Sunday River - Sugarloaf - Saddleback late March trip...

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Sugarloaf

Date

Mar 28, 2025

Snow Conditions

1. Packed Powder
2. Slush or Spring Snow
3. Ice

We are doing our last east coast ski trip of the year up in Maine which is a place we have never skied. Started the day off at Sunday River which was a little underwhelming as the resort was very low in snow and high in ice patches.

We essentially just lapped the Barker bubble lift from 9 am until 11.45 as that area of the mountain was pretty much the best option for advance level terrain. The White Heat pod closed for wind as we pulled up to the lift and even the lifty couldn't understand why management closed the lift as it wasn't that windy here today.

In any event, this place felt like a cross between Okemo and Killington. I left today knowing that we probably won't come back. Aside from it being far from NYC, the mountain is very spread out and the vert on each pod felt short. With a base elevation of 800 it would take a really great snow year for Sunday River to ski unbelievably. Here are some photos of the morning...

 

[Tonyr]

We left Sunday River for Sugarloaf at noon and pulled up to the mountain around 2pm. My son was tired so he hung out in the room the rest of the afternoon but I went out and skied for another 2 hours. Was much more impressed with Sugarloaf, got a bluebird day, and it felt more like a Northern VT skiing experience.

I didn't know where I was going but immediately made my way over to the Bracket Basin area of the mountain. Yes that section closed but I jumped in it anyway. The base was very thin in most areas but pretty good in others. It was a one and done but I see how special Bracket Basin can be when the weather is good...




I finished the day skiing a few random runs on the frontside with Misery Whip, Ripsaw, and the Bubblecuffer Glades being the highlights. Tomorrow we head over to Saddleback to ski it through the morning. It's supposed to snow 8 to 12 inches up here over the next two days which I hope happens!...

 

[jimk]

Spring skiing is often great, but it can also be ....
I've skied all three Sugarloaf, Saddleback and Sunday River (and Mt. Abram) in Maine. I really enjoyed Sugarloaf and Saddleback. Saddleback is very picturesque. Hope you catch some good snow today.

 

[Tonyr]

Spring skiing is often great, but it can also be ....
I've skied all three Sugarloaf, Saddleback and Sunday River (and Mt. Abram) in Maine. I really enjoyed Sugarloaf and Saddleback. Saddleback is very picturesque. Hope you catch some good snow today.

Thanks Jim, we had a really good day today it snowed about 6 inches over the last 24 hours so we kind of lucked out. We flew up to Portland then drove 2.5 hours up to Sugarloaf, in reality 9 times out of 10 your better off going to Utah instead as the cost would have been the same but I have never skied the Maine resorts and we met family that just moved up here so it's been a great trip thus far.

 

[Tonyr]

Did another double header today starting with Saddleback in the morning. We skied here from 9am to noon and were super impressed with the resort. This place has a Jay Peak feel to it, as the tree skiing is abundant and fantastic.

As soon as we got here we made our way straight over to the Casablanca Glades and lapped that area. We also hit Muleskinner which was the run of the day. It's such a unique trail, that has the feel of Rumble at Sugarbush but I thought was even a little more challenging....





I'll add that it's a big pain in the butt to get over to Muleskinner. There is quite a bit of uphill skating to get there and even some uphill skating to the Casablanca Glades beforehand.

In any event we skied a few more glades off the main express lift then headed back to Sugarloaf to meet up with some family. We left feeling that Saddleback had some outanding terrain pods. It also didn't hurt that they got 6 inches of snow overnight!

 

[Tonyr]

After 3 hours of skiing we made our way back to Sugarloaf to ski another two hours. My son was with me today so I took him straight over to Bracket Basin and we ducked in off Ripsaw. It was definitely better in there today versus yesterday but not by much. The snow was still very thin in some areas but fantastic in others...





From there we met up with family at the base and did a number of frontside runs with Bubblecuffer being the highlight. Tomorrow is our last day up in Maine. It's supposed to snow a couple of inches overnight, hopefully it does...

 

[Tonyr]

Our last day at Sugarloaf was yesterday, we skied from 8.30 until 12.30. It snowed about 2 inches the first 2 hours or so then it turned to sleet. Our first run again was straight over to Bracket Basin. Out of the 3 days we jumped in there, today's conditions were the worst. While there were still pockets of untouched snow, tree branches and rocks stuck out all over the place, it was definitely not worth going in there on Sunday.




From there we made our way back down to the base to meet up with some family and skied a number of intermediate runs as well as Misery Whip, Ripsaw, and a glade run called Braiding Ax a couple of times which was the highlight of the day.





All in all it was a great day of skiing and a great experience coming up to Maine. I'll add that the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel at the base is really nice and reasonably priced compared to the ski on ski off options at Stowe, Sugarbush, or Killington. Plus breakfast each morning is included during your stay.

If Maine was scheduled to get a monster storm one weekend and we could catch a reasonable short notice flight up, I'd definitely consider coming back. I hope you enjoyed the report!