I called an audible and @MaineSkiFamilyDad took a day off from work and headed up to Saddleback Maine with a friend for a great day of skiing. The drive up was a bit greasy due to all the overnight snow. The mountain reports were saying a foot of snow had fallen so we were pretty pumped to get into the goods.
It was pretty windy on Thursday when all the snow fell so on the chairlift ride up the Rangeley double I was checking out where the snow was on the trails. Looking at Royal Coachman we could tell there was a east wind as the skier right of the trails seem to hold a lot of snow that had blown out of the woods. While skiers left looked a bit wind scoured. Lots of snow still, but it was that firm, harder packed wind blown snow.
After getting off the Rangeley double we made a bee-line to the quad and headed to the top. Black Beauty is a powder day favorite of mine so we headed there first thinking some big powder was on the right side. (See my definitive guide to all 66 Saddleback trails). There were pockets of powder skiers right but it wasn't what we were expecting. Where was all the snow? The trail was just too wide to handle that east wind so it had all blown somewhere.
Next right up the quad we eyed the Dark Wizard Glade and it looked pretty fluffy. Bingo. That is where the snow was. Wow it was it deep and fun. Un-tracked lines everywhere and a legit foot with deeper drifts. It was the type of day where snow was getting in all sorts of places. (goggles, up the back of jackets etc). Really, Really good skiing. The rest of our morning went like this.
The Black Beauty, Frost Bite, Wardens Worry were the only trails that didn't ski as well. Everything else was great. All the super narrow winding trails Saddleback has to offer were superb particularly skiers right. Governor was really good. (Those of you that follow my blog know we get lots of pictures of the kids hucking off the Governor rock jump. It was so soft I even got old-man air on that same rock.) I got over to Casablanca #4 and that was awesome. Golden Smelt and Parmacheenee Bell were outstanding as usual. All the groomers had lots of snow. They got bumped up in places but good overall.
Not a bad crowd on the mountain for a Friday. It was a different crowd mid-week. It was older (senior citizens skiing on a weekday), Younger (families with really young skiers) and then all the hard core skiers taking a day off from work.
We are off to Sugarbush next weekend and we will be @VermontSkiFamily for a few days. Enjoy the snow everyone!
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| Saddleback Glades were spot-on |
After getting off the Rangeley double we made a bee-line to the quad and headed to the top. Black Beauty is a powder day favorite of mine so we headed there first thinking some big powder was on the right side. (See my definitive guide to all 66 Saddleback trails). There were pockets of powder skiers right but it wasn't what we were expecting. Where was all the snow? The trail was just too wide to handle that east wind so it had all blown somewhere.
Next right up the quad we eyed the Dark Wizard Glade and it looked pretty fluffy. Bingo. That is where the snow was. Wow it was it deep and fun. Un-tracked lines everywhere and a legit foot with deeper drifts. It was the type of day where snow was getting in all sorts of places. (goggles, up the back of jackets etc). Really, Really good skiing. The rest of our morning went like this.
- Dark Wizard Glade
- Initimidator Glade
- Nightmare Glade
- Intimidator Glade
- Dark Wizard Glade
- Casablanca Glade #1
- Upper Jane Craig to Lower Jane Craig. (The Jane Craig head wall was really deep).
The Black Beauty, Frost Bite, Wardens Worry were the only trails that didn't ski as well. Everything else was great. All the super narrow winding trails Saddleback has to offer were superb particularly skiers right. Governor was really good. (Those of you that follow my blog know we get lots of pictures of the kids hucking off the Governor rock jump. It was so soft I even got old-man air on that same rock.) I got over to Casablanca #4 and that was awesome. Golden Smelt and Parmacheenee Bell were outstanding as usual. All the groomers had lots of snow. They got bumped up in places but good overall.
Not a bad crowd on the mountain for a Friday. It was a different crowd mid-week. It was older (senior citizens skiing on a weekday), Younger (families with really young skiers) and then all the hard core skiers taking a day off from work.
We are off to Sugarbush next weekend and we will be @VermontSkiFamily for a few days. Enjoy the snow everyone!
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