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2023 New England Gathering Discussion (March 24 - 26, Sugarloaf / Saddleback)

TheArchitect

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This makes the most sense to me.

edit - but, a thought: the Divas will be meeting up Sunday at saddleback. Not that the SkiTalkers have to overlap with the Divas, but it might be a consideration.

I forgot about that in my last post. I think meeting up with the Divas is a great idea. I've been happy to see what I perceive as more participation from Divas here on SkiTalk and I'm all for building that bond between the two sites.
 

TheArchitect

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Booked at the Spillover. I was tempted by the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel but decided to stay in-between the two.
 
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Tony S

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Some friendly and smart (previously) unknown-to-me Divas* buttonholed me during continental breakfast before the Killington gathering. Obviously they were staying at the same motel. That didn't stop me from asking them, about five minutes later, where they were staying. I think I'm the only seventh grader with an AARP card. :doh:

* @skiki and @DebbieSue
 

scott43

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Some friendly and smart (previously) unknown-to-me Divas* buttonholed me during continental breakfast before the Killington gathering. Obviously they were staying at the same motel. That didn't stop me from asking them, about five minutes later, where they were staying. I think I'm the only seventh grader with an AARP card. :doh:

* @skiki and @DebbieSue
 

DebbieSue

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Some friendly and smart (previously) unknown-to-me Divas* buttonholed me during continental breakfast before the Killington gathering. Obviously they were staying at the same motel. That didn't stop me from asking them, about five minutes later, where they were staying. I think I'm the only seventh grader with an AARP card. :doh:

* @skiki and @DebbieSue

Hmm…. I just remember funny and fact-filled breakfasts! @SKI-3PO joined us the second morning
How ‘bout this permutation:
Loaf-Saddleback-Saddleback-Loaf?
(Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon)
 

puptwin

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Been thinking about this. The official gathering days are Fri - Sun. Eyeballing the roll call thread, it looks like most people are planning on skiing all three of these days. A few will be Sat - Sun only. Monday is the "extra credit" day that seems to be getting the most traction, but it's still a small minority of participants. Understood that we're a long ways out and the roll call will change.

As most of you know, I'm not an unbiased cat herder here, and have a mild agenda with regard to exposing more skiers to the pleasures of Saddleback. (The Loaf is a great area, but they don't need me to tell anyone that.) My concern about spending Friday and Saturday at the Loaf and Sunday at Saddleback goes beyond just the obvious question of whether the three-core-days attendees will want to spend double the time at the Loaf that we do at Saddleback. I have a strong suspicion, based on years observing license plate activity at these two remote areas, that after skiing all weekend, non-Mainers who have to be back at work on Monday will suddenly start feeling very tired at about lunchtime on Sunday. They're going to start thinking about how far away from home they are, and about how long a drive they have, and decide to pack it in early. If we do a Loaf - Loaf - Saddleback schedule, those people will end up having skied two full days at Sugarloaf and only a half day at Saddleback, which I think would be too bad.

With this in mind I'm leaning more toward campaigning for a Saddleback (Fri) - Loaf (Sat) - Saddleback (Sun) schedule. :duck: At least I wanted to plant that seed.
I am looking forward to Saddleback more than the Loaf so any arrangement that gives us two days there works for me. I have reservations already in Rangely for Fri-Sun.
 

LiquidFeet

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TOMORROW Oct 10 is the last day to take advantage of the three-day deal for lift tickets at Saddleback. Anyone thinking of coming who does not already have an Indy Pass should grab it while you can. Here are the prices for 3 and 4 day multiticket deals. These deals are good for all days this season, no blackouts at all, and can be used either consecutively or not consecutively.

Tri-Color 3-Day Pack​


AGEEARLY BIRD PRICE (BACK ON SALE NOW!)MID SEASON (PRICE AFTER OCT 10, 2022)
Adult (19-64)$199$249
Senior (65-79)$159$209
Youth (6-18)$159$209

Tight Line 4-Day Pack​


AGEEARLY BIRD PRICE (BACK ON SALE NOW!)MID SEASON (PRICE AFTER OCT 10, 2022)
Adult (19-64)$249$299
Senior (65-79)$199$249
Youth (6-18)$199$249
 
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TheArchitect

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Hmm…. I just remember funny and fact-filled breakfasts! @SKI-3PO joined us the second morning
How ‘bout this permutation:
Loaf-Saddleback-Saddleback-Loaf?
(Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon)

In my mind the challenge with that is Sat and Sun are the 'primary' days of the Gathering and I think we should have one primary day at each mountain.
 
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Tony S

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How ‘bout this permutation:
Loaf-Saddleback-Saddleback-Loaf?
(Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon)
I would not be surprised if we accumulated more participants like @TheArchitect who will only be skiing Saturday and Sunday. I still think it's probably fairest to those people to give them one day at Sugarloaf and one at Saddleback. That came up not only earlier in this thread but in one from quite a while back.

