Maine isn't all quaint harbor villages, rocky coastline and misty, dark locales from a Stephen King novel. The state is quite mountainous, and many of those mountains contain ski resorts. Some of the inland mountains are enormous, while others closer to the coast are more like bunny hills. No matter your skill level as a skier or snowboarder, you'll find alpine slopes to suit your fancy in New England's northernmost state.
The Biggies
- Maine has dozens of winter sports recreation areas, but many of them are smaller facilities with limited alpine skiing terrain. Three large resorts, however, are considered world-class ski areas: Sugarloaf, Sunday River and Saddleback. These are full-facility ski areas like the big resorts out west, with everything you need for an all-inclusive ski vacation. Sugarloaf is perhaps the most well-known outside the region because it's the largest ski area east of the Rockies. All three resorts have vertical drops of 2,000 feet or more, making for the longest, steepest slopes in the state.
Smaller But Big Enough
- Only three other ski areas in Maine besides Sugarloaf, Sunday River and Saddleback are considered big enough to be called "big mountain" skiing: Shawnee Peak, Black Mountain and Mount Abram. Each area has a vertical drop of at least 1,000 feet, fit for a challenging day on the slopes with some long runs. None of these resorts has its own accommodations, but they all have lighted slopes for night skiing if you care to stretch your ski day into the evening hours.
Even Smaller But Notable
- Maine is unusual in that it has mountains with ski slopes near the coast. The seasons are shorter at these more affordable lower altitude resorts, where artificial snow is commonly used. The runs are shorter, but skiers will likely enjoy the convenience of being able to hit the slopes a short distance from major cities. You can actually see the Atlantic from the higher slopes of the Camden Snow Bowl outside Camden. Big Rock Ski Area is much farther inland, but it's one of the biggest of these smaller mountains, with a vertical drop of 984 feet. Lost Valley is less than an hour's drive from Portland and minutes from Lewiston.
Ski Passes
- The Ski Maine Association has passes available to help make your skiing experience more convenient and affordable. If you plan on spending a lot of time on the slopes at different resorts, the Maine Mountain Pass allows you to ski at every ski area in the state for the season for one discounted price. Unlike many of these kind of passes, the Maine Mountain Pass doesn't have any blackout dates for holidays or weekends. Since most vacationers aren't going to be doing that much skiing in one trip, the much cheaper Maine Winter Activities Pass is the better option. This pass offers discounts on lift tickets at many popular ski areas, as well as coupons for dining and shopping at the resorts.
