With yesterday's visit to Sugarloaf -- where the SuperQuad is still running for diehards -- the Ski Bum's season extended to eight calendar months.

Sugarloaf is the last ski area operating in the East. Yesterday's view from Oh-My-Gosh corner.
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Three snowboarders unload at the top terminal of Sugarloaf's SuperQuad yesterday, May 1.
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Heading away from the SuperQuad.
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Those eight months -- October, November, December, January, February, March, April and (now) May -- began at Sunday River on Halloween.

Sugarloaf intends to continue operating today, Saturday and Sunday. It's the last ski area still operating in the East. (Forget Killington; they've exited the long, long spring season game.)

Sugarloaf received eight inches of snow from the April 29 storm, and several trails had been freshly groomed. Best snow conditions were on King's Landing, Hayburner, Skidder and Candyside. Very few bare spots on those four trails.

This weekend Sugarloaf teams up with Northern Outdoors, a prominent rafting-and-many-other-things company, for an alpha-omega sort of promotion: First day of the whitewater rafting season (Saturday) followed by last day of skiing and riding season (Sunday).

Snow was falling yesterday afternoon at Sugarloaf.
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The sign on the Sugarloaf Access Road, approaching Route 27 -- and the real world.
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With the lift-served ski season quickly vanishing, I schussed both Wildcat and Sunday River this past weekend.

On Saturday Jonathan Keck and I had a perfect spring day at the big Cat in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire -- schussing in sunshine and warm breezes. Wildcat was the last ski area in the Granite State still operating.

Riding the high-speed summit quad at Wildcat Mountain Saturday.
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Skiers and riders on the summit of Wildcat Saturday.
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As might be expected, snow conditions were deteriorating quickly, with many bare spots to work around.

Jonathan Keck mulls his options upon reaching a bare spot Saturday.
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Contemplating more bare spots.
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They decided to try the left side.
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Sure the bare spots were a pain, but I'm grateful to management for giving us one more opportunity to enjoy those incredible views that are such a Wildcat signature.

I think the Cat will call it quits, but they're holding out the possiblity of re-opening for May 3-4. But don't go without checking ahead of time!!!

Fast forward one day. The River was rather foggy and soggy yesterday. Many skiers and riders wore plastic bags to stay dry.

Many skiers wore plastic bags to stay dry yesterday at Sunday River.
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Riding the Barker Mountain quad yesterday at Sunday River.
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The cloud cover blanketed the upper half of the mountain, so I didn't bother to take any more pix.

Yesterday was definitely last call for Sunday River. For the record, I skied the River the first day of the season: October 31, 2007. And for the record, readers of this blog were there too.

Driving home, I detoured a bit to poke around the old Evergreen Valley ski area in Lovell and Stoneham. I'm working on a project for the Ski Museum of Maine and the Lovell Historical Society, and wanted to refresh my memory.

After more than a decade of planning, promotions, commotions and convulsions, Evergreen Valley operated for three seasons between December, 1972, and spring of 1975. The ski area had nine trails, three chairlifts and about 1,050 vertical. And lost about $4.5 million. The convulsions continued to revolve for many years after the bullwheels stopped turning and the lifts were sold off and removed.

Yesterday was Sugarloaf's turn for holding a freebie barbecue for season passholders, and the event was mobbed with skiers, many of whom were hanging up the boards after this weekend.

Riding the SuperQuad at Sugarloaf yesterday.
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I drove up with a couple of guys I met through the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club: Avram Hains of Portland and Tony Scilipoti of Cumberland.

Avram Hains of Portland and Tony Scilipoti of Cumberland pause and pose for the Ski Bum's camera at the top of Sugarloaf's Skidder Trail.
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The passholders barbeque attracted hundreds to the Sugarloaf Inn yesterday.
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Yesterday's superb spring weather brought out hundreds to the barbeque, and the wait in the chow line ran about 35 minutes. One thing you could do to kill the time: renew your Boyne New England Pass for 2008-2009. Special renewal pricing incentives run through April 30.

It's also worth noting that this year's Maine Pass isn't being offered. Next year's season ticket options all include Loon Mountain in Lincoln-North Woodstock, New Hampshire. It's the busiest ski resort in the Granite State.

I ran into a bunch of fellow directors of the Ski Museum of Maine.

Sugarloaf season passholders chow down yesterday, with music too.
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At the barbecue, Sugarloaf management pledged to make every effort to stay open through Sunday, May 4, which is a week after Sunday River's projected closing date.

On the drive back, Avram said he might ski once more this season, but Tony seemed certain that he'd hang up the skis. And the talk revolved mostly around mountain biking.