Black Mountain of Maine, Rumford
Black Mountain will be getting a second, used groomer to replace its retired PB270D. This new-to-the-mountain rig is a Pisten Bully Edge. The Edge is the same size as the current PB280D, but has a more powerful engine and a more robust hydraulic system. The groomer also has a segmented front blade and a tiller with advanced controls, making it ideal for use on the mountain, in the terrain park and on the tubing area. This acquisition comes at just the right time, after the mountain barely made it through last season's snows with only one groomer. The Edge Tubing Park will return grooming capability to a level not seen at Black Mountain for the last two years.
Peter Chase has taken over for his son, Bob, as Black Mountain of Maine's Operations Manager. Bob will continue to assist his father at the mountain as he takes on his new full-time duties with the Rumford Fire Department and continues his pool, stove and chimney cleaning businesses. Peter has worked at the mountain for six seasons in almost every operations position and recently retired from the Rumford Fire Department as its Deputy Chief.
Also, Michael Arsenault is the mountain's new mechanic. Arsenault has worked at the mountain for five seasons making snow, running lifts and assisting in maintenance.
Baker Mountain, Moscow
A new trail was cut at the ski area thanks to a partnership between Sugarloaf and the Baker Mountain Ski Club.
Camden Snow Bowl, Camden
The Ragged Mountain Recreation Area Redevelopment Plan was approved by Camden voters, allowing the Camden Snow Bowl to move forward with the fundraising component of the plan.
New Marketing Director Andrew Daley is bringing new programs to the Snow Bowl, including a new evening Adult Ed learn-to-ski class which will provide an opportunity for healthy outdoor activity for busy adults. Trail work included the redesign of the lower Foxy ski trail - the site of Camden's ski racing activity, and the expansion of the glade trail.
Lost Valley, Auburn
Lost Valley continues its updates for the 2008-09 ski season with a new terrain park feature - the new, giant, Wall Ride sponsored by Monster. This towering Wall will be the centerpiece of Lost Valley's park, where daring riders test sliding skills along a vertical surface. The most important ingredient, snow, gets a big boost this season with the installation of a new, efficient snowmaking pump which doubles the snowmaking output. Nordic skiers will appreciate the improvements and expansion of both freestyle and traditional Nordic terrain. The trails now measure 18 to 20 feet wide, which allows the Lost Valley groomer to recondition the snow surface. And finally, Lost Valley has welcomed David Whitcomb as Mountain Manager and Outside Operations Manager. Whitcomb comes with years of experience at Nashoba Ski Area in Massachusetts.
Mt. Abram, Greenwood
New ownership is the story at Mt. Abram. Matt Hancock and Rob Lally are building on this ski area's reputation as being a family-friendly experience. New investment will be apparent throughout the resort. The Westside, one of New England's nicest learning areas, will improve with the extension of the children's Magic Carpet lift which services the Westside Learning Park. The snow tube park has also been expanded to provide longer runs. Tubing has also been added to the day care. An increase to the snowmaking capacity keeps the mountain moving forward with its multi-year snowmaking master plan. Inside, skiers and riders will be greeted by a renovated lounge with a new entertainment stage, Saturday night "Chef's Special Menu" and Kids Night Out programs. The retail ski shop has been relocated to the main floor of the base lodge and is operated by the SportsHaus ski shop. The Snow School, formerly the Ski School, will offer many programs, and competitive skiers will thrive in the new racing program. Add in a few new ticket programs which include "2 for 1", and "Caravan Car Load" pricing, and you have the ingredients for a new experience at Mt. Abram.
Saddleback, Rangeley
A new Doppelmayr quadruple chairlift, the Kennebago Quad, replaces the Kennebago T-bar which was difficult for some to ride because of the steep terrain. The new chair will now provide easy access to Saddleback's high-elevation advanced terrain with incredible views of the lakes and Western Maine Mountains. The lift rises 960 feet over 2,709 linear feet of travel, for an average gradient of 34 percent. The black diamond terrain served by the new lift is in a bowl that is separate from the rest of the ski area, and three advanced trails were added in the bowl this summer. The new quad chairlift also allows novice and intermediate skiers to ski from the summit for the first time via the 3.1-mile America and Hudson Highway trails. Intermediates can ski Tri-Color and Green Weaver back to the Kennebago Chair. Also, another new trail, Hornberg, is located in the South Branch beginner/family area, which also provides access to ski-in ski-out trails for the South Branch and Mountain Brook condominiums.
Additional snow guns were added in various locations including Tight Line and the headwalls of Warden's Worry and Supervisor - all in the new quad area - plus snowmaking coverage was extended to America.
A new Inntopia Central Reservation and Packaging System will allow Saddleback to book lodging, ski-and-stay and other packages at the lodges in the town of Rangeley, as well as at the condominiums at the mountain. Saddleback will also now operate the rental and retail shops in the base lodge that were previously operated by a lessee. This season the rental shop will have a new fleet of rental skis, boards, boots, bindings and poles. The retail shop will have a new inventory of clothing and accessories.
Roads and utilities for Saddleback's East Magalloway private home sites were completed during the summer, with 15 of the 22 lots already spoken for. These lots are located trailside to the two proposed Magalloway lifts and enjoy views of Saddleback Lake and the Western Maine Mountains. The second Mountain Brook building was completed this summer.
Shawnee Peak, Bridgton
Shawnee Peak has expanded its base lodge with a new Great Room, located slopeside, adjacent to the base lodge cafeteria. This 1,600 square-foot addition features all-glass walls, atrium ceilings, post and beam styling and solar heating to support a new high-efficiency furnace in the base lodge.
