Time for our second day of skiing saddleback! An interesting thing about skiing versus hiking that skiing has a firm start time (I’m not into skinning… yet), so Gen and I were both up at 6, but really couldn’t leave until 7. There was a fresh coat of about an inch of snow on the road which made for an interesting drive. The really pretty part on Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway was… terrifying. Lots of slush on a winding mountain road. Thankfully we were editing Gen’s mom’s cover letter which kept my mind occupied while I was white-knuckling. We got breakfast at Classic Provision in town just after 8am, made it to the mountain around 9, and were skiing by 10!
Daily Report
Monday, February 19 @ 7:49am
I woke up to the sound of the plow truck out sanding the roads - you know what that means! It snowed again overnight. We picked up another 2" of fresh snow. Now my creative brain doesn't like to do math, but that adds up to 5" in the last couple of days. An inch here, a few inches there - it all helps!
We're waking up to partly sunny skies and some strong WNW winds. Winds may cause some lift operations challenges this morning, so please, refresh this page for the latest updates. We will check back as we get closer to 8:30am. Temps are currently in the single digits but should climb to 11-13 degrees around the base as the day goes on.
Surfaces are a mixture of machine-groomed and hard-packed. Ski Patrol has dropped some ropes on natural trails. Even if a natural trail is open, it's best to proceed with caution if there's a layer of fresh snow, keep in mind there is a layer of hard pack below it.
I want to take a moment to thank our ski patrollers, lift mechanics, terrain park crew, and all other staff who get out, get on the hill before all of us, and work to make sure we have a fun and safe day. I think it goes without saying, but please give our staff a safe distance on the mountain. If a ski patroller is out installing rope, or a terrain park crew member is out raking a jump take-off, do not speed right by them. Slow down, and give them the space they need to do their job.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Royal Tiger
0.55 miles, 3:21, 358 feet, 15.4 mph max, 9.9 mph avg.
Run 2: Dusty Miller - Hummer - Royal Tiger
0.61 miles, 3:00, 384 feet, 19.7 mph max, 12.2 mph avg.
Run 3: Royal Tiger - Hornberg - Smelt Streamer
0.64 miles, 3:31, 377 feet, 21.4 mph max, 10.9 mph avg.
We decided to start in the beginner area again just to get our ski legs back on, apply some skills from yesterday, and get confidence up for our big challenges du jour. The first run was right down Royal Tiger, where I focused on parallel turns, guiding with my knees and outside big toe (NOT HEELS). Run 2 was down Dusty Miller to Hummer again, to apply the skills on a more secluded run. It was COLD at this point in the day. Temperatures in single digits and winds winding pretty hard. Thankfully lifts were running and the sun was shining! Run 3 was a confidence run - I had hoped to take Hornberg to Smelt Streamer, but there was a family with a sled in the way of the bridge, and I know I needed speed to get up to the mini headwall, so I turned onto Smelt Streamer to finish out the run. My goal here was to get comfortable picking up speed to avoid the skating on Hudson Highway.
Run 4 & 4.5: Hudson Highway - Wheeler Slope - Royal Tiger
2.30 miles, 11:22, 1,575 feet, 27.6 mph max, 12.2 mph avg.
My redemption run! We took the Rangeley Quad up and I was going to conquer the headwall on the Hudson Highway. The wind continued to howl but thankfully the lift moves quickly. We skating across the flat summit area and started the descent. I was really grateful for our practicing yesterday, because I truly think I forgot how to move slowly. I zig-zagged across the trail to keep a slower speed, paused before the headwall, and started the descent! I stayed in control and took my time. All was going great! Just as I was about to finish I saw a yellow sign that caused every neuropathway in my brain to break down and I fell right on my bum, making a hysterical print in the snow. The sign said “thin cover.” I collected what was left of my pride and had a lovely, quick descent. I wanted to go faster, but a dad in a one-piece fire-themed ski suit and his kid were taking up the trail most the way. I had to skate for maybe 20-30 feet this time, which is MUCH better than last time. I was ahead of Gen, and after waiting for a couple minutes I decided to go to the lodge area to adjust my boots (apparently two buckles popped off when I feel and I never noticed). She still never appeared! I eventually saw a missed call from her, but when I called back I didn’t get an answer. I looked around for her at the lodge, uphill, and at the line for the lift, but nothing. She mentioned going all the way down to the South Branch Quad, so I assumed she went down there when she didn’t see me. I went down Royal Tiger again, and near the bottom got a call from Gen who just finished Hudson Highway - oops! She got confused at the T-Bar loading area and wasn’t sure where to go. Thankfully we both survived! She met me at the bottom and we rode the lift back up.
Run 5: Hudson Highway - Wheeler Slope
1.90 miles, 9:18, 1,280 feet, 28.5 mph max, 12.2 mph avg.
Time for my actual redemption this time! We took the Rangeley Quad up, skated over to the Hudson Highway, started the descent in a cool, controlled manner, paused at the top of the headwall, and made my way down CALM COOL AND COLLECTED. A challenging part about here was the snow was just deeper and more dense. Plus, the whipping wind. I paused at the junction with The Pass, took a deep breath, and finished it out. I made it to the yellow sign, shot right through it, and made it down! I was very proud of myself, almost to an embarrassing extent. I kept up my speed and was back a little faster - yay!
