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

James

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I envision an active ticket scalping scene in front of the base lodge on the first day of the Gathering.
It’ll have to be inside. Outside will be a fogout with driving ice pellets making it painful.
 
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Tony S

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I have a confusion to make ...
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:ogcool:

I read somewhere (I think) that they paved that road this summer. Can anybody here confirm this?

They're working on it. In early August - last time up - they hadn't gotten far. I would be surprised if it's been turned into an Autobahn before the ground freezes.

The road has some serious foundation issues, by my layman's eye. I think it was paved hastily 20 years ago and has never been right. Just months after one of the major improvements, in the Berry era, around 2005, big sections washed out catastrophically in a storm and had to be re-done. Bottom line is it's a long road that would probably take more time and money than is available to (re)build properly. Hope I'm wrong.

My layman perspective says they just need about 4’ or maybe 200 or 400 truckloads of fill, redo the utilities, and it should be good. It’s all about the experience anyways.

I can confirm that the road is gorgeous now. Kind an out of body experience, actually. Bizarre. Not even sure I liked it. But that is only the curmudgeon talking. It's a good thing.
 

LiquidFeet

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I can confirm that the road is gorgeous now. Kind an out of body experience, actually. Bizarre. Not even sure I liked it. But that is only the curmudgeon talking. It's a good thing.
I've been to Saddlelback once and I did NOT like that road. Glad that road got an upgrade.
 

ScottB

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Trying to figure out lodging for this event. I just realized that driving from Rangeley to Sugarloaf is not that far and a reasonable 28 mile road distance. Given Tony's plan (which I support) of Saddleback-Sugarloaf-Saddleback ski days, its seems to make sense to stay in Rangeley the entire time, as Tony is planning to do. Rangeley is small, but a real town, not sure about Eustis and would rather not find out. You all saw the movie "Deliverance" right? (just kidding). Sugarloaf has tons of on/off mtn lodging. If staying 4 days and doing 2 days each resort, it would be a toss up where to stay, either would work.


1668618113159.png
 

Scruffy

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Trying to figure out lodging for this event. I just realized that driving from Rangeley to Sugarloaf is not that far and a reasonable 28 mile road distance. Given Tony's plan (which I support) of Saddleback-Sugarloaf-Saddleback ski days, its seems to make sense to stay in Rangeley the entire time, as Tony is planning to do. Rangeley is small, but a real town, not sure about Eustis and would rather not find out. You all saw the movie "Deliverance" right? (just kidding). Sugarloaf has tons of on/off mtn lodging. If staying 4 days and doing 2 days each resort, it would be a toss up where to stay, either would work.


View attachment 183213
I'm planning to book in Rangeley. Any recommendations? Or just pick something?
 

Crank

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Not attending, just relating the one time I stayed in Rangely I booked a cheap motel. It was fine except for the sleds roaring by just outside the door until about 2AM or so.
 
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Tony S

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I have a confusion to make ...
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I wonder if he warned them about us, per this post. Did anyone happen to double-team them on tickets?
 
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Trying to figure out lodging for this event. I just realized that driving from Rangeley to Sugarloaf is not that far and a reasonable 28 mile road distance. Given Tony's plan (which I support) of Saddleback-Sugarloaf-Saddleback ski days, its seems to make sense to stay in Rangeley the entire time, as Tony is planning to do. Rangeley is small, but a real town, not sure about Eustis and would rather not find out. You all saw the movie "Deliverance" right? (just kidding). Sugarloaf has tons of on/off mtn lodging. If staying 4 days and doing 2 days each resort, it would be a toss up where to stay, either would work.


View attachment 183213

I'm planning to book in Rangeley. Any recommendations? Or just pick something?

I'm a "glass half empty" kind of guy. So read these comments accordingly and don't get bummed out. I don't like to underdeliver, so I tend to underpromise. Something will work out and it will be fine.

Sigh. I REALLY wish I had more to share here than I do. I wish I had a strong recommendation that I knew would "just work" for people. I don't.

In recent years I've done a lot of day tripping and occasionally stay with a local friend. Before that, when doing family trips, we'd usually rent a condo on the mountain and share it with another family, so my store of first hand experience around more old school lodging is meager and dated. (Remember that the hill was closed for six years.)

Winter accommodations are not particularly plentiful. That may change, as people start to recognize that the mountain is now a going concern, and a haven in times of excess warmth.

I have stayed in motels with mixed results. The nighttime snowmobile issue that @Crank described is real, although possibly by late March the motorhead season will be winding down. You're more likely to hit this if you're staying at the edge of the lake. The so called "Saddleback Inn" is a actually a motel. It has a good location, not on the lake. It's fine but not special.

A long while back I stayed at the Rangeley Inn and it was very nice. The in town location is great. This is probably my top recommendation for a short stay, understanding that my opinion is not up to date. (When I did stay there, I remember arriving at like 4:00pm, desperately in need of caffeine. The only person around was the desk clerk. She personally went into the kitchen and made me a cup of tea!)

Many of the more affordable rentals are former summer properties. They often provide decent value but also often have some kind of Achilles heel related to not having been built as year round dwellings. For example, the one Wendy and I rented most recently had a heating system that sounded like a 747 taking off every time it kicked in, which was often. Other than that it was great.

Rentals that are obviously modern year round residences are a much better bet, but they also tend to be more expensive. If money is no object, the "Rock Pond" condos on the mountain are ideal.

Morton and Furbish is the local rental agency. They are not a discount operation, but I've rented from then many times - mostly in the summer - and they were unfailingly excellent to deal with. Many of the VRBO/AirBnb properties are actually managed by them.

Edit: Cheapskates should consider The Maine Roadhouse in Stratton. No man's land between Saddleback and Sugarloaf. I stayed there once on a VERY uncrowded weeknight and it was fine. That was under a previous regime however, so as of now I'm not sure. As with many local properties, it often doesn't pay to rely on the internet for your business communications. A phone call is usually a better bet, even if it's not your preference.

Hope this helps.
 
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