In replacing every low-efficiency snowgun on the mountain with the latest technology, Shawnee Peak will decrease energy use by up to 50% this winter while making even more snow.
Shawnee Peak completely reconfigured the Lil' Pine Beginner Area, a half-acre of gentle learning terrain that's most popular with the little crowd. Featuring the newly-expanded Lil' Pine Surface Carpet Lift, the Beginner Area has been expanded by 20 percent, and new beginner glades have been thinned between Evergreen and Easy Turns.
Shawnee Peak will also implement an all-scanning ticketing system at each chairlift this winter.
Sugarloaf, Carrabassett Valley
When skiers and riders return to the slopes of Sugarloaf for the 2008-09 season, they will be greeted with more than $5 million in off-season improvements, including enhanced snowmaking capacity, redesigned terrain parks, and upgrades to on-mountain facilities.
Sugarloaf added further snowmaking upgrades this summer in order to produce more snow early in the season. The resort added a sixth water pump to its pump house, replaced all existing pumps with new, more efficient ones, and augmented its snowmaking fleet with 25 new Boyne proprietary energy efficient fan guns, which specialize in producing large quantities of snow at higher temperatures. Sugarloaf has also added 50 new low energy HKD snowguns, as well as new high flow snowmaking pipe to the summit, which will improve snowmaking in the resort's above-tree line area. All told, the improvements to Sugarloaf's snowmaking system will increase the resort's overall snowmaking capacity by an estimated 20 percent.
"The replacement of all of our pumps plus the addition of the new low energy technology pushes us closer to our goal of doubling our snowmaking capacity while simultaneously decreasing our energy consumption by 50 percent," said John Diller, Sugarloaf's General Manager. "We will be implementing additional steps in the coming seasons to achieve this goal, and this is a great leap toward that mark."
Freestyle skiers and riders will find a new terrain park landscape at Sugarloaf this season, with a new advanced terrain park on Haywire, new beginner park on Whiffletree, newly designed Superpipe, as well as a new, permanent snowboardcross/skiercross course designed in part by Olympic snowboardcross champion Seth Wescott. The course, which will be called "Sidewinder," will be located in the area formerly known as The Yard, and will feature live-timing, allowing guests to test their skills and weigh their times against each other and against Wescott. The advanced terrain park features that were located in The Yard will now be found on Haywire, where new snowmaking equipment has been installed. Sugarloaf's intermediate park will again be located in the Stomping Grounds, where crews widened sections and straightened corners to allow for more features and better traffic flow. Beginning park riders will find a new park this season as well, the "Skybound" park on Whiffletree, located in the former Turbo Tubing area.
Considerable earthwork was done to Sugarloaf's Superpipe during the offseason as well, which will reduce the amount of snow needed to open the pipe by 50 percent or more.
Turbo Tubing will be located on the Landing for the 2008-09 season, closer to the Base Area, which will feature several improvements of its own. The area known as "The Beach" has been flattened and resurfaced, and will feature a new bonfire pit, permanent awards podium, and new outdoor barbecue area, all to create a more festive and welcoming atmosphere around the Base Lodge.
Guests will be able to navigate the mountain with greater ease this season as well, with all new trail signage throughout the resort. Skiers and riders will also find improvements to Sugarloaf's tree skiing areas, including three newly marked glades, as well as a new addition to Bullwinkles, Sugarloaf's on- mountain restaurant, which will feature additional cafeteria area seating and a new deck. Eight of Sugarloaf's lifts will have new lift buildings, which will be energy efficient and will reduce the amount of energy required for heat by two-thirds or more.
Sunday River, Bethel
New this season, Sunday River is installing the first Chondola in the Northeastern U.S., a hybrid gondola and six-person chairlift. The Chondola will run from South Ridge directly to the Peak Lodge on North Peak. With the Chondola in place, lift service that was once a 20-minute trip on two separate chairlifts is cut into a single ride just under seven minutes. Additionally, this added amenity provides skiers and riders with direct access to six of Sunday River's eight peaks, all within a single lift, and will serve summer guests interested in hiking, special events, mountain biking and weddings.
As part of the Chondola improvement project, Sunday River will also introduce 12-hour skiing and riding. Lights have been added to trails in the South Ridge area and on North Peak to allow guests the opportunity to extend their days into the evening for even more time on the slopes. Lighted trails include Dream Maker and Escapade on North Peak and Broadway, Sundance, Express Lane, and Whoville on South Ridge. Sunday River will offer 12-hour skiing and riding shortly after Chondola construction is completed and in time for the New Year.
Noted freeskier Simon Dumont plans to co-design a signature terrain park with Sunday River's park crews and launch an international ski competition that will bring some of the best of the ski industry to Sunday River this winter.
Titcomb Mountain,Farmington
Snowmaking will get a boost this year at Titcomb Mountain with installation of five tower guns donated to Titcomb Mountain by Town of Carrabassett Valley, which are more efficient than the traditional small snow guns and will expand the ski resort's snowmaking capacity without increasing energy consumption.
Trail maintenance included widening the Nordic and Alpine trails by cutting brush back to the original trail edges. A multi-year plan on the Nordic trails has improved drainage and allows more terrain to be opened with minimal amounts of snow. Carpentry work and painting has dressed up the base lodge and added new ski racks and picnic tables.
One of the primary missions at Titcomb is to introduce more children to winter sports. Through the generosity of a grant by the Androscoggin Bank Main Street Foundation, Titcomb will expand its scholarships for local kids this winter. Children ages 6 years and older participate in the Nanna Webber and Saturday Ski & Snowboard programs.
The Alpine Snow Kids, run by the University of Maine Farmington Ski Industries Program, continues to benefit young skiers and riders while providing community interaction for these enthusiastic college students.
