February 18, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Saddleback bounces back

by Marty Basch/

Skiers cruise down America at Saddleback in Rangeley, Maine. (photo: Marty Basch)

Skiers cruise down America at Saddleback in Rangeley, Maine. (photo: Marty Basch)

There was a time diehard skiers wore T-shirts that read: Save the T-bar. For the longest time, riding up the steep Kennebago T-bar was more difficult than negotiating some of the runs it serviced. Its average pitch was some 37 percent and often changed the minds of green circle and blue square skiers who wanted to try the upper mountain of 4,120-foot Saddleback in Rangeley, Maine.

But no more. The Kennebago T-bar is history, and the new Kennebago quad now transports skiers and riders to the hoarfrost-encrusted summit with outstanding lake and mountain vistas.

"So many people were petrified by the T-bar," said mountain operations manager Jim Quimby, who grew up skiing at Saddleback. "The chair is comfortable. You can catch your breath and take a look around."

Experts certainly have their choices, such as narrow black diamond Supervisor and its next door neighbor, slightly wider Tight Line. There are a couple of new expert finger-like runs in Frostbite and Black Beauty (and the short Artula) off the cat track ridge. And of course, there is the Saddleback classic double black diamond Muleskinner with its double fall lines and tree stumps.

Low- and mid-level skiers will delight in the gentle cruiser America to Hudson Highway, a three-mile cruise designed to become a New England classic with its views of the lakes below Rangeley, Saddleback, Mooselookmeguntic and Richardson. Tri-Color is another upper-mountain joy as it descends along with the tall snowy evergreens under a clear but cold blue sky.

Saddleback has long been under the radar, especially with Sugarloaf being up the road a bit in Carrabassett Valley. There is more than 2,000 vertical feet of skiing, including 970 off the new quad. Saddleback has 64 trails and glades.

In 2003, the mountain was purchased by Mainers Bill Berry and family, who unveiled a 10-year master plan that included new lifts, terrain, new lodges and a slopeside village. This season, they hired Warren Cook as chief executive officer. Cook is a Maine luminary, a former president and co-owner of Sugarloaf.

Cook would like to see more slopeside development, an expansion of the new airy wooden base lodge, more lifts, more trails, a hotel and a proposed marina down by the town creating some "energy and critical mass" among the ski area, town and lake about 10 miles away.

But until that happens, Saddleback is still a retro area with lots of families and afternoon corduroy. Après ski isn't much at the mountain, though its Swig n' Smelt Pub offers hearty fare. But there are two reasons to make the trip along the back roads to Saddleback: There are $40 lift tickets, and it's a lot bigger than it appears.

Skiers might see Cook on his randonee skis skinning up the mountain a few days a week. His daughter, Nina Silitch, is a World Cup Randonee competitor in Europe who hooked her dad a few years ago. He competes as well and is expected to take part in the Feb. 28 Saddleback Mountain Challenge, where racers skin up Hudson Highway, go across the ridge and ski down Muleskinner.

"I love the exercise and you are able to get to places without uphill transportation," Cook said.

Though Rangeley may feel isolated, those who make the trip will find a ski area that's been around for more than 50 years and is waking up to its possibilities.

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