Welcome to the Mainely Skiing Weekly Email! This email will be sent straight to your inbox at the end of every week to highlight what’s happening with your Maine ski resort!
Mountain Report:
| Mountain Name | Trails Open | Percent Open |
|---|---|---|
| Saddleback | 32 / 68 | 47% |
| Sugarloaf | 149 / 176 | 85% |
| Sunday River | 100 / 139 | 72% |
| Pleasant Mountain | 27 / 47 | 57% |
Trail of the Day: Silver Doctor (Saddleback)
Upcoming Events:
Make sure to add these events to your calendar to keep yourself up to date with the local happenings. Of course, you can always visit our events page, which is constantly getting updated so you can know about the event before anyone else! Click here
| Event Name: | Start Date: | End Date: | Occurrence: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bust ‘N’ Burn @ Sunday River | March 29 | March 31 | Three Days |
| Annual Cardboard Box Race @ Saddleback | March 30 | March 30 | One Day |
| Spring Fling @ Pleasant Mountain | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Easter Egg Hunt @ Saddleback | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Easter Egg Hunt @ Pleasant Mountain | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Sugarloaf Easter Service | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Sunday Rriver Easter Service | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Easter Egg Hunt @ Sunday River | March 31 | March 31 | One Day |
| Spring Bash Weekend @ Saddleback | April 5 | April 7 | Three Days |
| Spring Fest Weekend @ Sunday River | April 5 | April 7 | Three Days |
| Sugarloaf Reggae Fest | April 11 | April 14 | Four Days |
| Pond-A-Palooza @ Sunday River | April 13 | April 13 | One Day |
| Sunday River Season Pass Holder Appreciation Lunch | April 14 | April 14 | One Day |
| ’24 East Coast Pond Skimming Championship @ Sugarloaf | April 20 | April 20 | One Day |
| The Great Tailgate @ Sunday River | April 20 | April 20 | One Day |
| Sugarloaf Season Pass Holder BBQ | April 27 | April 27 | One Day |
We’re on TikTok:
Better late than never, Mainely Skiing is now on TikTok! Drop us a follow by clicking the link below! Special shout out to TikTok user Ceci for being the first person to like our first post!
Annual Cardboard Box Race at Saddleback:
The annual cardboard box race is happening on Saturday, March 30. The event is free to participate, but racers will need to register and sign a waiver. Race “vehicles” must only be made from duct tape, cardboard, paint, and decorations. Prizes for the most creative on-theme box. This year’s theme is “Out of This World” Learn more below
Easter Egg Hunts:
Saddleback, Sunday River, and Pleasant Mountain will host Easter Egg Hunts on Sunday, March 31. Click the link to your mountain below to learn more about each event.
Saddleback – saddlebackmaine.com
Sunday River – sundayriver.com
Pleasant Mountain – pleasantmountain.com
Spring Fling at Pleasant Mountain:
In what has become a veritable tradition at Pleasant Mountain, the Annual Spring Fling is Sunday, March 31. The Slush Cup, which is their pond skim, starts at 1:30 pm. Register (for free) in Guest Services starting at 8:30 am. Learn more below.
Spring Fest Weekend:
Celebrating Spring at Sunday River from Friday, April 5 to Sunday, April 7 complete with huge parties, music, and great spring skiing and riding. Come be a part of one of the biggest skiing parties in the White Cap area. Learn more and see the full event schedule by clicking the link below.
Bust ‘N’ Burn:
Prepare to witness history reborn on March 29 – 31. After a decade’s wait, Bust ‘N’ Burn triumphantly returns to Sunday River, reigniting the heart-pounding legacy of the freestyle competition. Hosted by Donny Friggin Pelletier, you won’t want to miss this event. Learn more below:
Going Up Is Getting Faster:
This week, Pleasant Mountain announced The Summit Express. After 86 years, the mountain will finally add a high-speed, detachable quad to their lift lineup. The lift, which is a Doppelmayr refurbished High-Speed Quad, will take skiers and riders up to the top in under 5 minutes. The lift came from Sunday River’s Jordan Express lift and will be installed this summer.
Read all the stats about this exciting lift on their website.
Spring Bash at Saddleback:
Spring Bash is a blast from the past taking place from Friday, 4/5, through Sunday, 4/7. Enjoy live music, make a splash at the pond skim, slide the steel in the Rewind & Grind Rail Jam, and make some seriously fun spring turns. See the event schedule below.
Event Schedule:
- Friday, April 5 – Spring Bash Weekend kick-off with the Mallett Brothers Band 5-8 p.m.
- Saturday, April 6 – Rewind and Grind Rail Jam with GoonJam riders and Eastern Halfpipe Jam powered by PistenBully. DJ Eric AudiblEvents on deck 1-6 p.m.
