Saddleback ME 1-17/04

[Kevin]

With warmer weather in the forecast I decided to spend two extra days in the mountains of western <BR>Maine. After checking out of our condo at Sugarloaf on Friday morning and the mountain being on wind hold, we decided to spend the night in Rangeley. I spent the afternoon on friday going snowmobiling with my son. We skied Saddleback on Saturday from 9am - 12:30pm. I had not skied Saddleback since March 1999, and this was my chance to ski the mountain with new ownership. Snow conditions were mixed with most of the expert terrain being closed due to lack of snow. The beginner and intermediate terrain was in decent shape with some nice crusing terrain on <BR>Upper and Lower Green Weaver, Grey Ghost and Muddler. This is a family ski area with very reasonable lift ticket rates of $35 weekend and $28 mid-week. I got a half day ticket for $25 as we had to drive back home in the afternoon. Sure this place has ancient lifts that are slow, it took 3 hours to make 6 top to bottom runs, but 1,830 vertical is worth the effort. It will be interesting to see how this area evolves with new owners and fresh visions for future improvements. Needless to say the people of Rangeley are happy that this mountain did not go the way of being listed on NELSAP. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3251.jpg" ALT="Green Weaver Trail"> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3252.jpg" ALT="Saddleback Base Lodge MLK weekend">