Saddleback - Casablanca Glades - Jan. 16 and 17, 2010

[snowmonster]

Date(s) Skied: Jan. 16 and 17, 2010

Resort or Ski Area: Saddleback

Conditions: Packed Powder (some powder in the glades); Cloudy - visibility in upper mountain was terrible. You needed to be in the glades to get a definition of the terrain.; Cold and windy.

Trip Report: I finally made the trip to Saddleback because, like Mildcat and other silver NE passholders, I was blacked out. I never saw the whole mountain because it was covered halfway up with clouds. The T bar was down on Saturday which contributed to the long lines on the double chair. However, once you got past that and rode the quad to the upper mountain, it was virtually ski-on. My general impression of the place is that it's got great glades and, if you're a fan of narrow New England style trails, this would be a great place to visit. You have to pay attention when you ski. Some of their blues (lower part of Professor) have mandatory jumps. Also, lots of blind corners when trails merge so be on your toes.

This TR will focus on the new Casablanca glade and I'll let the pics do most of the talking:

Casablanca is marked by orange signs -- 1,2,3,4. You can drop in on any of the entrances and ski down one or traverse to the others. This is right at the entrance of 2, midway down it, and 3 as I traversed:

4 had the most room as it opened up in a lot of places (I know it looks tight in these shots but I could't stop long enough when it was spacious.):

1 can get pretty tight especially if you angle towards the left. This is the entrance to 1 and the exit:

Portions of 3 can get really tight:

Overall, 1 and 3 seem the most tight while 2 and 4 have more room. There are lots of lines in there and these are just my first impressions. I'm pretty sure that someone can come up with the definitive scouting report. Late Sunday afternoon, there was a patrolman in there with a powersaw cutting stuff. I guess this glade is still in the process. There are also lots of cliff section (in 4, in particular) and downed trees for rails.

Be careful in there, however. Lots of stumps just below the surface to trip you up. I met one on my end of the day run and my helmet saved me. That said, Saddleback is definitely worth the drive and Casablanca should put this place on the map for New England glade runners.

 

[powbmps]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Those do look nice and tight!

 

[salsgang]

Awesome - thanks for the pics and report. Nice to see other AZ'ers first-time trips to Saddleback so I am not the only one (outside of xwhaler and backloafriver) droning on and on about Saddleback.

Interesting aspect about Casablanca is that it has taken some pressure off the other glades (Thrombosis, Dark Wizard, Intimidator, Nightmare) so these don't get tracked out nearly as quickly. Finding the expert trails like Black Beauty holding powder days after storms as well...

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Nice pics! Really interesting views of the entrances. I looked for you on Sunday but must have kept missing you. Maybe sometime in the future we can meet up for a few runs.

Thanks for posting!

 

[deadheadskier]

I'd imagine a glade that large consisting of primarily soft woods will be a work in progress for many years.

 

[xwhaler]

I spoke recently to the Director of Marketing for Saddleback and he told me that the next two summers will see additional cutting in there
Great point Salsgang about taking some pressure off the other glades....I ran down Intimidator and Nightmare all day on Saturday hardly seeing anyone else most of the time.
Starting to see more downed trees in there lately though....here's one from Intimidator I saw patrol drag out and cut up later in the day

 

[snowmonster]

I'm glad you guys liked the pics!

salsgang, I tried the other glades - Intimidator and Nightmare. They're pretty good, actually. Lots of soft snow. Tried getting to Dark Wizard but could not find my way around. I was planning to duck the rope across Firefly but didn't want to get into trouble with patrol on my first visit. I guess I need a tour guide next time around. I was not able to ski the other runs off the quad because of visibility (and because I was too intense about getting to Casablanca). The headwall into Governor was pretty sketchy. Mandatory airs in there. Next time, I want to ski from the summit -- and actually see the mountain.

Backloafriver, I should have PM'ed you a meeting place. Hope to ski with you before the season's out either at the River or Saddleback. Perhaps a non-holiday weekend visit to the 'Back is in order.

xwhaler, aside from promoting the glades, they should promote the fact that this place has great NE-style narrow trails.

 

[xwhaler]

Absolutely agree....while I do love the tree skiing there, there are some very cool old style runs as well
Golden Smelt is one of my favorites and also enjoy Paramachenee Belle, Blue Devil, Upper Professor and Jane Craig
The diversity of terrain at Saddleback is really impressive....anyone can find something they really enjoy

 

[Mildcat]

Those trees are helmet magnets! :-D

The tight pic of #3, is that the narrow chute that was on the far left of 3?

A question for the Saddleback regulars, how is it getting to Casablanca on a powder day? Snowboarders were taking their boards off and hiking but that would be tough in deep pow. And I do realize the reward is well worth the effort.

