January 7, 2011
New England's Best Tree Skiing
Great glades make for the region's roughest rides
by Tony Chamberlain/
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the January 2011 issue of New England Ski Journal
A few years ago, a public relations friend from one of New England’s large mountains apologized at the end of a run, saying: “Sorry about this run. It was kind of boring.”
We had had a fast morning run under a bluebird sky over corduroy snow that encouraged the kind of ego cruise that feels so fine sometimes, and the quest for linking together a few perfect, deeply carved turns. For this, my friend was apologizing?
“Well,” he further explained, “it’s all kind of the same on this trail. Doesn’t have much character. Let’s go up to …”
So in the next instant, I found myself in the deep woods, so to speak, popping through chunky-monkey snow, ruts and moguls, picking my way around trees. At the end of that run, I was considerably more worn down — thighs burning — than I was in that first run.
And my friend was right. This run had lots more character in it, with steep transitions, then cranky turns that you had to bank off tree bases, focusing every nanosecond of the run. When it was over, I realized that the ego cruising of the first run was basically a descent on cruise control. No thought. No plan. Just go.
Well, there’s room for all kinds of skiing and riding. But here in New England, we’ve gone from steep, narrow and ungroomed skiing of the first generation to those white, paved parking lots of the learn-to-ski-in-a-day era. And then back again.
Here, we are searching out the challenges our forebears faced with their early skiing. Easy is boring: Bring on the rough stuff.
Saddleback
Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find Eric Wilbur’s piece on Saddleback (, the newly awakened giant in the western Maine Mountains known as the Rangeley Region. This is still a little hard to reach — plan on four-plus hours from Boston, and Route 4 out of Farmington can get a bit snow-packed. But once in the quaint town on the edge of some massive lakes, you’ll reap the rewards. Seven miles out of town is the summit of Saddleback, a full 2,000-foot vertical drop with some of the gnarliest terrain in New England.
I interrupt here to add that if you’re traveling with a group that includes skiers who are either reluctant or under-skilled for tough glades, Saddleback is a wonderful cruising area with plenty of the ego runs as described above. From here, we’ll defer to Wilbur’s recounting of the tree skiing off Saddleback’s Kennebego Quad.
Sugarloaf
Once considered a kissing cousin, while Saddleback fought various conservation forces trying to curtail its possible growth, Sugarloaf grew into one of the major destination areas in the Northeast, one some argue with the finest natural terrain.
Last season with the tremendous snow dumps in late February, Sugarloaf had more terrain open than it had in the past decade. And that includes the fabled Snowfields, promoted as the only lift-serviced, above-treeline skiing in New England. Advertising copy aside, the Snowfields begin with a cruise through sparse spruce, then a plunge into the heart of Maine’s deep forest, thinned just enough to keep the pace on.
Technically speaking, a glade is an area where the trees have been thinned but not cleared altogether as they are for a trail or slope. Due to open this season — perhaps this month — is the first phase of a glade that will change the shape of Sugarloaf skiing and establish itself as the largest glade skiing in the East. Phase 1 of Burnt Mountain, Brackett Basin, will be 270 acres of “side country” terrain with another 270 to come. In all, by the time Phase 3 is finished, this glade area will be 655 acres of thinned, lift- and patrol-serviced woods terrain. We’ll be sure to share first impressions.
Despite its remoteness, Sugarloaf is a full-service ski resort build around a village with plenty of lodging, shopping and very fine restaurants. There is a nightclub for teens and nightspots for adults, as well.
Sunday River
Another cousin in the Bethel area is Sunday River, which again has all the offerings of a fine destination resort. It may have less than either of the other Maine areas, but Sunday River nevertheless has a few fine offerings, especially over at Jordan Bowl, the last area of the eight-peak mountain chain to be developed.
A friend of mine, Susan Duplessis, a terrific skier who migrated from Vermont to Sunday River, describes a run called Wizard’s Gulch on Jordan Bowl.
“It’s tight enough in spots to provide some little heart-pounding turns, but spaced well enough to get some real rhythm when you pick a good line. About three-quarters of the way through the trail, you cross iCaramba under the lift, jump back and finish the last of Wizard’s — a sometimes gnarly little stretch depending on snow conditions.”
Wildcat and Bretton Woods
Although New Hampshire does not have an overabundance of glade and tree skiing, there are some pockets. One of the prettiest is found on Wildcat, whose alpine scenery rates with the best in the world. Wildcat seems out of another era of skiing, with something very pure about it. Old-style trail cuts and honestly steep terrain with those views of Mount Washington just never stop astonishing.
We’ll see where new management takes it, but the area has always prided itself on the no-frills approach and that means fairly sparse lift-lines in this day and age. The descent through generously spaced trees is pure pleasure, especially when one of those huge Atlantic dumps has roared out of the Gulf of Maine and left a foot of fresh powder.
Bretton Woods could be rated as one of the best places in ski country to learn glade skiing and riding. The area has its own graduated learning system, because some of the glades are short pops that cut off the hairpin of a trail. Others are longer, but generously spaced — Phase 2.
Then there are more recently cut glades that, while not long runs, take you into steep slopes with thicker trees which jam the turns at you as fast as you can make them. This is Phase 3. You can combine some runs, starting at the top with an open-bowl approach, then plunging into the trees for several hundred yards, and exiting below above the lifts in the open.
Bretton Woods, with the soaring Mount Washington Hotel in the midst of the resort, is a fine destination trip and offers skiing for all levels. Its niche has always been about easier, low-stress challenges that are perfect for the developing skier and rider. This area, too, has beautiful scenery as it looks at the opposite side of Washington from Wildcat.
Smugglers’ Notch
OK. This is what I’m talking about. Smuggs is a true Vermont classic and is very heavy on the glade skiing. You have 22 to choose from, and they range throughout the ability level, though it’s good to have a little experience under your belt before making the trek to Smuggs’ trees. And the glades — all 750 acres of them — really do get steep and deep, with some carrying down long vertical drops on this 2,600-foot peak.
Smuggs is in a well-known snow belt in the state. So often during a stay there, you get up to a fresh-pow morning and join the race to the regrettably slow lift. But the wait is worth the reward of snow-laden tree limbs creating an arching canopy of fresh snow.
And if not everyone loves being off the beaten track, Smuggs picks up on the open-run side as well, with steep, challenging open slopes to long, gentle blue-and-green runs. There is something — lots of it — for every one. This is a perfect ski resort for all levels and tastes, and the accommodations in every phase earn it perennial Good Housekeeping family awards.
Jay Peak
For back-country loves everywhere looking for an experience that’s just a little different, Jay Peak has something for all palates, but especially for the back-country bushwhackers and tree runners. It may be a little off the beaten track in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, but for starters, Jay leads New England in annual natural snowfall (355 inches). And that means the glades are almost always open, and even in the scratchiest times and shoulder seasons, some tree skiing is available here.
Jay always resonates with a continental flare, emanating from the French culture in nearby Montreal that seems so present. But the mountain has carefully groomed the glade areas to offer a range of open-and-easy trees to tight-and-tough, and of course any combination thereof. This area has the chutes and stashes — always some pow to be found somewhere in this vast expanse.
And when you need a break from the trees, come up for air and find that Jay has several long, sweeping cruisers with nicely groomed powder. There’s much new at Jay — a remake of the Tram Haus Lodge hotel and the newly minted Alice’s Table restaurant at the 4,000-foot summit.
If you stay long on a short night up here, you’ll see the lights of Montreal in the northwestern sky.
