billski
Active member
After a satisfying day before at the 'loaf, with so many community areas within reach, and a reason to be in the area, it was time to begin to get to the grass roots of our sport.
First stop was at the mighty Titcomb. Not far from Waterville, it lived up to it's motto as the friendliest place around. It was a 30 second walk to the lodge
A vintage, diminutive base lodge, a classic (a little drafty, but not so much today) with trophies and mementos going back decades and decades. A beautiful fireplace they keep stoked and a lot of old signs on the walls. Full of old picnic benches, we were good to go. The photos describe it well.
Some while back, they put an addition on, which has a real food service area, if you want to call it that. Everything is home made. With pots of delicious soup made by volunteers, how could one go wrong? They made me a breakfast sandwich that put Mc'Ds to shame. The moms were setting up tables for a super bowl party, right next to the fireplace.
I was embarrassed to find out from a volunteer that there are at least another dozen community areas in Maine that were not on my bucket list. Probably the most foreboding is the one in Presque Isle. I'll need a damned good reason to go there!
I was told of the John Deer 4 cylinder diesel engine just put in two years ago to power the T bar. Nobody knows how long the last engine was in, but it was a long time ago.
I bought my $15 lift ticket and walked over to the lift. Literally. No big hoofin' to get anywhere. Everyone was having fun, and boy, the kids were kids having fun, messing around on skis and boards.
No fooling, the runs skied better than many of those at Sugarloaf the day before. Well, the temperature was 40 degrees warmer, so that helped. But they do have a groomer, and it showed. They try to stay open until March, but often they shut down end of Feb. All of the trails were in perfect condition. The Beagle Trail / terrain park was more of an intermediate in my book, but I guess they teach 'em young to be good!
the Main was a beautiful expanse of skiable terrain. the trails are pretty old-style - you can tell they have not tried to "improve" anything. The narrower trails has a really strange amount of washboarding going on. I could not really figure it out. Made it difficult to turn, but being out of control didn't help me any My trail of the day was Deception. A black diamond, it was one of the funkiest. I can't think of any trail in the northeast like it. It's wide, it's narrow, it's got a really strange cant and pitch to it - strange in a good way. I got really good speed on it, which was fun. It was not a predictable trail at all. I can't put my finger on it, but it clearly left a smile on my face. Little jumper was as steep and narrow as some of the big boys trails, just a bit shorter. A little brush poking through, but I've seen much worse. In all, the ski area has a full blanket of show.
If you're too young to remember T bars and want to get close to a family run area, this is it. Thinking I would spend but a half hour, I was there for two hours having too much fun. The weather report was calling for rain, so I had to move one.
Next Stop, Spuce Mountain in Jay, Maine.
First stop was at the mighty Titcomb. Not far from Waterville, it lived up to it's motto as the friendliest place around. It was a 30 second walk to the lodge
A vintage, diminutive base lodge, a classic (a little drafty, but not so much today) with trophies and mementos going back decades and decades. A beautiful fireplace they keep stoked and a lot of old signs on the walls. Full of old picnic benches, we were good to go. The photos describe it well.Some while back, they put an addition on, which has a real food service area, if you want to call it that. Everything is home made. With pots of delicious soup made by volunteers, how could one go wrong? They made me a breakfast sandwich that put Mc'Ds to shame. The moms were setting up tables for a super bowl party, right next to the fireplace.
I was embarrassed to find out from a volunteer that there are at least another dozen community areas in Maine that were not on my bucket list. Probably the most foreboding is the one in Presque Isle. I'll need a damned good reason to go there!
I was told of the John Deer 4 cylinder diesel engine just put in two years ago to power the T bar. Nobody knows how long the last engine was in, but it was a long time ago.
I bought my $15 lift ticket and walked over to the lift. Literally. No big hoofin' to get anywhere. Everyone was having fun, and boy, the kids were kids having fun, messing around on skis and boards.
No fooling, the runs skied better than many of those at Sugarloaf the day before. Well, the temperature was 40 degrees warmer, so that helped. But they do have a groomer, and it showed. They try to stay open until March, but often they shut down end of Feb. All of the trails were in perfect condition. The Beagle Trail / terrain park was more of an intermediate in my book, but I guess they teach 'em young to be good!
the Main was a beautiful expanse of skiable terrain. the trails are pretty old-style - you can tell they have not tried to "improve" anything. The narrower trails has a really strange amount of washboarding going on. I could not really figure it out. Made it difficult to turn, but being out of control didn't help me any
My trail of the day was Deception. A black diamond, it was one of the funkiest. I can't think of any trail in the northeast like it. It's wide, it's narrow, it's got a really strange cant and pitch to it - strange in a good way. I got really good speed on it, which was fun. It was not a predictable trail at all. I can't put my finger on it, but it clearly left a smile on my face. Little jumper was as steep and narrow as some of the big boys trails, just a bit shorter. A little brush poking through, but I've seen much worse. In all, the ski area has a full blanket of show.If you're too young to remember T bars and want to get close to a family run area, this is it. Thinking I would spend but a half hour, I was there for two hours having too much fun. The weather report was calling for rain, so I had to move one.
Next Stop, Spuce Mountain in Jay, Maine.
