Here is a bit of trivia. Which state has the most ski club members? While most skiers might answer one of the well-known ski states the real answer was Florida. That may have changed, but the others in the top three were Texas and Georgia. Of course, none can rival the Ski Club of Great […]
on skiing
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On Skiing: Season already booming in many locations
My goal of more skiing is getting on track. I made a mid-week visit to Shawnee Peak and found plenty of perfectly groomed trails, something common this season with all the natural snow. One of the more interesting attractions at Shawnee is watching some of the regulars. Riding the Pines Quad, I couldn’t miss a […]
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On Skiing: The road to the top of Alpine ski racing
By now, many Maine skiers know that the U.S. Alpine Championships will come to Sugarloaf on March 24-29 and the best ski racers on the U.S. Ski Team will be in the competition. We also know there will be some Canadian skiers in the races and some up-and-coming young Maine skiers will also get to […]
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On Skiing: Local ski schedules packed as weather finally cooperates
As we head into the new year, the outlook is far better than a year ago. Last year’s vacation was at best marginal, while this year we had plenty of skiing, and a busy January is shaping up. This past week’s snow was an added bonus. A check of coming events shows a long list […]
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On Skiing: Spend your vacation on a ski slope
Last week I received an email declaring that Sugarloaf had three times as much terrain open as it had a year ago. It was the result of natural snow and snowmaking, and since then we have had more snow and great snowmaking temperatures. And that is why optimism is the word for the vacation which […]
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On skiing: Sizing up Sugarloaf’s new competition center
Last week, I was at Sugarloaf and wanted to get a tour of the new competition center without waiting for the grand opening, which was yesterday. I remember the first races I covered where I worked out of Chip Carey’s office in the basement of the old base lodge and had to go down to […]
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On skiing: The origins of the ski academy
Over the past few decades, we have become accustomed to hearing results of ski races and other on-snow competitions with the winners coming almost entirely from ski academies. Here in Maine, we know how Bode Miller, Seth Wescott and Kirsten Clark got their starts at Carrabassett Valley Academy. Indeed, since its founding in 1983, CVA […]
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On Skiing: Preserving history, and adding to the traditions
A pair of events a week ago brought to mind how deeply skiing is entrenched of our way of life here in Maine, and how far back this goes. One was the ninth annual Maine Ski Heritage Day at Sugarloaf, a major fund raiser for the Ski Museum of Maine. As always, we spent the […]
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On skiing: High school skiing in the spotlight
Last week, we mentioned how vacation week is the biggest of the season for high school skiers, with state meets taking place in both Alpine and Nordic disciplines. It brought to mind the differences between high school ski competitions and other sports, and how they are funded. Team sports, like football, soccer, hockey, basketball and […]
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On skiing: Black Mountain offers large area, affordable pricing
My quest to ski more of the community ski areas this winter took me to Black Mountain last Monday. Most of us think of community ski areas as small ski areas, but Black belies that belief. A decade ago, Black Mountain was a small ski area, but it was on a big mountain. It’s impossible […]