Maine Ski Trip: Skiing and Painting Indy Maine Ski Areas

Now is a good time to recap the Maine ski areas trip. Skiing and painting Indy Pass Western Maine was a delightfully weird, wholesome and gorgeous experience.

Would you believe there's a donut stand in the middle of nowhere on the way to Saddleback? That one of these ski areas has a base lodge in a giant tent? That for many many miles up there, the only other signs of humans will be the occasional snowmobile crossings. Or perhaps you've heard of the Last Skier Standing event where 140 +/- people ski or snowboard, human-powered, non-stop, until only one person remains?

That's New England for you. We are weird, we are "sturdy folk"(quoting my Dad here) and we love the outdoors.

1. Black Mountain of Maine Ski Area (aka BMOM)

The first stop. First time skiing and painting in Maine. Black Mountain of Maine had me absolutely charmed. 

Black Mountain of Maine Highlights:

• Kind humans.
• Bonus trails and glades for those willing to uphill ski or bootpack.
• Vintage lifts and ski area maps.
• Cozy, beautiful new base lodge.
• That small mountain feel.
• Affordable. See their site for LL Bean sponsored days and specials.

I spent the first day here skiing. It was an easy decision as powder days are so often better for skiing than painting. (think snow in paint, eek!) The second day at BMOM was sunny though very windy. I dedicated it to working on two paintings on site: one from the base area and one from the Last Skier Standing event.

Bonus Painting: Last Skier Standing at BMOM

I'm not crying...I shared recently in an Instagram post that people doing hard things and people supporting people doing hard things tugs at my heart strings. Especially in mountain sports and especially right now. That kind of community and kindness is so inspiring. I had to paint what I witnessed.

A quick Last Skier Standing description:

The event was approx 140 folks alpine ski touring and splitboarding. Each person earning their turns on a single 1.5ish mile, 1,100’ loop in an hour. Each lap starts at the beginning of the hour. If you are not there at the start, you’re done. Everyone else keeps going until there’s one left. This year this went on non-stop for 71 hours.

You can learn more about Last Skier Standing event by listening to the White Mountain Ski Co podcast. 

2. Saddleback Mountain Ski Area

The second stop brings us to Saddleback Mountain, a Western Maine ski area tucked away in Rangeley and seemingly making it's own light. 

Getting to and from Saddleback from where I was staying in Rumford was a worthy trek. It was a long gorgeous drive lined with wilderness. For miles you are mostly seeing spruce trees, snowbanks and a what...a roadside donut stand? I of course had to stop and I'm so glad I did. Thanks Clifford's Donut Shop!

"We're there man"...I went into the base lodge to boot up. Not a seat to be had. Now I've seen a few base lodges packed...like Killington during the World Cup and Mt. Snow on a holiday weekend comes to mind...the energy was different here though. There was a heartiness to it. The secret is out about Saddleback but they've managed to somehow keep it cool.

As for the skiing, I received trail recs...Muleskinner, Casablanca... so exploring I went. In my travels I've discovered that following the local kids can reward you handsomely. This lead me to a traverse with multiple glade options and incredible views. Soft bumps and Narnia. Happy Carrie.

After some satisfying long runs, I saved some gas in the tank. After a quick change, I grabbed my gear to paint Saddleback from the base area. 

The light was bright and eventially soft and sunset pastel tinted. Gorgeous.

Friendly folk stopped to see the work in progress and I painted until I could no longer feel my toes(gosh darnit I forgot my yoga mat to stand on). Oh well, I'll be back someday to this magical place.

3. Mt. Abram Ski Area

"You should check out Mt. Abram." I had bumped into my friend Charlotte at BMOM. She had mentioned we might see eachother while I was skiing and painting in her neck of the woods.

I'm so grateful for this recommendation. I had overlooked Mt. Abram. It was also on the Indy Pass and located just south of where I was staying. 

Recipe for the Best Ski Day:

1. One part weather.
2. One part conditions.
3. One part vibes.
4. One part location.

Sometimes you get lucky...this whole Maine visit was powder-filled. I arrived at Mt. Abram to a knockout bluebird powder morning. 

Mt. Abram is a small ski area but I remember the ski runs feeling long and satisfying. Playing in the woods on bike trails, getting fresh tracks on side trails and soft bumps on main runs made for the best time on skis for this trip.

The vibes? From ticket window to base lodge to the chairlift there was a notable kindness overflowing. Mt. Abram was also where I had the best chairlift convos of the trip.

Are people generally happier when its a sunny powder day? Sure. But I left feeling like most of it was a general "happy to be here" mentality to be found daily here.

Side note: Mainers are nice. Generalization, yes, but kindness was consistently received everywhere from Hannaford's to Saddleback's summit.

Back to the powder skiing...when I tumbled for the third time I decided it was a good time to end on a high note and transition to painting Carrie.

Quick lunch inside, quick change to dry warm clothes and grab the easel, time to paint this adorable Maine ski area. Btw “inside” is a giant rugged tent. I’m told that when their base lodge burned down this became their replacement. With heat, bathrooms, a pub, arcade games and more…It’s actually cozy as hell.

I found a spot at the base of the mountain that included that darling double chair where I met some neat folks. While painting, as it often does, the light changed. Bluebird to gray day. So I focused mainly on building the structure of the painting, think trees, lift and hill shapes. The favorite light could be added later. And later I did.

If you've made it this far, thank you. This Maine ski trip is part of my personal challenge to ski and paint all of the ski areas on the Indy Pass. So far I'm loving the depth that the Indy Ski Pass has added to my winter.

More to come! Have fun out there. -Carrie

carriepill.com