Does Sugarloaf, Maine really have above treeline skiing?

JeremyClarkson

JeremyClarkson

Active member
They claim to have the only lift servived above-treeline skiing on the east coast but do they really? I wanted to find out from people who have actually skied there or maybe there are some of you on here who are locals.

If they do how far above treeline is it? Is it even worth calling it above treeline?
 
it has a bit above treeline, maybe 300-400 feet of vertical on the backside. It gets really wind scoured, you have to get lucky and hit it at the right time. Still theres plenty of better skiing elsewhere on the mountain. If you really want to ski alpine terrain on the east just go to tucks, or even better yet go to khatadin, although thats a fuckin mission.
 
It was actually caused by a wildfire ages ago, but the wind keeps it from growing back.

PHOTO_8131393_62923_21041959_ap.jpg


This shows the upper 2/3rds, High Rigger is similar to the upper part but extends without trees a lot farther.
 
i'm convinced that they burned all plant life up there around fifteen or twenty years ago and it's just slowly growing back.
 
haha why i am putting so much effort into this thread i do not know, but heres a picture from 1952

600_amos_winter_snowfields_1952.jpg
 
Yes it does. Saddleback, however, greatly outtrumps the Loaf in terms of steeps/glades with the Kennebago quad. The mos fun skiing off of that chair
 
The fire itself was back in the 1800s, if anything the snowfields have shrunk since the place opened. In old pictures they go all the way over to Narrow Gauge. I don't remember where I heard it from, I believe it might have been the book they published a while ago about the place.
 
I have a large hardcover book on the mountain by jon something, i'll go check the first few pages, brb
 
Sugarloaf is my favorite place on the east coast to not ski park at....if that makes sense...not to say they don't have a good park, cause they do, but it's my favorite mountain to ski all-mountain at.
 
nothing is mentioned in the book on it. I'm not sure how reliable that "fact" is. This talks about French settlers on bigalow in the 1700's, I think there'd be something about fires in the 1800's.

Also, treeline has only grown a small amount up since the beginning. Older pictures also mention a 15' snowpack up top. That makes a big difference!
 
There were plans at one point to make bigalow into a ski resort, but they got shot down by a nature preservation thing. They did actually build a small ski lodge thats still there, i remember snowmobiling over to it at one point when i was younger. Would have been sick though, might not be as high as sugarloaf but it sure is a whole lot bigger.
 
In all my years I've really only had one good run on the backside snowfields, which is similar to the top of that picture only on the backside and wraps around the mountain. Fun times though, always trying to hit it when it is fresh and not scraped off by gapers and such.

A nice powder day and first chair on the backside with my new Prophet 98s is what I am shooting for this year.
 
if you ever look at bigalow though, there's a tonne of hard-to-impossible to ski terrain. Not hard as in difficult, but as in requires a shitload of snow and does not have any forgiving escapes to it.

Sloaf + Burnt = $$$, imo
 
thats if your looking at it from sugarloaf, they would have been developing the other side facing flagstaff. I cant really seem to find a good picture of it just by googling, but these give you a bit of an idea

maine-huts-and-trails1.jpg&sa=X&ei=esZjUKOQBMzpiQLu7YGQDQ&ved=0CAwQ8wc4Gg&usg=AFQjCNG9_vCJH-Vd1fDr0U5PJC34vtsWEA


729666130_3a82f06da0.jpg&sa=X&ei=6MZjUPfgKci6iwKo9YG4BA&ved=0CAwQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGwHR67BShTqYWq2enmHRB_YErZvA
 
snowfields are either really fucking awesome or really bad it all depends on the weather ive hit them on a pow day and on cold windy days and its like a completely different mountain. lots of rocks and little trees though
 
iv been skiing at the loaf for the past two years and its sick, one of the only places with real skiing on the east coast -- however above treeline shit (backside, and snowfields) are rarely ever good. its so windy up there dry snow gets scoured and its just ice, unless you are really lucky. poke around brackett basin and the glades off of king pine, timberline, and the new chair (forget what its called). youll find fun lines and shit everywhere, even a couple decent hucks for the east if you know where to look and snow cooperates. as always haywire has/will have a dope jump line and plenty of rails to fuck around on in case theres wind hold up top
 
this, the sugarloaf side of bigelow would be near impossible to ski (its one of the more difficult hikes in maine in my opinion), but the flagstaff side would have been good.

ive always wondered why sugarloaf hasnt expanded into the bowl across the valley that is at skiers left. it would be pretty insane if they got a double up to the top and cleared it out similar to what saddleback did with the cassablanca glades
 
love this view just shows how big the mountain really is. when you drive around that corner and you finally see the hill, shits real man
 
Cannon for me. Always put NH skiing in the same department, never really heard of Cannon until this past year and went up for a weekend. Really unique terrain, Franconia is just a cool place
 
yeap, the trees on top burned down along time ago. I don't think its elevation is even close to the treeline really.
 
I beg to differ about it never being good, 1/3 of when its open , it would be pow, 1/3 soft spring skiing and then 1/3 shitty, so all around 2/3 of the time its good
 
Crocker Mt. (I know this because my condo is on crocker mt. road off of mountainside haha)
 
sugarloaf is an awesome mountain but my experience with it has been that good snowfall comes with intense winds and shuts down the upper mountain
 
wow just wow. so i guess every other mountain in maine close to this elevation with a recieting tree line must have had one hell of a fire on it too.... Katahdin. baldpate, etcccc. people must have liked encouraging forest fires back in those 1800's.

Has to do with the type of plantation growing on those peaks and the ammount of oxygen it requires them to strive. + how well they can endure wind. Doesnt have to do with savage fires that happened hundreds of years ago. sorry to burst your bubble.
 
wIMG_8330.jpg
The Oh shit corner is actually in Alaska on the Dalton Highway. Its called that because logging trucks would always go off the road cuz its so tight.
 
Fuck I just wanna slay the loaf this year. Nothing beats skiing a long hard day and then going back to my friends house on the top of the mountain (the largest public owned house on sugarloaf) eating a delicious dinner then hop on the explorer and get shitfaced at some kids cabin.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top