Skiing Maine by Christie John;Christie Josh; & JOSH CHRISTIE

Author:Christie, John;Christie, Josh; & JOSH CHRISTIE
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4503915
Publisher: Down East Books

SHAWNEE PEAK

Unassuming Shawnee Peak, located on Mountain Road in Bridgton, looms large in the world of Maine skiing. First opened as Pleasant Mountain in 1938, Shawnee is the longest continually operating ski area in the state. Despite a myriad of changes in ownership (and even a name change) over the last seven decades, Shawnee has survived and thrived while other Maine community hills have disappeared.

The ski area opened in January of 1938 not as Shawnee Peak but as Pleasant Mountain. Pleasant Mountain was first developed by a team of 125 workers, largely funded by a Works Progress Administration grant. While Pleasant wasn’t the only ski slope in Maine developed with funding from the WPA (there were also trails cut on Bigelow, Cameron, and Megunticook), it’s the only one still in operation today. The mountain was served during that first season by a 1,100-foot rope, which pulled skiers to the top of a single trail—the Wayshego Trail.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Pleasant Mountain flourished. Its proximity to Conway and Portland brought lots of traffic, and the two decades saw many improvements. In the early 1940s, the first ski school in Maine was founded. Pleasant was also home to the state’s first T-bar and first chairlift, both installed in the early 1950s. In 1972 Pleasant expanded to open the East Area, 4 miles of intermediate and expert terrain served by a double chairlift and a new second base area.

Eventually, the resort’s luck soured. Low snow years in the early 1980s sank the mountain’s days of operation, and a 1983 fire destroyed the base lodge. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested into snowmaking, but it was too little, too late. The financially strapped owners sold the resort to Pennsylvania’s Shawnee Mountain Corporation. Along with changing the name to Shawnee Peak, the new owners added lights for night skiing, improved facilities, and added a new chairlift before running into their own financial issues. Chet Homer, from Tom’s (the company of Maine fame), purchased Shawnee in 1994.

There is a lot to love about Shawnee Peak, starting with the unbeatable view. Looking down the lift line of the Summit Express, skiers are treated to a view of Moose Pond, often dotted with ice-fishing huts and snowmobilers. A glance to the west reveals New Hampshire’s presidential range and the imposing Mount Washington. Shawnee even shines at night; twenty-some lit trails make the resort the largest night-skiing spot in northern New England.

My favorite way to work Shawnee Peak is east to west. After a quick warm-up on the Headwall and East Slope (a pitchy combo of trails that have been raced on since my dad’s day in the 1950s), it is worth moving over to the Sunnyside Triple. The sun hits these trails first, and by midmorning they soften up beautifully. Upper Appalachian, the Gut, and Tycoon are all no-joke expert trails, steep and narrow and worth hitting early. Next come the Dungeons and Cody’s Caper, tight glades in the New England tradition. All the summit glades are pretty visible from both of the long chairs.

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