Saddleback - March 6, 2010

[salsgang]

Date(s) Skied: March 6, 2010

Resort or Ski Area: Saddleback

Conditions: PP / Loose Powder

Trip Report: Another great day at Saddleback. Bluebird skies. Moderate Temps (low 30's base, 20's up top) but a bit windy at the top.

BUSY! Talked to the resorts marketing director and he said it was the busiest day of the year for them. We stuck to the t-bar and Upper quad all day and the waits were bearable. The lines stink, but more lift tickets bought means better chance of terrain expansion and replacement of the Rangeley Double!

So anyway to the skiing. It was very good. The cover is excellent. Muleskinner had great snow. I thought Intimitador skied very well along with lower Dark Wizard. All the groomers held up well even with the traffic. All in all a very good day.

Getting into Black Beauty

View from the top of Muleskinner was great

Muleskinner had some really good snow and big moguls in spots

 

[snoseek]

I have a feeling there will be snow on some of those trails right into early summer!

 

[mishka]

Thx for report. I will at Saddelback on Monday for the first time.
What you think for crowd mid week?

 

[snoseek]

Thx for report. I will at Saddelback on Monday for the first time.
What you think for crowd mid week?

It's been a few year for me and I know things have changed but I can't imagine it being even a little crowded there on a monday.

 

[salsgang]

Yea. Crowds will not be a problem Monday. Have fun!

 

[mishka]

Yea. Crowds will not be a problem Monday. Have fun!

thx I will

I'll be going to Saddelback from Rumford what route better R-142 or R-2 to R-4?

mike

 

[bigbog]

Another nice TR salsgang, and fwiw I think your "Getting into Black Beauty" pic is just a terrific pic(for me)...skiing-wise. Shows some of the 3-D that's in steeper terrain really well.

$.01

 

[salsgang]

I'll be going to Saddelback from Rumford what route better R-142 or R-2 to R-4?

Good question. I have never approached from the west. Maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[Breeze]

Given good weather, take Rt 17 to Oquossoc, then 16 through town of Rangely.

You pick up 17 just over the river from Rumford in Mexico. Awesome views from Height of Land.

142 will bore you silly, 2/4 is just a long way around.

Breeze

 

[Terry]

Given good weather, take Rt 17 to Oquossoc, then 16 through town of Rangely.

You pick up 17 just over the river from Rumford in Mexico. Awesome views from Height of Land.

142 will bore you silly, 2/4 is just a long way around.

Breeze

Agreed. A very scenic ride.

 

[billski]

Lines? There were lines at Saddleback? That's huge. Prolly front page news too. Good for them!

 

[xwhaler]

Also at Saddleback all wknd....agree with Salsgang, Very Busy
Easily the busiest wknd I've ever seen there.
Usually on the real busy wknds there maybe a 10 min line at the double and ski on up top but there were 15 min lines Saturday afternoon!
Sunday was better as I felt it wasnt as crowded, we skied 9:30 until 2 and crowds definately started thinning out around lunchtime as folks likely started heading home.

Line control was a bit of an issue at the Kennebago. A single line started forming and they accomdated that for a while which we felt worked ok. On Sunday they had Chris walking trhough the crowd asking for singles and doubles and manually pairing people up. They eliminated the singles line and thought it would be best if they did it themselves. This created issues though when you had people who got called to the front trying to get through the lines of people ahead of them.

Eventually, the singles line re formed and they went back to that. Just a tad annoyed that they would let skiers on who sorta hung around or slowly skied by the back of the line but wouldnt let a normal singles line develop. It all just seemed very arbritrary to us Saddleback does a great job, everyone knows my opinion of them and why I'm willing to drive close to 4 hrs each way every wknd but they need to work on the operational level detials a bit.

Its great to grow the resort and bring tons of folks out to the mtn but still need to pay attn to some of the detials that keep crowds flowing properly.

The mtn itself skied awesome....big bumps all over the upper quad and nice soft snow in all the glades. Still an incredible base up there; we didnt encounter any thin spots whatsoever. Hiked to the true summitt yesterday afternoon. Went all the way up to the summit sign and tried to pick our way down from there. Not worth it, wind blown crustiness and way too many trees to fight through towards the bottom. The best line I think is going down the top of Warden's Worry.

Someone asked about Route 17. I take Rte 17 up to the cabin every wknd. Beware of the frost heaves. There are some orange markers on the side of the road warning of bumps but they are getting pretty vicious and can easily swallow tires with low sidewall. Definately take it slow because as mentioned once you get up near the Height of Land the views are tremendous!

 

[Mildcat]

Someone asked about Route 17. I take Rte 17 up to the cabin every wknd. Beware of the frost heaves. There are some orange markers on the side of the road warning of bumps but they are getting pretty vicious and can easily swallow tires with low sidewall. Definately take it slow because as mentioned once you get up near the Height of Land the views are tremendous!

When I went to Saddleback from Bethel we took 17 on the ride up and it did have awesome views but the frost heaves sucked. 142 has some bumps but not nearly as bad as 17. It is a little further but didn't really notice a time difference because we could go a little faster.

 

[maineskier69]

Great weekend at SB! The lines were the only problem, but as I told the employees I spoke with, I will take the lines over crowded trails anyday!
Never made it to Muleskinner this trip (Casablanca kept calling). I did make an attempt last run of the day Saturday, but patrol had roped off that side of the mountain. Instead we managed to make Intimidator Glades just as patrol was roping it off for the day. One other skier in this random group made it down with me in time to catch the lower section before it got roped off. Never met the guy I made that run with but we definately shared the same enthusiasm and all that was said was "never end the day with a groomer"...
By afternoon Sunday the lines were long enough and my legs were satisfied enough to call it a day.
It was amazing seeing the cars lined up down the road as all the lots were full. The 3 days I have skied SB this year were all record breakers for the mountain (1/16,3/6,3/7). Maybe I am bringing a following?? I have skied it many days in previous years on weekend days when it was "ski on" all day so know that this is extraordinary.
Glad to see the mountain doing so well.

Edit: Agreed with Exwhaler on the lack of single line at quad on Sunday. My wife and I rode the lift by ourselves 3x (2 empty seats). Saturday the chairs were full and the line moved quicker with a singles line. The funny thing is they ran a singles line at the double chair on Sunday (?). Oh well, it was too great of a weekend to let it bring us down.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Nice pix, Sal, we're heading up 4AM Thursday and staying thru Monday. Stoked to finally get there and check it out!

 

[frozencorn]

My first trip there on Sunday. Truly impressed with the terrain, vibe, everything. The lack of a singles line on the quad, as previously stated, was a bit ridiculous, but it didn't deter from the skiing.

 

[riverc0il]

Lines at the double are nothing new even for an area with Saddleback's low profile. But lines at the Kennebago quad is sensational news even if that news comes with some growing pains. From the reports I have read on here, it seems like Saddleback has made quite a splash and has seriously increased their numbers this year. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come and they will now have the capital to keep their expansion plans moving along. A high speeder to replace the double would seriously put Saddleback on the map and help move those double chair crowds around the mountain.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Just talked to my partner in crime and we reluctantly postponed our trip up there due to crappy weather forecast. Ain't worth a 12 hour ride one way for potentially 3 days of rain.