I am hearing a lot of support among 3-day attendees for two days at Saddleback and one at the Loaf. I'm good with that!

On the subject of Saturday crowds, it's hard to judge which area will be "quieter." Barring unusually bad conditions, it will certainly be busy at Sugarloaf. However, it's likely to be a predictable level of busy that the staff and lifts can (almost) handle.

Saddleback is more of a wild card. The Rangeley area has been seeing a real estate boom since Covid. The reopening of Saddleback has been generating a lot of press on the greater Portland area. And they have a smaller lift system. So it could be quieter, or it could be super busy if there is good snow.

Sunday afternoons, both areas tend to empty out as parents try to get their kids home early enough to get the homework done.
 

TheArchitect

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I would not be surprised if we accumulated more participants like @TheArchitect who will only be skiing Saturday and Sunday. I still think it's probably fairest to those people to give them one day at Sugarloaf and one at Saddleback. That came up not only earlier in this thread but in one from quite a while back.

I am hearing a lot of support among 3-day attendees for two days at Saddleback and one at the Loaf. I'm good with that!

I appreciate the logic and sentiment. That said, if the majority want to ski Saddleback Saturday and Sunday then Noah and I will just go to the Loaf Saturday ourselves and ski with the group on Sunday. Hopefully that won't happen but if it does oh well.
 

Marker

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We are likely to be just Fri-Sun with a possibility of an extra credit day (TBD). It's too bad our friends sold their place at the Loaf at the end of last season or we would have had primo accommodations (ski in-ski out). I would prefer two days in a row at Saddleback since I've never skied there.
 
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Tony S

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I just edited the first post on the roll-call thread with the following addendum. I THINK everyone has been doing that, but wanted to make sure.

> EDIT: Please post the days you will be SKIING. Thanks.
 
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Tony S

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Both mountains have now published their initial event dates on their websites. I'm not seeing any major collisions. Therefore I've gone ahead and added a schedule to the first post in this thread. It won't be everyone's first choice but it does take into account the major drifts of the conversation so far.

Note the meet-up times. These are earlier than we have sometimes had in the past, especially the Saturday one. Rationale:
  • Not counting any "extra credit" days that might happen organically, we only have one day at Sugarloaf. It's a Saturday. It will be busy. It will just be easier in every way if we get ahead of the rush and ensure a full day of skiing. (The Superquad typically opens at 8:00 on weekends.)
  • The start times account for boot-up time and comfortable indoor intros, for those who boot up in the lodge. Among other things this avoids what can be an awkward moment on the first day, where folks in the lodge are peering at each other before the official (outdoor) meet-up and wondering if those are the other SkiTalk pugs.
  • If it's frigid and icy that early in the morning we just dawdle a little and have another hot beverage. No harm done.
  • We can add a "round up the stragglers" stop later in the morning.

THE SCHEDULE
Friday, March 24 - Saddleback - meet at 8:30am near the fireplace on the main floor of the lodge. Ready to ski by 9:00.
Saturday, March 25 - Sugarloaf - meet at 8:00am in the King Pine Room of the lodge. Ready to ski by 8:30. (NOTE THE EARLIER START!)
Sunday, March 26 - Saddleback - meet at 8:30am near the fireplace on the main floor of the lodge. Ready to ski by 9:00.
 
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Tony S

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According to an email I just received, ticket-pack deals at Sugarloaf are about to vaporize.

 
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Tony S

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Under development for use at Saddleback.

 
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Tony S

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I hiked up Saddleback today, from the lodge, then along the ridge on the AT to "The Horn." (Horn of the saddle. Get it,?)

Patrol was doing refreshers on lift evacuation. Weather was unseasonably warm. That, of course, did not stop the mountain from producing its signature year-round weather phenomenon: fog AND wind.

Construction on the new short terrain park quad is not there yet. It's the lift that facilitates access to the t-bar, so it's not just for the park rats. Towers are up but that's it. Hmmm.

In general there is more grading, widening and construction going on. It's obvious that they're trying hard to smooth out some of the, er, idiosyncrasies and make things more "family friendly." I guess that's good or bad depending on your family.

One unalloyed good they've done is to give Parmachenee Belle a LONG overdue haircut. :thumb:

PXL_20221106_152549839.MP-01.jpeg PXL_20221106_160425273.MP-01.jpeg PXL_20221106_141420279.MP-01.jpeg
 

LiquidFeet

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Construction on the new short terrain park quad is not there yet. It's the lift that facilitates access to the t-bar, so it's not just for the park rats. Towers are up but that's it. Hmmm.
That is not a good sign for the season.
 

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