Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf’s chairlift known as Spillway East reopened Monday on schedule to coincide with the start of mid-winter school vacation weeks. Nearly two months ago, during the Christmas vacation period, several skiers had to be taken to the hospital when the same lift derailed, dropping eight skiers into snow 25 feet below. Since then, Sugarloaf’s lift maintenance staff, along with independent engineers, have been working on the 37-year-old lift. After extensive testing last weekend, the state’s Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety reinstated the lift’s operating license.

Maine's Sugarloaf ski resort is being recognized for its marketing efforts. The National Ski Areas Association has named Sugarloaf co-winner of this year's best overall marketing campaign. It shared the award with Wyoming's Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The award announced at the trade association's annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. Sugarloaf was recognized for its "Big Mountain, Big Love" campaign that ran through the past ski season highlighting the resort's mountain and the people who ski there.

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- One day last spring, 20,000 runners were taking off for Boston from Hopkinton in the summer-like heat. Baseball had started for the season. And we had Sugarloaf nearly to ourselves. It was like a ghost town. The Brewpub had shut its doors for the season, a notice on the reader board outside on the access road saying the place would reopen May 6. Employees were counting the days until Sunday, when the Loaf would stop running its lifts. Kayaks and bikes shared roof space on SUVs.

Despite Dan Shaughnessy's claim  today that the "Sox are the only folks having a worse winter than New England ski resorts," the truth is, skiing a riding conditions have improved dramatically over the past 10 days. Last week's snow was a bounty for the resorts leading up to the long weekend, and last night, a number of spots saw significant accumulation heading into what should be another storm tomorrow. Here are some of the reported overnight accumulations: Bolton Valley: 4-6 inches Smugglers' Notch Resort: 5-6 inches Stowe Mountain Resort: 5-7...

KINGFIELD, Maine -- Summer dawn comes early at this latitude. The sky brightens around 4:30 a.m. as the deer start darting across the highway. By 5 on weekdays, Diane Christen opens the doors and starts dishing eggs and pancakes at The Kingsfield Woodsman just north of the village. Her early clientele is a mix of retirees and men who work outdoors and drive pickup trucks. Her breakfast specials range from $2 to $3.25, and she only takes cash. But at those prices you get both breakfast and the talk of the town.

Thousands are expected at Sugarloaf Saturday to welcome home two-time snowboardcross Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott . When the Maine snowboarder won his first gold in 2006, more than 2,000 people turned out at Sugarloaf, and resort officials are expecting similar numbers. “The fact that he’s won the only two gold medals ever awarded in [snowboardcross] in Olympic history just confirms what everybody here at Sugarloaf already knew about him, that he’s one of the greatest snowboarders in the sport’s history,’’ said...

Maine's Sugarloaf ski resort is being recognized for its marketing efforts. The National Ski Areas Association has named Sugarloaf co-winner of this year's best overall marketing campaign. It shared the award with Wyoming's Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The award announced at the trade association's annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. Sugarloaf was recognized for its "Big Mountain, Big Love" campaign that ran through the past ski season highlighting the resort's mountain and the people who ski there.

The Maine medical examiner says a 41-year-old Canadian man who died on the way to the hospital after hitting a tree at the Sugarloaf ski resort succumbed to chest injuries. The medical examiner released David Morse's cause of death on Wednesday. The Nova Scotia man was skiing with his wife and two children on Jan. 12 on an easier trail when he struck the tree. He died in an ambulance en route to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. The hospital, which owns the ambulance service, launched an internal investigation after Morse's wife complained about the treatment he...

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.

American Skiing Co. said yesterday that it has agreed to sell Maine resorts Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA to a Michigan company for $77 million, passing on a competing bid from its former chief executive, Les Otten . American Skiing will sell the properties to Boyne USA , a private resort company that agreed to assume $2 million in debt and other liabilities. American Skiing has agreed to sell five resorts, including Killington, Mount Snow, and Attitash, for a combined $421 million since December.

The Maine medical examiner says a 41-year-old Canadian man who died on the way to the hospital after hitting a tree at the Sugarloaf ski resort succumbed to chest injuries. The medical examiner released David Morse's cause of death on Wednesday. The Nova Scotia man was skiing with his wife and two children on Jan. 12 on an easier trail when he struck the tree. He died in an ambulance en route to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. The hospital, which owns the ambulance service, launched an internal investigation after Morse's wife complained about the treatment he...

