New England resort uphill

[3beeches]

Last weekend, I had great fun skinning the uphill wooded trail (not downhill slope) at Magic Mtn with AMC Women's Resort to Back Country! Wondering if there are other resort mountains in NE that have trails dedicated to uphill only. The mountains where I downhill ski offer uphill on the edge of a downhill ski slope.

 

[Verve]

Bolton has a great backcountry wander that you can take from their xc center up to a resort run for the descent. Mt Ellen at Sugarbush has a nice uphill route to mid mountain. Saddleback in Maine has a wooded uphill route. Others?

 

[3beeches]

Bolton has a great backcountry wander that you can take from their xc center up to a resort run for the descent. Mt Ellen at Sugarbush has a nice uphill route to mid mountain. Saddleback in Maine has a wooded uphill route. Others?

thank you for all suggestions! particularly excited about Saddleback bc I hope to ski there in March for the first time

 

[Verve]

thank you for all suggestions! particularly excited about Saddleback bc I hope to ski there in March for the first time

Awesome! Their uphill policies and info about getting a pass is here: https://www.saddlebackmaine.com/activity/uphill-touring/

They’re a member mountain of uphill New England which I hadn’t heard of. Might be worth checking if the other partner mountains also have nice uphill routes. Magic and Bolton are in the mix: https://www.uphillnewengland.org/

 

[GladeDuchess]

When are you heading to Saddleback in March?
They have a women's uphill event called "Women On The Rise" which will consist of an early morning ascent with a guide, on 3/8/26

Women on the Rise – SaddlebackMaine.com

Join us for an Uphill fundraiser to benefit Saddleback Ski Patrol. It will be $40 to enter (includes an up-hill ticket) and proceeds will benefit our amazing patrol team.

www.saddlebackmaine.com

I'm not an uphill skier by a long shot, but if I'm around, I'd be happy to meet you at the top and take some runs DOWN with you, lol.

 

[Jilly]

Paging @ilovepugs .

 

[elemmac]

Wondering if there are other resort mountains in NE that have trails dedicated to uphill only.

Black Mountain of Maine does…they also access to the Black and White glades that GBA maintains.

 

[3beeches]

When are you heading to Saddleback in March?
They have a women's uphill event called "Women On The Rise" which will consist of an early morning ascent with a guide, on 3/8/26

Women on the Rise – SaddlebackMaine.com

Join us for an Uphill fundraiser to benefit Saddleback Ski Patrol. It will be $40 to enter (includes an up-hill ticket) and proceeds will benefit our amazing patrol team.

www.saddlebackmaine.com

I'm not an uphill skier by a long shot, but if I'm around, I'd be happy to meet you at the top and take some runs DOWN with you, lol.

Thanks for letting me know about the uphill event!

 

[3beeches]

Just tried to sign-up for the Women on the Rise and it says "product off sale" so I called to get on the waitlist. It turns out they have not started sign-ups yet.

 

[ilovepugs]

Mt Ellen (part of Sugarbush) has a dedicated uphill trail that runs through the woods. I haven’t done it yet but it looks to be very pretty.

Also check out Inclusive Ski Touring - they run women’s specific groups.

 

[yogiskier]

I've never been to this, but the Wild Corn Shindig is in early April at King Pine in NH and it's uphill only for 2 days. Here's the info from last year: https://granitebackcountryalliance.org/wildcorn

 

[SallyCat]

Mt. Ascutney in West Windsor (Brownsville) Vermont has some fun backcountry terrain. It's all natural snow, so weather-dependent. Info here. It's a former resort, and they keep some of the trails cleared in the fall for skinning.
The nonprofit Ascutney Outdoors maintains a volunteer-led t-bar and rope tow, and they groom the lower portion of the mountain. Everything above the t-bar is ungroomed, and there is usually an established and signed uphill route.

 

[cvana]

Middlebury Snow Bowl has an uphill trail, I think.

 

[Beckster]

I don’t live anywhere near Ya’ll. Nevertheless all of this info about designated uphill routes and events is very interesting and completely new to me. I’d probably take part if I did live there.
Are all of these routes in avalanche controlled areas and require a ticket purchase? Or?

 

[elemmac]

Are all of these routes in avalanche controlled areas and require a ticket purchase? Or?

New England is a relatively low angle and low altitude area of the United States, very little avalanche terrain and very little above treeline skiing. Everything being discussed is outside of avalanche terrain. Most of the routes mentioned are on small ski "hills", more so than "mountains".

Most, if not all, require a ticket. Most ski areas offer an "uphill pass" for like $5-$20 (USD). The ski area owns the property, so you're paying them to use their property, and I'm sure there's a liability clause when you buy a pass.

It's a great way to get into uphill travel with relatively low risk or just get a quick lap in for exercise. The uphill trail is often a hiking trail in the woods, and then you come down the ski area, groomed, maintained trails.

 

[Beckster]

New England is a relatively low angle and low altitude area of the United States, very little avalanche terrain and very little above treeline skiing. Everything being discussed is outside of avalanche terrain. Most of the routes mentioned are on small ski "hills", more so than "mountains".

Most, if not all, require a ticket. Most ski areas offer an "uphill pass" for like $5-$20 (USD). The ski area owns the property, so you're paying them to use their property, and I'm sure there's a liability clause when you buy a pass.

It's a great way to get into uphill travel with relatively low risk or just get a quick lap in for exercise. The uphill trail is often a hiking trail in the woods, and then you come down the ski area, groomed, maintained trails.

Very nice! Thanks for explaining it so thoroughly.

 

[SallyCat]

It's a great way to get into uphill travel with relatively low risk or just get a quick lap in for exercise. The uphill trail is often a hiking trail in the woods, and then you come down the ski area, groomed, maintained trails.

True! The biggest danger around skinning at northeast resorts is probably people getting on non-designated routes during off-hours and encountering grooming equipment (which is--amazingly--much harder to hear than you think it will be).

In the woods, you do need to be careful about avoiding cliffs, which is how skiers sometimes get stuck and need rescue. And in the Vermont woods, sometimes there's maple tubing that tends to be at about neck height . But other than Tuckerman's Ravine, I don't think there's much avalanche risk.

 

[elemmac]

And in the Vermont woods, sometimes there's maple tubing that tends to be at about neck height . But other than Tuckerman's Ravine, I don't think there's much avalanche risk.

Only in New England would you need to add "maple sap tubing" to your risk assessment for backcountry skiing!

 

[Taryn]

In the woods, you do need to be careful about avoiding cliffs, which is how skiers sometimes get stuck and need rescue. And in the Vermont woods, sometimes there's maple tubing that tends to be at about neck height . But other than Tuckerman's Ravine, I don't think there's much avalanche risk.

I remember my first time mountain biking in Vermont several years ago being amazed at how much maple tubing there was on the trails. The land owners would put out signs to warn people and to be on the look out for the tubing. It was so cool seeing it!

 

[SallyCat]

Fyi, if you're in the northeast and interested in being safe in the mountains all year long, Stowe Mountain Rescue has a great Facebook page where they debrief most of their call-outs. They do a really wonderful job of being educational without ever passing judgment on the hikers and skiers they rescue.

I first followed them when I worked as a caretaker on Mt. Mansfield, but I still follow, because I feel their debriefs keep me from becoming complacent in my decision-making.