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James

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Cochran's and Bolton are both functional ski areas and thus ineligible.
A) No one goes to them.
B) Bolton was closed for years, therefore it should be eligible.
C) We don't need more than an hour at Cochran's.
 

Tony S

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We don't need more than an hour at Cochran's.

Yeah, the first time I went there I was pretty surprised at how little there was to it. The next time I went as a newbie tele skier and experienced much more challenge. ;)
 

KevinF

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I'd be very surprised if you could get there that quickly.

@Erik Timmerman , didn't you and your daughter take the Google Maps time between Stowe and Sugarloaf as some kind of personal challenge last winter? How long was that?

We can do the Balsams in between. I think one of Ascutney's lifts is there now. Or at least, was there.

Again according to Google Maps, adding the Balsams doesn't really add much time to the Ascutney / Saddleback drive... assuming your car survives the potholes.
 

Erik Timmerman

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@Erik Timmerman , didn't you and your daughter take the Google Maps time between Stowe and Sugarloaf as some kind of personal challenge last winter? How long was that?



Again according to Google Maps, adding the Balsams doesn't really add much time to the Ascutney / Saddleback drive... assuming your car survives the potholes.

I think it took about 4 hours. Four hours of pot hole slalom.
 

James

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I think it took about 4 hours. Four hours of pot hole slalom.
Plus the frost heaves everywhere. They basically destroyed the NH state symbol, the Old Man in the Mountain.

Driving across NH is entering the Twilight Zone, then you hit the Gloaming of Maine.
 

ScottB

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I have driven up to Bolton Valley a couple of times and it looks like a decent place. I wouldn't hold a "gathering" there (unless we were doing AT skiing) but I seems similar in size to Burke Mtn. I want to go there for a weekend with my Xcountry and AT gear and sample some of the back woods terrain. The Alpine looks like it might be fun with good snow as well. The price is right for sure. The drive up the access rode was very steep and it doesn't seem to be very popular, but it has a nice vibe to it. Seems like it has a dedicated crowd of mostly locals and doesn't draw the general public crowds of the major mtn's in the area. Kind of one step lower on the rung from Mad River. Nowhere near as challenging, but draws a different crowd.
 

MarkP

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Jim Kenney

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Portand Press Herald 11/7/19

BUSINESS

Posted 5:09 PM

Updated 1 min ago

Agreement reached on sale of Saddleback

After years of uncertainty, the shuttered ski resort is expected to reopen under the ownership of a Boston investment fund.

BY STAFF REPORT

After five years of closure, Saddleback Mountain ski resort is expected to reopen under the ownership of a Boston investment fund.

The Berry family, which has owned the mountain since 2003, released a statement Thursday evening saying they have reached an agreement with Arctaris Impact Fund on the sale of the property. The two parties have been in bumpy negotiations since 2018, when the investment fund announced interest in buying Saddleback. As Maine’s third largest ski resort, Saddleback had been Rangeley’s largest employer and significant tourist destination when it was operating.


Arctaris focuses its investments in underserved communities, such as inner cities and rural areas where economic development and job creation are lacking.

The announcement did not indicate the sale price of the property, or when the ski resort might reopen.

saddleback.jpg
 
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ScottB

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Nice, glad to hear it. I hope it comes back even better than before (like the 6 million dollar man- ?mtn?)
 

Wendy

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This is good news. I have good memories of skiing there, several times, and would like to return!
 

Tony S

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2021 New England Gathering?

We'll have to see how they make out with brush cutting and lifts over the summer. But yeah.
 

Muleski

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Fingers crossed. There is a lot of work to be done. Some is obvious, some will like crop up as they start to tackle things and dig into it.
I’m not expecting anything exceptional at first. The mountain itself delivers that. It will be great to see the trails brush hogged, lifts spinning, etc....whenever that may be.
Good news!
 
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MarkP

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As a non New Englander, getting that 3rd S resort back will make the long trek more worthwhile.
The one time I skied Maine there was time for only 2 of the resorts and group-think skipped over Saddleback.

upload_2019-11-7_21-11-10.png
 

RJS

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This is happy news! If/when the lifts start spinning again at Saddleback, probably not this season, I am going to make it a point to check it out. Looking at the trail map it looks like there is some pretty neat terrain. Not that this would generate revenue for the resort, but I am also interested in hiking the exposed ridge line along the AT sometime in the summer.
 

Tony S

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This is happy news! If/when the lifts start spinning again at Saddleback, probably not this season, I am going to make it a point to check it out. Looking at the trail map it looks like there is some pretty neat terrain. Not that this would generate revenue for the resort, but I am also interested in hiking the exposed ridge line along the AT sometime in the summer.

Yeah, they're not opening this season.

Hiking the ridge is very nice and totally worth doing. It's not "special" in the way that the skiing is, though. What I mean by that is that there are other ridge walks at 4000' in the northeast that are similar. For lift served skiing, not so much.

The combination of high elevation well conserved northern snow pack, extensive curated softwood glades, and low skier traffic is pretty unique IME. Sugarloaf is comparable only if you also think that Sugarbush is comparable to Mad River, for example. (Noting along the way that the contrast, in both pairs, is what makes them attractive as Gathering spots.)

Depending on what the new owners do with the mountain, the low traffic thing may not last, so getting there during their first season may turn out to be important, if you never had the pleasure of skiing there before.
 

LiquidFeet

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A few words from https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/11/07/agreement-reached-on-sale-of-saddleback/:

More than four years after it closed, the Saddleback Mountain ski resort has been sold and is expected to reopen in 2020 under the ownership of a Boston investment company.

The Berry family, which has owned Maine’s third-largest ski area since 2003, released a statement Thursday night saying it has reached an agreement with Arctaris Impact Fund of Boston to sell the resort in Sandy River Plantation, near the town of Rangeley.


Andy Shepard, who will be Saddleback’s new general manager, said Arctaris plans to reopen for skiing sometime between Thanskgiving and Christmas of 2020.

The sale price was not disclosed, but Shepard said Arctaris is making a significant investment that will result in the replacement of the antiquated Rangeley Double chairlift with a high-speed quad chair, installation of a new T-bar, modernization of the base lodge that will include a new kitchen and bathrooms on the third floor, expanded daycare and retail space, and new equipment to increase snowmaking capacity.

“We want to become one of New England’s iconic ski resorts and we’re excited to be in the company of resorts like Sugarloaf and Sunday River,” said Shepard, who will serve as CEO of the redevelopment effort.


Shepard resigned in July from his post as chief executive officer of the Outdoor Sport Institute, which focuses on strengthening rural communities through sport and outdoor exploration.

Arctaris targets its investments on underserved communities, such as inner cities and rural areas where economic development and job creation are lacking.
 

Crank

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Guess I'll finally have to ski Muleskinner.

Didn't Saddleback have a thing where on a certain day of the season if you could ski a certain run nonstop top to bottom they would comp your lift ticket? Or is my memory both fuzzy and faulty.

Only skied there 2 days and I remember some really nice glades and good soft snow. I also remember a couple of ridiculous straight cut, wide trails from the top that were designed so that all the snow would blow off them and you could experience eastern boilerplate on what I am guessing was supposed to be a western style trail.
 

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