 

[salsgang]

I'm glad you guys liked the pics!

salsgang, I tried the other glades - Intimidator and Nightmare. They're pretty good, actually. Lots of soft snow. Tried getting to Dark Wizard but could not find my way around. I was planning to duck the rope across Firefly but didn't want to get into trouble with patrol on my first visit. I guess I need a tour guide next time around.

Once they get Artula open that makes getting to Dark Wizard much easier. Currently you have to navigate down the Governor headwall (which is always dicey seems like) then cut under the chairlift trail (family secret) into Dark Wizard.

Artula is the trial on the left going up the chair almost to the top - did it look like they were close to getting it open? Its a handy trail to avoid the Supervisor and Tight Line headwalls if they are sketchy (which they can be more often than not)

With lots of snow Dark Wizard actually starts right from the chair unload, but it can get skied off fairly quickly as it is quite steep and narrow so they have it roped off.

You can also get into the lower 2/3rds of Dark Wizard from the Supervisor trail.

 

[salsgang]

A question for the Saddleback regulars, how is it getting to Casablanca on a powder day? Snowboarders were taking their boards off and hiking but that would be tough in deep pow. And I do realize the reward is well worth the effort.

I imagine it is a hoof for a snowboarder. On the 2 foot powder day we skied this year, we actually waited until after lunch to get the folks plow a path. (We had the other glades on the mountain practically to ourselves). We could see lots of deep holes where people had fallen through.

 

[maineskier69]

Sorry I missed you up there Snowmonster. I was skiing with 3 other guys and we crushed the glades as well. Muleskinner was skiing GREAT! We did an early lunch in the Swig n Smelt (11ish) in hopes that the line at the double would dwindle (but they were handing out fudge samples, very cool). Post lunch we skiied trees till 3:30 then had a few beers at the truck before heading back to Portland.

The snow is still skiing amazingly 2 weeks post storm. Every time I ski Saddleback I am more impressed with the place. It is definately a mountain on the move...

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Nice pics! I have to say, TR's this season are selling Saddleback VERY well! It's on my list of places I need to get to. Next time a Maine-pummeling storm rolls in I should hit the Loaf & 'Back for a 2+2 extended weekend!

 

[billski]

Those photos look surreal. The trees are great; did you get bombed on? Reminds me of the "Candyland" game on drugs.

How busy was the place? Or shouldn't I ask?

 

[snoseek]

Yeah those pics are great! I wonder if the allure of Casablance will pull in just about anyone going to Muleskinner leaving Muleskinner real nice! It is one hell of a fun trail-just lots of traversing

 

[tipsdown]

Those photos look surreal. The trees are great; did you get bombed on? Reminds me of the "Candyland" game on drugs.

How busy was the place? Or shouldn't I ask?

I was up there for the weekend as well. The place was BUSY. 30 minute lines at the Rangeley double at times...But as someone posted in another thread, since their up-hill capacity is low (due to the double) there are still alot of trails to yourself. Even when they put in a quad next year I don't think it will feel all that crowded because of their expansive glades. It keeps people on the hill longer...

 

[tipsdown]

I imagine it is a hoof for a snowboarder. On the 2 foot powder day we skied this year, we actually waited until after lunch to get the folks plow a path. (We had the other glades on the mountain practically to ourselves). We could see lots of deep holes where people had fallen through.

All the traversing out there has helped pack everything down but you definitely have to earn your turns to ski Casablanca on a powder day. I was told that after one more dump they'll have a cat up on Dazzler to groom the ridgeline from Supervisor to Muleskinner. That will be a big help.

 

[snowmonster]

Mildcat, yes, that picture of #3 includes the chute on the far left. Once you go down it, it veers right then opens up. There were a couple of snowboarders below me who decided to climb back up the chute and traverse to the right.

salsgang, I tried getting to Dark Wizard by cutting across Family secret on Firefly but there was a rope. I decided to drop in on Governor headwall. The plan was to cut through the woods on the right but as I got lower on Governor, it kept getting better so I stayed on it. Governor headwall was actually showing exposed rock so you had to jump that then a little lower there was another rock band that needed jumping. Challenging trail indeed.


Maineskier, I was looking for you in the lodge but it was too much of a crowd there. I did manage to see whaller. Let's hit this place again -- and soon.

billski, yeah, I did get bombed on. A lot.

snoseek, you were right about Saddleback.

As to how busy they were, I overheard a conversation between two management types in the lodge. They were saying how they sold 1,000 tickets on Saturday but not as much on Sunday. Of course, they could have been talking about something else but they seemed happy with the weekend's results.