A 41-year-old skier has died after hitting a tree at Sugarloaf ski resort in Maine. Carrabassett Valley Police Chief Scott Nichols said David Morse, of Kingston, Nova Scotia, died shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday as an ambulance took him to a hospital after the accident. Sugarloaf officials say Morse was on an easier trail and wearing a helmet when he struck the tree at about 3:45 p.m. The trail's condition was described as packed powder with snow falling much of the day. Nichols said Morse was visiting Sugarloaf with his wife and two children.

The New Year brings new hope, and hopefully new snow around the slopes of New England. The beginning of the year is also a time to reflect on special moments. For skiers, Auld Lang Syne might sound like old Lange ski boots (had a pair, still feel the pinch in my pinky toe) but it means time gone by. If you are like me, you measure your time gone by, particularly the winter portion — which constitutes at least a third of the year, in ski memories. It's fun to wax nostalgic on all the areas you have skied, the skiers and riders you have met, and the slopes you have conquered.

Saturday marks one big day for one big mountain in Maine. Sugarloaf will debut the new Skyline Quad at noon, when a ribbon-cutting will precede the first riders on the $3 million Dopplemayr lift installed this summer, replacing the two old Spillway double chairs that accessed the same mid-mountain terrain at Sugarloaf. The first thing skiers and riders will notice about the new Skyline quad is the conveyor loading system, it's like a magic carpet that eases loading, therefore reducing human error and lift stops.

OK Sugarloafers, loaf no more as the resort's new ski app is going to track your every move.  If you have been bragging about bagging half a dozen Bufflecuffers before lunch, and knocking off Narrow Gauge laps, " Sugarloaf Replay " will now track those stats so you can share them with your ski buddies. Sugarloaf's new downloadable app is free, for iPhone and Droid, allowing you to track your day and season on the mountain, clock your runs and vertical, your average and top speed for your own fun and challenge, and to share with friends at AlpineReplay.com and on...

Sugarloaf will open for skiing and riding today at noon. Skiers and riders will have three miles of skiing on Pinch, Upper Tote Road, and Lower Tote Road serviced by the SuperQuad chairlift for 1,750 vertical feet of manmade snow. Tickets will be $29 for the limited terrain which is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only due to the early season conditions.  This is a feather in Sugarloaf's ski cap given warm weather patterns, and demonstrates the advancements in snowmaking in recent years with parent company Boyne's investment.

A 41-year-old skier has died after hitting a tree at Sugarloaf ski resort in Maine. Carrabassett Valley Police Chief Scott Nichols said David Morse, of Kingston, Nova Scotia, died shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday as an ambulance took him to a hospital after the accident. Sugarloaf officials say Morse was on an easier trail and wearing a helmet when he struck the tree at about 3:45 p.m. The trail's condition was described as packed powder with snow falling much of the day. Nichols said Morse was visiting Sugarloaf with his wife and two children.

For much of the 1980s and ’90s, war raged for the heart and soul - not to say dollar - of Maine skiing. One skirmish had the public relations departments at Sunday River and Sugarloaf accusing each other of lying about the advertised distance to the respective areas. They accused each other of exaggerating snow reports, and did flyovers of parking lots to keep tabs on their rival’s crowd size. Sugarloaf had signs halfway up the lift telling riders sarcastically that if they were at Sunday River they’d be at the top already.

For the last five years, Sunday River in Newry, Maine, has upheld its tradition of early opening - either before or after the Halloween weekend. Some years are easier than others, given the vagaries of autumn weather in northern New England. But two weeks ago, when a classic nor'easter mixed moisture with cold air flow, the result had skiers and boarders scrambling to get snow equipment down from the rafters and onto the lifts. Nine inches fell on top of the manmade snowcover the resort had been stockpiling, and the result was a taste of midwinter.

Sugarloaf’s chairlift known as Spillway East reopened Monday on schedule to coincide with the start of mid-winter school vacation weeks. Nearly two months ago, during the Christmas vacation period, several skiers had to be taken to the hospital when the same lift derailed, dropping eight skiers into snow 25 feet below. Since then, Sugarloaf’s lift maintenance staff, along with independent engineers, have been working on the 37-year-old lift. After extensive testing last weekend, the state’s Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety reinstated the lift’s...