Opposites attract at two Maine resorts

Sugarloaf and Saddleback take different paths

November 15, 2009|Hilary Nangle, Globe Correspondent

Before the new millennium, Saddleback was Maine’s rising star, poised to become the “Vail of the East.’’ Its grandiose expansion plans challenged top-dog Sugarloaf for future bragging rights. Environmental and Appalachian Trail advocacy groups had other ideas, though. They sued to preserve the peak’s views and quietude and to shield future hikers from signs of development and commercialization. For roughly 20 years, Saddleback languished. Into the early 21st century, it remained firmly entrenched in the 1980s.

Nearby Sugarloaf, on the other hand, kept growing. Under successive ownerships, it added high-speed lifts and built ski-in/ski-out condos. It turned its narrow, curvaceous trails into wide-bodied, multi-laned superhighways. Fans call the mountain “the Loaf.’’

Sugarloaf delivers what skiers paying more than $70 for a day ticket have come to expect: slopeside condos and hotels, a base village, health clubs (including the Anti-Gravity Complex, a gym with climbing wall, trampolines, and an indoor skate park), and high-speed chairs.

Not that the Loaf is pretentious. At its core, it is pure Maine, and its cult-like status among Mainers affirms that. Nearly 60 percent of its passholders hail from the state. Sugarloaf’s compact, somewhat funky, base village is more humble than flashy. There are just enough dining, lodging, and drinking options to keep most folks happy. “You see villages all over the place at Western resorts, but to see one, all ski-in-ski-out in the East is unique,’’ says John Diller, general manager.

The only thing brash about Sugarloaf is the skiing. It delivers one of the best experiences in the East, topped off with the only above-treeline terrain. “Just look at it from ‘Oh my gosh’ corner,’’ Diller says, referring to the point on Route 27 where it looms into view. “It’s the only ski area in the East where you can see the whole thing. Top to bottom, it’s the longest continual vertical in the East, and it’s all on one mountain.’’

Indeed, few resorts can compare to Sugarloaf for size, range, and variety. Anyone who has mastered linking tours can journey to the 4,237-foot summit for views extending from Mounts Washington to Katahdin, then descend the mountain’s 2,820-foot vertical.