b]Date(s) Skied: [/b] 1/05/08
Resort or Ski Area: Mt. Abram
Conditions: Packed Powder / Powder
Trip Report:
After a three week lay off, two due to an ankle injury and the last due to th hecticness of the holidays with family, I made my triumphant return to the slopes. I arrived out the mountain with my 'new' 2002 Volkls with me figuring they would be the boards of choice, expecting somewhat hard conditions after the windy super cold past few days. Boy, was I wrong. I took them up for two bomber runs and was very impressed with their carving ability, but the B2's were the skis needed with all the fresh everywhere and not a single hardpack / ice spot on the hill.
I had never been to Mt Abram and after two runs, my impression was, what a GREAT little mountain. The conditions certainly helped, but though Mt Abram is short on Verticle (1100) it is BIG on fun. Everywhere you turn there are little short winding chutes through the woods mixed between a half dozen well designed groomers. There are a couple of very fun little glade runs, a couple more trails with some pretty darn good pitch too. The lone double diamond was easily as steep as anything found ten minutes up the road at Sunday River, though obviously for a much shorter distance.
This place is a hidden gem and I look forward to my next visit, which will be soon as I saw on the way home that the Texaco in South Paris offers a free lift ticket with an oil change and I'm just about due. There was a great crowd of families there and some pretty talented tele skiers. There's really only one lift dubbed 'The Way Back Machine' and I waited only twice in a lift line of less than five minutes. There was plenty of boot deep powder shots on the sides of the groomed trails and all over the place on the ungroomed runs. This is FOUR days after the last storm. They left close to half the mountain ungroomed and what was groomed was done VERY well.
Probably the most impressive quality of the mountain was the friendliness of the staff. Everyone was smiling, extremely upbeat and polite. Case and point was when I went into the lodge for a slice of pizza and a soda before I headed home. The bill came to $5.50 and the cashier actually looked and his penny jar to see if he had the fifty cents even though I had a twenty in my hand.
So, my recommendation is this. If it's a powder day, save yourself $25 and the extra fifteen minutes in the car heading up the road to Sunday River. Stop and Mt. Abram and support this little gem. You won't be disappointed. GREAT little area.
Resort or Ski Area: Mt. Abram
Conditions: Packed Powder / Powder
Trip Report:
After a three week lay off, two due to an ankle injury and the last due to th hecticness of the holidays with family, I made my triumphant return to the slopes. I arrived out the mountain with my 'new' 2002 Volkls with me figuring they would be the boards of choice, expecting somewhat hard conditions after the windy super cold past few days. Boy, was I wrong. I took them up for two bomber runs and was very impressed with their carving ability, but the B2's were the skis needed with all the fresh everywhere and not a single hardpack / ice spot on the hill.
I had never been to Mt Abram and after two runs, my impression was, what a GREAT little mountain. The conditions certainly helped, but though Mt Abram is short on Verticle (1100) it is BIG on fun. Everywhere you turn there are little short winding chutes through the woods mixed between a half dozen well designed groomers. There are a couple of very fun little glade runs, a couple more trails with some pretty darn good pitch too. The lone double diamond was easily as steep as anything found ten minutes up the road at Sunday River, though obviously for a much shorter distance.
This place is a hidden gem and I look forward to my next visit, which will be soon as I saw on the way home that the Texaco in South Paris offers a free lift ticket with an oil change and I'm just about due. There was a great crowd of families there and some pretty talented tele skiers. There's really only one lift dubbed 'The Way Back Machine' and I waited only twice in a lift line of less than five minutes. There was plenty of boot deep powder shots on the sides of the groomed trails and all over the place on the ungroomed runs. This is FOUR days after the last storm. They left close to half the mountain ungroomed and what was groomed was done VERY well.
Probably the most impressive quality of the mountain was the friendliness of the staff. Everyone was smiling, extremely upbeat and polite. Case and point was when I went into the lodge for a slice of pizza and a soda before I headed home. The bill came to $5.50 and the cashier actually looked and his penny jar to see if he had the fifty cents even though I had a twenty in my hand.
So, my recommendation is this. If it's a powder day, save yourself $25 and the extra fifteen minutes in the car heading up the road to Sunday River. Stop and Mt. Abram and support this little gem. You won't be disappointed. GREAT little area.
