OK, Mother Nature, you’ve finally come to the realization that there’s a limit to our patience, and now it’s time for you to produce. Not that you didn’t tease us with cold enough temperatures to allow the more aggressive and well-equipped areas to lay down a nice layer of man-made stuff on a substantial portion of their terrain, and the occasional faux storm made everything look pretty white, but you hardly deserve a medal for thinking you’ve done your job with a few piddling inches that barely covered the grass.

Finally you remembered in the middle of this past week that it is, in fact, winter in Maine. And that winter in Maine means snow. So thanks for that on behalf of all of us who still think winter’s not only the best season in the state but thankfully the longest. Our prayers are now starting to be answered, and at just the right time.

The hubbub of the holiday season is past and we can now turn our attention to our favorite pastime: praying for snow and a long stretch of below-freezing temperatures to allow the snowmakers and groomers to do their diligent nightly job of spiffing up the surfaces.

But the preceding rant is just preface to a dose of historical reality: The ski season here doesn’t really begin for lots of us until we start to enter the snowiest months.

But that’s not to say we haven’t had some pretty good skiing already this winter. Case in point, I’ve skied about 20 days so far at Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Mt. Abram and, of all places, the Camden Snow Bowl, an area that didn’t even open last season until Jan. 29. Granted, there was a lift installation delay that played a role in the tardy opening. But the point is, I have enjoyed some good sliding already this year on what, on many of my trips, have been near-perfect conditions.

And here’s another thing worthy of consideration: lots of skiers that thrash around in sub-zero temperatures and biting winds in December and January are nowhere to be seen in March and April when our skiing is arguably the best every year. It has always amazed me that the same people who complain about a paucity of snow in the first couple months of the season haven’t seemed to grasp the reality that the real season for lots of us who’ve kicked around the slopes of Maine for a while is just about ready to begin.

Granted, I feel sorry for area operators who lost some or all of the Christmas vacation business that can represent up to 20 percent of their seasonal income, but the imaginative ones are putting together attractive pricing and program options that will lure skiers and boarders once their areas are in full operation.

And if you’ll trust someone who’s been skiing here in Maine for 75 years, I can promise you that we’ve got a whole winter of fun on the slopes ahead of us.

The next 15 weeks, I’ll bet, will give even the most dedicated of us enough fun to last us until next season. It looks like even those who’ve been waiting patiently for Saddleback to get open will not only have nearly an entire season to enjoy Rangeley’s special retreat, they’ll be doing so after the famous icy blasts of January that sweep across the Northwest shoulder of that mountain are only a memory.

And all I’ve been talking about so far are the conditions we can expect on the hill. Not to be overlooked are the off-piste, apres-ski delights of late winter and spring skiing. That’s when almost every area pulls out the stops and the craziness begins with the frivolous fun of both scheduled and impromptu foolishness that help make our sport what it is.

If you’ve never watched pond skimming or been deafened by the bands at Reggae Fest, or sat in the sun on the decks of Maine’s south-facing base lodges, you’re in for a treat if you are planning your recreational program for the rest of the season.

John Christie is a former ski racer and ski area manager and owner, a ski historian and member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. He and his son, Josh, write ski columns on alternating weeks. John can be reached at:

jchristie@fairpoint.net

Copy the Story Link