Run 6: Hudson Highway - The Pass - Green Weaver
0.61 miles, 7:46, 653 feet, 15.8 mph max, 4.7 mph avg.
This one included a soft-break. Gen and I decided to head up but take a break at The Nest, but when we got there we realized they were closed. Thankfully, the doors were open and it was essentially a really scenic warming hut - with a bathroom (which was insanely pink). Our goal was to take the Hudson Highway to The Pass, which would bring us to the Kennebago Quad. After not eating lunch, we continued onto the area we knew well. I did a good job with the headwall again - yay! Instead of continuing down Hudson Highway, we turned onto The Pass, scotched across the top of the T-Bar, and paused at the Grey Ghost Crossing. There was a trail slightly uphill across the way and one further downhill. Gen and I couldn’t agree on which was correct, so I asked a few people around us, and no one knew. I eventually checked the map on my phone, and was pretty confident we had to take the slightly uphill one, which was a bummer (thank god I was right, the one downhill was a black run - “Golden Smelt” - that would have been a bummer). We made sure the coast was clear, scotched across the Grey Ghost, and then side-stepped up about 10 feet to continue on The Pass, which was also a bummer, but less of a bummer than an accidental black. The Royal Coachman was our last big crossing, and then the rest of the run was easy. There was a small headwall right before the Kennebago Quad loading area on the Upper Green Weaver, but it truly was fine. The lifties were playing some EDM and dancing, which was just fun to see. Not many people around here.
Run 7: America - Hudson Highway - Wheeler Slope
2.40 miles, 11:40, 1,693 feet, 28.7 mph max, 12.3 mph avg.
We were about to conquer our main goal for the day - going to the top! It was equally beautiful and terrifying heading up this high on the lift. The trees were in full marshmallow mode, and soon enough we were up top! We took a bunch of photos but had to keep it moving - it was cold! Our plan was to take America down, which is listed as blue trail on the map but as green from the summit sign. It rode similar to Hudson Highway, but 100x more beautiful with a few steeper sections. This trail was so stunning I kept pausing to take photos - if it weren’t for the insane wind, I could have spent all day up there. There was a steeper section towards the junction with Hudson Highway, and then it was all familiar territory from there. Since we didn’t get to have lunch a The Nest, we decided to take Hudson Highway back to the lodge. I got a new PR on that trail - 5 minutes and 15 seconds! Much faster than my first time two days ago of 16 minutes and 7 seconds! We had a great lunch at The Pub, which was huge and had a great old ski map of the mountain. The poutine wasn’t really poutine, but it was delicious! Afterwards, we ran down to the retail shop to get some souvenirs, and Gen decided she was going to hang back while I got a few more runs in “two more skip the last.”
Run 8: Hudson Highway - Sneaky Pete - The Pass - Green Weaver
0.75 miles, 4:50, 636 feet, 15.3 mph max, 9.2 mph avg.
Riding solo! I guess my “two runs skip the last” was actually “three runs skip the last” because I wasn’t mentally considering taking The Pass to the Kennebago Quad a run (it counts!). I made friends with someone else who was riding solo and was aggressively trying to convince me to ski with her down some of the blues in the area, but I was hellbent on sticking to my plan. We parted ways, and I made my way down to the Kennebago Quad, but this time I took Sneaky Pete to avoid the side-stepping when crossing Royal Coachman - good choice! I got stuck behind a couple trying Telemark Skiing on The Pass, but it was fine. I scooted down the headwall, enjoyed the EDM and dancing lifties again, and was on my way back up to the top for my final run of the day!
Run 9: America - Hudson Highway - Sneaky Pete - The Pass - Lower Tight Line - Lower Green Hornet - Dusty Miller
2.65 miles, 12:03, 2,037 feet, 28.1 mph max, 13.2 mph avg.
Here we go! Riding solo. American down was just as beautiful, even if I had to share it with a couple of other skiers/snowboarders. I took Hudson Highway to Sneaky Pete to The Pass all the way over to the Upper Green Weaver junction. Unfortunately, to continue on The Pass, I had to side-step up again, but I officially completed the The Pass! I checked my map, and thankfully the only way down from here was where I wanted to be - the Lower Tightline - which was a nice, shaded trail. The ground was pretty frozen, but not sheet ice, and seemed seldom traveled, which I was a fan of. It was definitely the next step up after Hudson Highway/America, but nothing out of my comfort zone. I then took Lower Green Hornet to Dusty Miller, officially completing my top-to-bottom run at the South Branch Quad! I was really, REALLY proud of myself for accomplishing so much - this was my first time making it all the way down a mountain (unfortunately, I am not counting Nashoba, and I didn’t take a summit T-Bar from Tecumseh), and I did it by myself! Only bummer was that I had to take the glacially slow South Branch Quad back up with two kids, which was a solid 8-minute ride. Afterwards, I met back up with Gen, we got weird dinner materials at the IGA in Rangeley, and had our hour-long drive back to the hotel. In a short reflection, I really love Saddleback. The people are just lovely, the mountain is well laid out, and I just felt GOOD. We will definitely be back next year! We have one more half day left of vacation, which we will spend at Black Mountain of Maine again. We have a few recommend ways to get down from the summit, and then we should be on our way back to Boston/Quincy.
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