Trip Report 2-18-23 and capital update

[Pow on the Mao]

Used the first tickets of our 4-pack we bought pre-season this past Saturday. skiing was excellent, just 24-hrs after hard rain on friday.

arrived at 9am first lot was already full. large line for ticket service, but moved very fast. JQ explained the Indy Pass has been huge for them. with no blackout days for SB on the Indy pass, vacation week / presidents weekend seemed to be a big draw. we brought two folks with us who were Indy passers, so i guess its true. and we were blacked out at SL, so it seems to be a good model. the lodge was bustling.

they built two mock homes right in front of the lodge where the fat tire bar used to be. one is a fancy version of a waffle house. beer on tap plus a great selection of cans. full coffee bar. walk in or short order service window. great little wrap around deck with high-top tables. a good addition and great way to advertise micro homes coming to Saddleback soon. the other is an actual model home available for your inspection. its a 600-ft footprint compact home. 1 bedroom with a loft that could easily sleep 4. they plan to build about 150 of these around the lower mtn in several phases. first phase is about 50. reservations will be available soon. they start in the mid 400s. all of the A-frames are spoken for. this will be the next buying opportunity. the long range plan is for these, plus high-end single family lots higher up towards the T bar... and yes there is a plan for a hotel. maybe more than 1 hotel in the long view. probably some other stuff too that i forget the details on, but the small homes seem like a really cool next phase of density.

once again lift capacity was greater than lodge / parking capacity. at the end of the day i saw cars parallel parked along roads all the way back to the well shed by the parked excavator. (indicating all lots full) at lunch the swig n smelt had every table and bar seat full. (cafeteria was getting it done though, excellent mac n cheese.) we sat outside it was so busy inside. and with all of this.... no lines. kennebago was ski-on all day because the top crosscut was closed (wind scoured down to ice) so you had to access the steeps via firefly crosscut. however they kept trails on the steeps open. if you wanted to ski it, you could. we did 15 laps between 9:30 and 2pm and stopped for coffee and lunch. its just a no line environment.

grooming was superb. again it poured rain Friday morning before getting about 1-2" at elevation. it was cold, but very sunny. the groomers were firm-ish but clearly deep-tilled. no glare ice at all. perfectly carve able all day. lower professor was groomed and skiing really well. ghost and doctor were spectacular. tight line was actually the worst groomer of the day.... a sentence I never thought I'd utter. we skied thrombosis and lower nightmare just to show our friends what the trees were like. not a great tree day. but people were def. skiing trees on sat at SB. a testament to the coverage.

[Pow on the Mao]

i should add: the mid-mountain lodge at the top of the Rangeley is not complete. looks like construction is still active right now. i doubt it opens before next season. probably in for a grand opening next opening day..
the newly reconstructed access road is as smooth as a seal's ass. huge improvement.
the sandy quad looks brand new to me. i think they said it was used... looks like a brand new install.

[Glade Monkey]

Excellent reporting. We’ll be hitting it for a midweek visit very soon to use up some passes.

[salsgang]

Awesome report Pow on the Mao thanks for sharing. Glad you had such a great day. Saddleback's on mountain ski product has been A+ considering the whacky weather so far.

Sandy quad is brand new from Partek. I think Quimby called it the Ford F-150 of chairlifts. Nothing fancy but it should run just fine. The mountain ops crew was able to construct largely on their own.

I am hearing all kinds of good things about skier visits this year. Breaking a bunch of skier day records. Absolutely agree that lift capacity exceeds parking capacity right now. Will be interesting to see how they address the parking situation, although they seem to have a shuttle system worked out for the road folks. More heads in beds is critical. These tiny homes are fascinating. I think they could be excellent rentals. Those along with a hotel could go a long ways. Employee Housing should be ready for next year which should help too. We are fortunate to be one of the AFrame owners - great group of owners all really passionate about the mountain. Most owners are from Maine.

I wonder how they will use the mid-mountain lodge when it opens. Restaurant only? Place to warm up? Seeing all the posts about Bullwinkle's table service etc. makes me wonder how they will use this space. I could definitely see it as a cool space for summer weddings, meetings etc. Not sure it will be big enough to handle inside demand on a cold day, but certainly a great place to hang on a nice spring day.

Seems like all of the big 3 in Maine are getting some great improvements. This with some awesome feeder hills it is a really a good time for Maine skiing right now.

[tipsdown]

Great report thanks Pow on the Mao. This is consistent with what I've heard. Curious about when their master plan will be released. I heard there's alot more to it....

[Glade Monkey]

Bluebird - You could see Sunday River & MtW clear as a bell
No lift lines - RFID worked silently from 2’ away
Ideal snow - soft groomers and deep elsewhere
Nice refuel in the upstairs pub
Overall an Epic day!

[WrathOfAramark]

Bluebird - You could see Sunday River & MtW clear as a bell
No lift lines - RFID worked silently from 2’ away
Ideal snow - soft groomers and deep elsewhere
Nice refuel in the upstairs pub
Overall an Epic day!

That Friday was awesome. Saturday and Sunday were all time.