On Maine’s Slopes, Plenty of Elbow Room

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 13 Januari 2013 | 17.35

Michael Appleton for The New York Times

Skiing in style on Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. More Photos »

IT was the quiet that was alarming, a stillness that almost bred unease. The ride up the lift had been an exercise in solitude, and now, skiing my way down the mountain, I came to a stop, enveloped by noiselessness.

Had I wandered off the designated trail? Was I out of bounds? Where then to turn next?

My friends who ski exclusively in the Western mountains of North America like to regale me with stories of off-piste backcountry experiences during which they lose track of time and place. The accounts always end with a boast that there is nowhere in the Eastern part of the continent where such isolation and serenity can be found.

And yet here I was. Not, in fact, out of bounds or lost, just alone on a distant patch of Sugarloaf Mountain in northern Maine, knee-deep in snow with a hundred choices through the trees to consider. The silence was a surprise I happily got used to. It was the subdued, inaudible calling card of Maine's vast, unspoiled winter playground. Was this a rare, once-in-a-lifetime experience? Hardly. I've been skiing in Maine for nearly four decades. It is one of the best-kept secrets in snow country.

It's hard to explain why Maine is not more crowded with skiers and snowboarders in the winter. The state has some of the biggest mountains and most reliable snowfall in New England. Sugarloaf is the largest ski area in the Eastern United States and has the East's only Western-style, above-the-tree-line snowfield skiing.

Another Maine resort, Sunday River, has eight interconnected peaks with eight distinct terrain parks and trail systems, creating a three-mile-long network of choices that make it the East's third largest ski area. (Killington in Vermont is second.)

And yet, except for devoted in-state residents — and some wandering Bostonians — Maine's ski areas are underpopulated and overlooked. Sugarloaf, for example, has 154 trails and draws about 350,000 skiers and snowboarders a year. Sunday River, with 132 trails, draws about 525,000. Killington, meanwhile, with 140 trails, has historically drawn around 750,000.

Part of the explanation for this is stubborn tradition. New Yorkers and those from New Jersey routinely flock to Vermont, with a few thousand peeling off to the Adirondack Mountains. Long Islanders go to the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. Those in southern New England, including a large swath of the Boston market, also head to Vermont, or to New Hampshire.

But Maine? Despite the fact that seacoast-seeking tourists turn Route 1 into a parking lot from Camden to Kennebunkport in the summer, the state is apparently deemed just too far for skiers.

And yes, it is a long haul. To Sunday River in Bethel, Me., for example, it is about six and a half hours by car from New York City, about an hour longer than it is to Stowe in Vermont (where parking lots are crowded with New York and New Jersey license plates).

As a native New Englander whose father was a Stowe regular when there was only a rope tow there, I know the territory. I've spent about four decades skiing in every New England state, in addition to the rest of North America and much of Europe. Maine is different.

The trip to get there is only part of the challenge. Maine has big mountains that offer an unapologetic test for all skill levels, mixed with a homespun simplicity and a rare sense of untarnished exploration in a landscape that is still more than 90 percent woodland. There are comfy family areas (Shawnee Peak) and rugged taxing ones (Saddleback), grand views, fast lifts and cozy old New England inns with crackling fireplaces.

Maine has 17 alpine areas and 18 Nordic ones spread across a land mass that is more than three times the size of any other New England state. And most notable, at every turn there is an intrinsic come-as-you-are vibe.

As Chris Farmer, general manager of Saddleback Mountain, a large yet hidden gem in Maine's lakes region, said: "Our trademark is that nobody will notice if your gear or your clothes are 20 years old. Who cares? It's not a fashion show up here."

LATE last winter, knowing Maine still had snow in an otherwise dismal snow year for the East, I decided to reacquaint myself with the state's winter gifts. I could not get to every one of the 17 alpine areas, but I certainly wanted to see the biggest mountains, and also to explore some of the lesser-known ones.


Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

On Maine’s Slopes, Plenty of Elbow Room

Dengan url

http://travelwisatawan.blogspot.com/2013/01/on-maineas-slopes-plenty-of-elbow-room_13.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

On Maine’s Slopes, Plenty of Elbow Room

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

On Maine’s Slopes, Plenty of Elbow Room

sebagai sumbernya

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger