers to the summit. Precarious, because this temperamental double is a challenge to get on, but well worth it. Halfway along your ascent, Moosehead Lake and mile high Mt. Katahdin come in to glorious view. It’s worth the price of admission just for this panorama of Maine’s largest lake & highest summit. A firm grip on the chair is advised while admiring some of the best views New England offers, as you can not predict when this old faithful chair might halt, jerk backwards, and bounce. The lift attendant assured us “she’s been running fine for a long time”.

Some time-honored trail skiing and tough terrain match the outstanding view. Ideal when covered with knee-deep natural snow, a gift they frequently receive this far north. The summit gives way to four black diamond runs with terrific pitches and lots of twists and knolls mixed in for fun. The lift line trail is a delightfully narrow challenge of steeps, jumps, and cliffs – now this is skiing! To the skiers’ right are the two mile East Branch trail and two and a half mile Penobscot, both are picturesque and ideal for cruising.

On a February weekend a full parking lot consists of a couple of hundred cars and a lift line of 2 to 40 people, sharing tales of their last run. The lifts are antiquated, but in a funky sort of way. Leave the new ski outfit at home, and pack the wooly pants if you want to “blend in”. Big Squaw may be reached at 207-695-1000; they may even be answering the phone that day.

Lodging options at Big Squaw range from the newly refurbished mountain hotel, to renting a cabin, to truly fine Inns with noteworthy dining. Greenville, 5 moose-filled miles down the road, is an ideal location for the original Road Kill Café (2002 Update - Road Kill is DEAD) overlooking Moosehead Lake. This back woods “eating adventcha’ of cleverly worded grub is served up by humorously surly local waitresses. You are sure to start talkin’ like a Mainah if you dine hey-ah!

If you long for ultra-wide corduroy trails, fast lifts, cushy chairs, slopeside spas and boutiques, then Saddleback and Squaw are not for you. But for skiers tiring of all the hoopla and the “big mountain” prices, Saddleback and Squaw await you with pure skiing in natural surroundings to enjoy as it was in the 70’s, before this sport became so complicated.

Sidebar
If You Go
 

Where to Stay in Rangeley:

Saddleback Ski Area - Spacious 3-4 Bedroom Trailside Townhouses 207-864-5671
Rangeley Inn & Motor Lodge – a charmingly restored Inn with fine dining. 1-800 MOMENTS.
The Rangeley Chamber of Commerce is 800-MT-LAKES or www.rangeleymaine.com

Where to Stay in Greenville:
Lodge at Moosehead Lake – the only 4 star inland Inn in Maine. 207-695-4400.
Big Squaw Mountain Resort - Slopeside rooms from $39/night midweek, $49 weekends. 207-695-1000.
The Black Frog - Greenville Maine - 207.695.1100
The Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce is 207-695-2702 or www.moosehead.net/moose/chamber.html

 

All Photography by Greg Burke

 

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