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Maine Sunday Telegram - SKIING

 

 

 

“Maine's Saddleback is back"

March 28, 2004

While many skiers are lamenting the lack of natural snow this season, Saddleback skiers are just delighted to have their slopes open. Last summer it looked like the chairlifts and T-bars would not spin at all this winter.

Instead of lying dormant, Saddleback is having its most successful season in over a decade, thanks to the new ownership by the Berry family of Farmington.

“The thought of the area not opening made us get involved,” said Bill Berry, the retired Farmington professor who purchased the 44-year-old ski area in September from Massachusetts’s owner Don Breen for more than $8 million.

Tom McAllister, general manager, said there was no substance to the rumors that Mel Gibson, or Goldie Hahn and Kurt Russell were interested in buying the 8,300-acre ski area. There was however a group from Pennsylvania that came very close to purchasing Saddleback, and would have installed high-speed lifts and modern facilities.

“That would have meant more expensive skiing. You can’t have high-speed lifts and keep prices down,” said McAllister.

“The first thing we did was lower the lift ticket prices from $49 to $35, that has brought a lot of skiers back,” said Bill Berry.

In the Berry family’s first season at Saddleback, December skier visits were up 60%, January was up 30% despite bitter cold, and February was up 86% over the previous year according to McAllister.

Last weekend at Saddleback, there was a peak mid-morning line of 50 skiers awaiting the Rangeley chairlift (a 10-minute wait), compared to a half dozen skiers on a March weekend in previous years. While more skiers are hitting Saddleback’s slopes this year, the trails remain uncrowded with soft snow because of the limited capacity of the vintage lifts - two double chairs and three t-bars

Saddleback is Maine’s third largest ski area with 44 trails, a summit of 4,116’ and the highest base elevation of any ski area in New England - which translates into considerable natural snow.

In its heyday of the 1970s-80s, Saddleback drew 45,000 skier visits annually. Those numbers had plummeted to 16,000 in recent years. The Berrys’ goal is to get back to that 45,000 statistic and it looks like they will end this season closer to 45,000 than the 16,000.

Keeping the cost of skiing down is a top goal, but improving the experience without altering the mountain’s character that people have loved for four decades is of equal concern to Berry.

Next season, Saddleback skiers and riders will find a new base lodge, essentially tripling the size of the current lodge, but eliminating several out buildings. The primary Rangeley double chairlift will receive new terminals; lowering the base so you can ski down to it (not hike up) from the lodge, and the current summit ramp will be reconfigured to be more gradual and user-friendly.

A fixed grip quad chair is in the works to encompass six new novice trails below the base lodge. This expansion will service the planned 120-room hotel. Berry said a double chair would have been his choice, but lift manufacturers are designing quads more affordably.

High-speed lifts are not on his agenda. Berry wants to limit the uphill capacity saying he likes the experience of having a narrow winding trail to yourself.

“I want to keep Saddleback as pristine as possible. I want to hide the lodge and the hotel, and give people a Maine wilderness experience. I want people to feel like they are skiing in the woods,” said Berry.

Most noticeable trail changes at Saddleback this winter included two new glade runs and renaming trails back to their 1959 original names, to reflect the Rangeley fishing heritage with flies like Jitterbug, Tightline, Blue Devil and Sneaky Pete.

“People have been very receptive to the changes we have made so far, said Berry. “Of cours, that included lowering prices.”

Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine said, “This is exciting for Maine because geographically Saddleback is between Sunday River and Sugarloaf. When the hotel opens, we will be able to offer Eastern skiers a multi-resort destination experience.”

Sweetser said Berry’s 30-year relationship with Saddleback employees, the town of Rangeley and the Maine ski industry has always been positive. “This is not just a honeymoon period for Saddleback. Bill knows the area, the mountain. He has the focus and commitment to make Saddleback a success.”

Berry said the weather was his No. 1 challenge this first winter. “We learned something from the brutal weather though,” said Berry. “The weather showed us that we don’t want to get rid of the T-bars. We were able to operate our lifts when other areas had lift closures due to wind.”

Riders of the upper mountain Kennabago T-bar will not find a comfy chair there anytime soon, as that ornery experts-only tow will remain, and continue to naturally filter out skiers and snowboarders from the summit black diamond trails. In fact, Berry hopes to acquire another T-bar for spare parts and for potential access to new backcountry terrain in Horn Bowl, part of the vast ski-able acreage he purchased.

Berry said the positive surprise has been this season’s excellent snow conditions, he credits the two new grooming machines, powerful new snow guns and the skilled grooming team who now have the tools that they previously lacked.

McAllister, the ski area’s general manager for 35 years, said all of the previous staff remained under the new ownership. “It is so nice to have an owner that is here a bit more, that listens to you and cares about the mountain.”

Country Club Inn in Rangeley Innkeeper Margie Jamison said she has seen a dramatic increase in skiers in Rangeley this winter.

“Berry is a dream-come-true. He is low key, he is doing everything we want, and he has the financial backing to make things happen. We are thrilled,” said Jamison.

Bill Berry emphasizes Saddleback has nine owners now, including his wife Irene and their seven children, all skiers. Mark Berry is the most involved; he lives in nearby Farmington and has the experience of working at Titcomb Mountain.

Saddleback’s ticket prices of $35 weekends/holidays and $28 mid-week this season will remain in place for 2004-2005. The Berry’s goal is to provide as much value for as long a ski season as possible.