Sugarloaf Ski Resort Expanding To Become The Biggest In The East

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Maine's Sugarloaf ski area says a planned expansion will make it the largest ski resort east of the Rocky Mountains.

Crews will begin clearing trees next week to add 270 acres of terrain for the coming season and 655 acres in the next three years. That will give the resort a total of 1,310 acres of skiable terrain.

Killington Resort in Vermont is the biggest ski area east of the Rockies, with 752 skiable acres. A spokesman says it's known as the Beast of the East because it has the most skier visits, most lifts, most trails, most miles of trails of any resort in the region and, for now, the most skiable acreage.

The nation's biggest ski areas are Vail in Colorado and Big Sky Resort in Montana. Both are more than 5,000 acres.

Comments

[bassaiguy]

08:21 PM on 09/05/2010

I gave up alpine skiing a long time ago because of the environmental impact. My wake-up call came in the early 90s when I was traveling past a major NH ski resort at night with a bunch of friends after winter camping and ski-packing the Whites - the entire slope was lit up with glaring electric lights, the skiers were queued up like ants for the lifts and the parking lot was full cars. In northern New England, at the edge of the White Mountains you couldn't even see the stars.

The East is too crowded for this kind of "wilderness development". We don't need a more mountainside clearcuts.

[David Geschwind]

08:09 PM on 09/02/2010

I wonder where the skiers are going to come from to ski all this terrain? There are only so many people in Portland.

[smallberries]

09:52 AM on 09/02/2010

I prefer smaller, less crowded ski resorts that have less of an impact on the environment. Magic Mountain and Burke Mountain in VT, Wildcat in NH, Saddleback in ME, Alta and Sundance in UT have more of a throw-back to the 60's kind if feel. Let the masses of pampered lemmings flock to Killington, Sugarloaf, Vail, etc.

[techBob]

10:10 AM on 09/02/2010

I'm with you! Mad River Glen, Bolton Valley VT, Kirkwood CA and many many more smaller areas
have the goods and the vibe. Places where conditions and terrain matter more than valet parking
and concierge services.

[bookon]

02:38 PM on 09/02/2010

Driving up and down the road to Bolton Valley can be scary in bad weather.

[hjalmar]

01:22 AM on 09/02/2010

I went to ski camp at Sugarloaf over Xmas vacation a couple of times when I was 12-13-14, or so, and LOVED it. We had intense lessons all morning and bombed the mountain all afternoon. I remember remarkably short lift lines, but this was the early sixties. Now I go for serenity via X-country.

[bkrider9]

08:15 PM on 09/01/2010

Further destruction of Maine's forest lands. And I love skiing, but it's not worth the overdevelopment.

[defdes]

05:15 PM on 09/01/2010

It's still blue ice, I really didn't understand what skiing was until I moved out West.

[Phoebe917]

01:11 AM on 09/02/2010

my first skiing experiene was in the rockies. colorado to be exact, aspen and snowmass. (i am an east coast person, however). then we decided to try killington and stowe. BIG mistake. nothing but ice on the slopes and freezing wet cold. 20 degrees in colorado, feel like 40 degrees in the east. i froze my behind off and tore my acl on a bad fall on ice. and the boarders there are not near as polite. i *can* understand why so many vermont boarders and skiiers become so accomplished: if you can perform under those conditions, you can perform anywhere. i like me some fresh powder! :)

[eyelashviper]

01:30 PM on 09/04/2010

The advantage of learning to ski in New England is that you really conquer the toughest conditions, so skiing in the West or wherever they have powder and sunshine is a piece of cake.

[spartanmom]

04:33 PM on 09/01/2010

Keep an eye on Jay Peak