- Sunday, April 7 – Pond Skim at 12 p.m. and DJ Eric with AudiblEvents on deck 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Reggae Fest at Sugarloaf:
Join Sugarloaf for the 36th Annual Sugarloaf Reggae Festival, presented by Baxter Outdoors, on April 11-14, 2024. Prepare yourself for four days of music and non-stop parties at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain with two amazing headliners: John Brown’s Body and Long Beach Dub All Stars. The biggest party on the East Coast consists of two nights of music in the King Pine room, two days of outside entertainment on The Beach, three nights of music in The Widowmaker, reggae DJs at Bullwinkle’s, and more. Learn more and register below.
3rd Annual Hill Climb:
The 3rd. Annual Hill Climb at Saddleback has recently opened for registration, so be as quick as a ski bunny and register! The Hill Climb is on Friday & Saturday, April 19-20, 2024. This event grows every year and brings in smiling faces from all over New England. It is definitely something you do not want to miss! Learn more below!
NEW Featured Events Page:
Check out the latest page on the website: Featured Events. This is a page where we share the big events happening at Maine ski areas that you don’t want to miss! Check it out below:
mainelyskiing.com/featured-events
A More Comfortable Ride:
BigRock Mountain in Mars Hill will be installing a brand new Doppelmayr Quad this summer. The new lift, which will have the same name as the double that currently sits in its place, will be called Gemini. BigRock started fundraising for the project back in 2021 but has secured enough for the payment to Doppelmayr. The surveying took place last summer, and construction is expected to start in the spring.
Read more on this project and donate to help BigRock make the Northern Maine ski experience even better on their website below.
Sunday River Pond-A-Pooloza:
The Pond-A-Pooloza is happening once again this year on Saturday, April 13. Registration is free, but to secure a spot, head to the Welcome Center at South Ridge Lodge between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. to sign the dotted line and get your bib number. Costumes weigh heavy on your score, so come suited up in anything but a wet suit (unless you’re a wimp)! Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 overall scores, plus best costume and biggest splash! Learn more below.
Season Pass Sale:
Many resorts have already made their 2024-25 season passes available for purchase. If you want the best deal with the best perks, you need to purchase now. Plus, look to see if purchasing a pass means you can ski the rest of this season with it! For all the pass info and pricing, click the link below.
Total Solar Eclipse:
The Total Solar Eclipse will come through Maine on Monday, April 8th, 2024. It looks like BigRock Mountain and Big Moose Mountain will be right in the middle of the path. Saddleback and Sugarloaf will get some time in the darkness as well. Check out these events coming from the ski mountains.
- Saddleback Lights Out Party: Total Solar Eclipse – saddlebackmaine.com
- Sugarloaf Skiclipse – sugarloaf.com
- Sunday River Solar Eclipse Viewing Party – sundayriver.com
- Pleasant Mountain – pleasantmountain.com
- Big Moose – skibigmoose.com
mainelyskiing.com/total-solar-eclipse
East Coast Pond Skimming Championship:
Do you have what it takes to be the best in the East? Head over to Sugarloaf on Saturday, April 20, for their annual pond skimming championship. Learn more about this event by visiting their website below.
Skier Services:
Check out the Skier Services page on our website. This page is filled to the brim with things skiers will find helpful. With pages like a resort status page, mountain guides to Saddleback, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Pleasant Mountain, Black Mountain of Maine, and Lost Valley (With more to come, stay tuned), and more. Find it all on the Skier Services page from the website or by clicking the link below.
Saddleback Lift Operations Shift:
This past week, Saddleback switched to their spring operating schedule. This change will shift all on-mountain services back one hour. For lifts and trails, see below
Midweek (Mon-Fri): 10:00-5:00
Weekend (Sat-Sun): 9:30-5:00
Sugarloaf Marathon Registration Open:
The Sugarloaf Marathon and 15K registration is now open. Thankfully, you have time to prepare for the race, as the deadline to sign up is April 15. For more information on the races, click the link below.
Mainely Skiing Gear Guide:
It’s been a long time in the making, but I’m extremely excited to share our gear guide page with you. Complete with beginner, intermediate, and expert pages filled with the appropriate gear for each level. Check it out by clicking the link below.
Saddleback Webcams:
Have you visited the Saddleback Webcams? With three cameras scattered across the mountain, you’re guaranteed to get the best sunset. You could go back in time if you missed the best part. Click the link below to see last night’s sunset!
Last Chair:
21… That’s how many inches of snow we got from the last storm on Friday to Saturday. That made for some extremely special laps almost everywhere on the mountain. Sadly, though, mostly all week, we saw rain, rain, and more rain. While this didn’t necessarily hurt the mountains, it didn’t help.
Weather:
After the rain, we just need a break filled with good weather. Thankfully, this weekend is looking prime for that. We’re also keeping a watchful eye on the storm moving in next week for a potential snow day! Due to the strong winds predicted for Saturday, keep tabs on the current lift status, by clicking the link below.
Ok, Mother Nature… Enough rain!
– Keegan
