Too bad about Skybus, the flight to Portsmouth, NH, was smooth and landed at 7:31 am to an airport with exactly one gate. 20 minutes later, we had two two sets of ski gear packed into the rental car and were on the road.
First, the easy and increasingly snowy and picturesque drive to North Conway, which could be described as similar to Blowing Rock. After a lazy brunch at the Mountain Dawg cafe, we proceeded to the local hill - 73 year old Cranmore Mountain Ski Area. Think of Timberline, WVa, with a bit more vertical and twice as many slopes and twice as much snow. No great challenges other than one steep mogul run, but a nice vibe and intersting conversations. The day was sunny and most slopes face due west or south making for some quality corn skiing in the deep snowpack. This was a lovely day.
Then the drive north through Pinkham notch with Wildcat on the right and Mount Washington on the left, past the non-descript sign marked "Ski Trail' pointing towards the Tukerman Ravine. But our destination was further north into Maine, populated by small villages devoid of fast food and chain motels, and ever deepening snowbanks. We arrive at Sugarloaf and dinner at the Eustis Sonoco featuring surprisingly good sandwiches.
The next morning breaks gray and cold. Conditions are hard and fast but fair. Sugarloaf, even at 2/3 open due to ice and winds, is enormous, rugged, and gorgeous. By 11 am snow has begun and we later head in for lunch, skiing down 1800 vertical feet of former world cup course without encountering another rider in the path. After lunch, the snow is pounding and we head to the East side. Lap after glorious lap off the nearly empty King Pine chair until the new snow has nearly erased the ice underneath. If you haven't guessed, I loved Sugarloaf. The slopes are long, steep, and uncrowded. The mountain is large, but easy to navigate. The culture is serous about skiing and the average skill level is very high.
By Saturday, we are at Saddleback, about 30 miles from the Canadian boarder, with slushy warm-up snow, when we spot a newspaper with a funny headline: Skybus Cancels All Flights. Uh oh. We start the long drive back to Carolina a day early. With the Gratefull Dead's 1972 Baltimore concert on the stereo and my son's pleasant demeanor, the drive is relatively easy.
Now the pictures, first at cranmore
cranmore
cranmore
entertainment in Bethel, Maine...
and finally sugarloaf from the top of the super quad
beautiful, long, empty, slopes
and this is the top half of the last run of the season, what a great way to end.
The End of an Era...We are Shutting Down the Messageboard
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
Sugarloaf - end of the season trip report
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skipanther
- Advanced
- Posts: 1889
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 3:24 pm
When I visit my Dad in NH,I either go to Logan airport in Boston or I fly into Manchester,I didn't know Portsmouth has a small airport.Man,Sugarloaf looks nice for this time of year,I wonder when they plan on closing down?I guess a rule of thumb is New England ski areas close around a month or so after NC areas close.
Sugarloaf plans on last day on May 4, though they could easily go longer this year according to several employees. The snowpack at the top of king pine looks like at least 4-5 feet.
and, sadly, I wouldn't expect portsmouth to have more flights anytime soon.
and, sadly, I wouldn't expect portsmouth to have more flights anytime soon.
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EastCoaster
- Expert
- Posts: 3155
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 1:42 pm
Whhhhhhhhaaaaat??? People on this board are still skiing?!?!?!
Weird.
Nice TR 8)
Weird.
Nice TR 8)
porter wrote:
Nice!
How long was the drive back to the airport ... and was the departure as smooth as the arrival?
departure from Greensboro was smooth and efficient featuring festival seating. strange, but one really could have made a day trip out of Wildcat. unfortunate they died.
On the drive back, we visited the Maine coastline, as planned, and then took I84 to I81, bypassing the NY/NJ mess, stopped for lunch on Sunday with relatives and so on, so I don't have a robust time estimate. However, if you started in NC early in the morning you could make SL late that night I believe - about 17 hours maybe.
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n_alabamaskier
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- Posts: 1142
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:33 pm
I heart the 'Loaf. Closest you can get to skiing out west--True big mountain skiing.
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skipanther
- Advanced
- Posts: 1889
- Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 3:24 pm
n_alabamaskier wrote:
I heart the 'Loaf. Closest you can get to skiing out west--True big mountain skiing.
I heard the same thing about Jay Peak,they get tons of snow and you're allowed to ski anywhere as long as you're w/in the ski area boundary.