The Balsams Wilderness feels about as far away from anything as you can get in New England. One friend said, "When your wheels fall off the edge of the Earth, you're there." That's a little harsh, but it is a healthy drive north. Once you get there, however, it's worth the trip. The Balsams is another Grand Resort Hotel, about a century old in its present form, and truly elegant. The hotel goes on and on, with lots of nooks by fireplaces to sit after skiing. Sometimes I think The Balsams is best described as a dining room with a ski downhill area and 15,000 acres of cross-country and snowshoe trails attached. The food is really good -- the kitchen doubles as a school for chefs. The winter of 2005-2006 was fairly lame across New England. Balsams' downhill trails were fairly bulletproof when I visited toward the end of the season, but the backcountry trails were covered by 3 feet of cold, powdery snow.