Where to Ski: Saddleback Maine

(Andrew Fosbrook - Guest Blog Post)

I had to stop for a brief gasp of air. I was surrounded by pine trees with narrow paths etched in the powder between them. Some of these paths suggested a safe route. Others ended on ridges and began anew further down the hill. Some led straight into trees. I had made it down a steep head wall, flung myself in the air, and now I was standing flat on a compression, staring over a rock ledge ahead, hidden by snow. 

With adrenaline pounding in my temples, its intensity shrouded by euphoria, I had a brief mental lapse. I genuinely thought I was skiing the backside of Keystone. Or maybe it was the Windows, a set of epic glades at Breckenridge. I have skied both and these two places seemed much more logical then where I actually stood. 

Believe it or not, I was in Saddleback Maine. I had even bypassed Sugarloaf and its infamous terrain for this place. I drew one last breath, and kickstarted over the ridge in front of me and finished my slalom through the trees. My Dalbello Krypton Pros never visible, only covered in powder. 

I reached the bottom of the expansive Casablanca glades at Saddleback Mountain and never looked back. This place is a little known secret and its quickly become one of my favorite mountains. Not just on the East Coast, but anywhere. It has, hands down, some of the best tree skiing I've ever seen and in the shadow of its big brother, Sugarloaf, this hill just outside of Rangeley, Maine has a secret that few share.

My ideal day here consists of hitting the glades early and often. There is more tree skiing than you can finish in a day, so spread it out over a weekend. This no-nonsense mountain isn't a resort. It just has incredible skiing and a solid lodge with a big bar and live music. After a leg-burning morning in the trees, I like to cruise the rest of the mountain which is made up of wide, steep trails complimented by the occasional classic East Coast winder. Even more unmarked tree skiing is interspersed throughout the mountain, but if you want the true adventure that Saddleback has to offer, you'll be skiing off of Chair E all day. And if you are anything like me, you'll be shocked when you look back over your shoulder on the lift to see the rolling groves and network of lakes that typify Maine, rather than bare, jagged Rockies. What is this place called again? Ah, yes…Paradise.