Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley is celebrating the History of Skiing in Maine, Saturday, Jan. 31, and will also honor John Christie, president of the Ski Museum of Maine and member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

Christie will also be honored as a past owner of Saddleback and for his history of the mountain. He was general manager at Sugarloaf, and was responsible for overseeing the installation of the four person gondola. He came to Saddleback in 1972 until 1975. After leaving Saddleback, he moved to Mt. Snow, Vermont, where he served as Vice President and General Manager.

Charlie Gaunce, of Waterville, carves a turn on the Windrow trail on Sunday at Sugarloaf. The mountain received more than a foot of powder at the beginning of the week. Photo by Dan Cassidy.

Skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain last Sunday was as close to skiing in some of the finest powder found anywhere out west.

It was a stark difference from the day before when temperatures plummeted to sub-zero numbers, in the -20 to -25 degree range at mid mountain, with winds gusting at 25 to 30 mph. That brought the chill factor to -40 to -45 degrees! One consolation … no black flies!

Sunday was an entirely different day. Heavy snow began just after daybreak. My friend, Charlie Gaunce of Waterville and I savored the quietness of skiing effortlessly through snow that had the consistency of a puffy cloud. It brought back memories to each of us of skiing in Utah and the High Sierra's around Lake Tahoe. We quietly danced through almost a foot of ungroomed snow! Tired at the end of the day, we each had a smile on our faces. A rare day it was to be skiing in 'champagne' powda' here in the Great State of Maine!

You can blame this one on Alaska! It's a definite chill. As a matter of fact, it's bone chilling to say the least.

Skiing and riding can still be good, and you most likely won't have to worry about the crowds waiting in the lift lines. That's when I like to ski the most. Now don't wimp out here. Just dress for the occasion.

Under any activity, our bodies begin to perspire, cooling down the body that spells danger if you are not dressed right.

Cross country skiing is a wonderful way to explore the outdoors and at the same time get great exercise.

This writer spent a weekend at Jackson, New Hampshire's Cross Country Skiing Center last week, attending an Eastern Ski Writers Association (ESWA) conference. It made me realize that even though I work out almost daily, different parts of the body haven't gone through an exercise process as what 'skinny' skis put me through. I mean it's a big-time workout.

A fairly decent storm raced through the mountain areas this week, with more predicted this weekend. The snow is waiting. What are you waiting for?

Seth Wescott, Olympic gold medalist cut the red ribbon on the newest ski and snowboard course Saturday at Sugarloaf. The new Sidewinder Snowboardcross course, designed by Wescott was opened to the public after he and several lucky riders took their inaugural run.

The 32-year-old Olympic athlete spent several days riding in snow cats putting the final touches on the Sidewinder course prior to his ribbon cutting run.

"Snowboardcross is definitely a growing sport," Wescott said. "For me to go out and win the first Olympic gold medal in this discipline has been the realization of a lot of years of hard work and it's really nice to be able to create the new training and competition facility for that here. It's been great fun being able to design the course from scratch, and I hope people will enjoy it."

It wasn't exactly a ski day that I would have planned, but I have made it a point to head to the mountains on January 1. It's a tradition, one that I have been doing for many years, to ski on New Year's Day.

Yesterday was a beautiful day overhead, but it was quite different if you ventured out into the cold, brisk air.