Sunday River’s Jordan Bowl might be a far-flung commute from the South Ridge Lodge, but the trip to the Newry, Maine, resort’s western peak affords playful, wide, modern cruising terrain highlighted by regal Excalibur, an unrivaled intermediate run to ski in a rascally mood. Start by pulling your ski pole out of the snow’s lackluster grip. Look upon the mountainous Maine kingdom before you and fly away fast.
When there’s bountiful snow, that means hauling it to Vermont’s Jay Peak.
Though duct-taped diehards are hooting and hollering in secret stashes and tight clusters like Stateside’s Timbuktu and Tramside’s Beaver Pond Glades, I’ll build some confidence first in intermediary Kokomo’s twists and turns before venturing to more challenging pitches such as Everglade and Valhalla.
When it’s time to switch on cruise control to carve those long, arcing turns, I set sail for Okemo in Ludlow, Vt. Though many of the Okemo Peak trails seem similar, I become a blissful automaton doing laps riding the South Face Express Quad to a collection of groomed boulevards - Dream Weaver, Off the Rim, Rimrock, Stump Jumper, and Blind Faith - that increase in difficulty but can be done readily by seasoned snow riders.
I don’t do bumps much. When I do, I like to have some nice bail-out room. The 23-percent pitch on Loon Mountain’s Lower Flume at North Peak in Lincoln, N.H., plunges straight down the fall line under the quad and has decent snowmaking. With a nice groomed swath on the side, it’s a place to become a bumpmeister gradually, knowing that exhilarating Upper and Lower Walking Boss are next door.
But there are days to push oneself close to the edge - but not over it.
