Its been a really tough week for the ski industry in Maine with a wicked rainstorm that blew through Monday forcing the closure of many resorts. While morale may be low, just want to give a bit of praise to Saddleback Mountain for dubbing the weather event “The Grinch Storm.” It totally sucks to have rain steal the joy of skiers and snowboarders across the state during the holiday season but having a quality nickname for the storm takes the sting out of it ever so slightly and I for one appreciate the creativity. Here’s the latest dispatch from Saddleback:
Thursday, December 21 @ 12:05 pm
The sun is out, the Grinch storm is behind us, and we’re getting prepped for a great weekend! Our snowmaking crew has fired up and we’re back to blowing massive white clouds. We’re currently making snow on Green Weaver, T-Bar Line, Wheeler, and the lower mountain. Snowmaking will shift to Upper Hudson Highway and Blue Devil before the weekend. Road repairs are underway and crews are making solid progress. We plan to open the Pub, rental & retail shops on Friday, December 22, 2023. We plan to reopen for skiing, riding, and all other skier services on Saturday, December 23, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. with the South Branch, Rangeley, and Kennebago Quads. For your safety and the safety of our mountain operations team, Uphill travel is NOT permitted at this time.
There’s no sugarcoating it, we lost some natural snow, but it could’ve been worse. We kicked off the season with a bang and nearly 50” of natural snowfall, but Mother Nature likes to remind us she’s in control from time to time. Thanks to our snowmaking crews and mountain operations, our man-made trails are faring well regardless. We’ll be skiing and riding on groomed terrain only this weekend and you can bet it’s going to be fun. A day spent on snow is better than one not. Am I right?
Something we can all look forward to the highly anticipated opening of our mid-mountain restaurant, The Nest. Join us for the soft opening of this beautiful dining destination, perched at 3,620 feet, this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Happy Winter Solstice! See you this weekend.
Molly
