Black Mountain of Maine — Attraction in Rumford

Don't bother to drive farther than Sunday River, which has everything you need. BMOM doesn't have any outdoor swimming pools, no preferred parking, only one restaurant and NO stunt ditches! There's no spa with a Hot Oil Scalp Massage. BMOM is about skiing, has an obsessive stealth glade clearing operation, side and backcountry, a loyal following of serious skiers. Not even one 6-pack lift. The bar only has 11 beers from Maine and the food isn't nearly expensive enough for a real resort. Simon Dumont and Shaun White never come here and neither should you. Leave the quirky locals, who haven't shaved in weeks, let alone had a hot oil scalp massage, alone. You won't miss anything. I heard they won't even sell tickets to outta staters. They'll probably be closed when you get there, which a lot of the customers don't seem to even notice because they're hiking up the hill. They didn't even have fireworks the last time I was there. If you want something a little more authentic than Someday Bigger, try Mt. Abram. They have an oversized tent for a lodge and a lot of solar panels. Black Mountain is actually somewhere in New Hampshire. You might have...

I saw Black Mountain listed in the Indy Pass directory and decided to make the trek out to give it a try. I skied it for the first time on 2/23. What a great mountain! The trails at Black have character, and everything that I skied off of the triple was long enough and steep enough to ensure both a good workout and a fun day of skiing. The run I did down Piscataquis-Penobscot-Kennebago in ungroomed powder was especially enjoyable. Lots of trails were open, so I suspect Black does a good job with snowmaking, given the lackluster winter weather that we've had this year. Black is a skier's mountain that lacks pretense and thankfully hasn't been marred by slope-side development. From the mountain, you wouldn't know that you are in a mill town; it's tucked away in a rural corner of Rumford. The lodge is nice. The main lift is a short walk from the parking lot. There were no lift lines on a holiday midweek! Cafe fare was typical lodge food, but my chicken patty sandwich was generously sized (would have preferred a grilled sandwich, but the menu was a bit heavy on fried offerings). I look forward to...

About as laid back as it gets for a ski resort. Fun, very wide main trails are great for the intermediate kids and have enough challenging bumps on the sides for advanced skiers. I didnt even get to explore the renowned glades, so I definitely am missing out from what I have heard. Beautiful mountain with a ton of sun. Very comfortable lodge as well with a good amount of space. And if you have young kids - the prices cannot be beat anywhere in the US. Mt Abrams and Black Mountain are two gems that are fantastic family mountains. Make a weekend (or more) of both.

Update: went again the next year and black mtn blows me away. Was able to ski the glades with my eldest daughter, including entire rightside of mtn accessed by a short uphill hike - unbelievably fun! Better than jays famous glades? It's got a good case. Best of all, went on a weekend where every other resort within a 100 miles had wind holds - no issues at black. In fact, they've had 1 wind hold day in the last 5 yrs. Ridiculous. Love black mtn and so do my 3...