Saddleback, Rangeley

Why was the small chairlift in front of the lodge and the T-bar not running on Friday the 23rd. Very dissapointing to drive for nearly 3 hrs to find only the bunny lift open. It was windy but I've skied there for many years and know the old big chairlift could have been running as well. After waiting for the wind hold for an hour we finally decided to ski the bunny lift and get some turns in until they opened more lifts, which they never did. Finding the bunny lift did not have enough incline for the slushy conditions we decided to start hiking up the moutain. It was only 10 to 12 mph of wind at the base lodge with gusts to 20, the little chair out front should have been running. We hiked up the 3800 feet with 880 vertical(from the lodge up) to the top of the t-bar for two runs and there was absolutely no reason the t-bar could not have been running. The small patch of grass at the top of that lift could have been covered up with snow with MINIMAL time and effort. The skiing on Blue devil was great, all kinds of snow. But at 50 years old, after two runs, I couldn't muster enough strength to hike up again. Management is clearly to blame for this let down. The website at 6 a.m. had no mention of a wind hold and said there would be three lifts open. It appears this deception was a cost saving measure only. Saddleback has always been our Mt. of choice, so it's sad to see this type of decision making going on just to save a few bucks in wages and the cost to run the lifts. If it had been a Saturday with more people there I'd bet the cost of my ticket those lifts would have been running.