It has been over a dozen years since my last visit to Saddleback, which is a dozen years too many. Given it was closed for almost half that time, I have some sort of excuse. But Saddleback reopened two years ago, and I finally got my ass back up to Rangeley to punch an Indy Pass ticket at Saddleback.

I was amazed at how much the new high speed quad changed the mountain, and equally impressed at how little it changed the mountain. Saddleback was certainly exponentially busier than my last visit. But there was still ample space to spread skiers out and minimal lines at all lifts. Cars were parked a mile down the access road, but I never waited more than ten minutes for the Kennebago Quad.

Speaking of the Kennebago, I spent most of my day up there picking off most trails and glades. No other ski area in the northeast has a terrain pod with quite as much quality ungroomed expert terrain. That includes two of my favorite on map glades, Dark Wizard and Upper Nightmare. Both are tight and have interesting entrances and lines.

Hopefully, it won’t be another dozen years before I get back to Saddleback. But the place is a haul from just about everywhere, and that drive from locations due west involves roads that can only be described as weather war-torn. The mountain is bustling and, with the new ownership and new high speed lift, should be viable for the foreseeable future.