Riding the Southern Comfort triple chair on the backside of a Montana
ski mountain last week, I was reminded of Maine. Slapped on a lift
tower was that familiar triangular blue and white sticker, the
Sugarloaf logo.
On my next lift ride, this time on the high speed Ramcharger quad, I
met a Big Sky Resort ski instructor who, making conversation, inquired
about my home state - apparently I did not have that “native” western
skier raccoon tan. Learning that I am from Maine, he informed me there
are four Mainers on the ski school staff at this Montana resort.
I later caught up with two of the Maine Montana contingent, John Quinn
and Ken Shaw, both former Sugarloafers.
John Quinn taught skiing at Sugarloaf for 10 years before he moved out
to Montana in 1993. “When the director at Big Sky called me at
Sugarloaf to invite me out west I said no. I had a great clientele in
Maine,” said Quinn. “He called me again three nights later, so I drove
across the country to check Montana out. I never looked back. In fact,
I have not been back to The Loaf since.”
Every St. Patrick’s Day, Quinn says he receives a call from
Sugarloaf’s managing director John Diller, trying to lure him back to
Maine’s big mountain ski resort. “It hasn’t worked yet, I love it out
here,” Quinn said. Quinn does return east each summer. He has worked
for the past decade on Boston’s Big Dig as a Laborer.
Still he said, “I miss Sugarloaf - that place has a great feel.”
“Mostly I miss the people. I had made some really good friends during
my years there,” said Quinn.
“Sugarloaf’s above tree-line skiing, the snowfields and the steeps are
similar to Montana’s wide-open skiing. Back east the challenging
conditions certainly make you a strong skier. But I don’t miss the
hard bumps and the ice,” said Quinn. “Out here the snow is so dry and
light. You can tell the boys back home in Maine that I never have to
tune my skis anymore. That should give them some idea of the
conditions.”
Ken Shaw of Rockland also made the cross country leap from Maine to
Montana, following Quinn’s recommendation. Shaw is now in his second
winter of ski instructing at Big Sky, after 12 years on the Sugarloaf
ski school. Shaw teaches skiing, Telemark and snowboarding. Summers he
returns to Maine where he is a yacht charter captain out of Rockland -
he admits he has dream jobs on both sides of the country.
Shaw talked about the differences he has encountered ski instructing
in Maine versus Montana. “At Sugarloaf, people would show up for a
90-minute group lesson only because it was included in their lodging
package. Out here, full day privates are much more common. Skiers are
very serious, and request more private instruction. John Quinn is
actually booked with privates for the next 50 days.”
“Skiing at Big Sky is a bit like Sugarloaf in that both are hard to
get to, so they don’t get overly crowded,” said Shaw.
“I miss my friends back in Maine. It would be nice to be 100 miles
from the Loaf, not 2,600,” said Shaw.
“I hesitate to tell people in Maine how great the skiing is out here
at Big Sky. The snow is so dry and soft; the off-piste skiing options
are unlimited. I don’t want too many people to discover this place and
start a whole migration from Maine.”
