Snowmaking investments paying off for Maine ski resorts
Ski resorts in Maine say investments in new snowmaking technology have allowed them to open their slopes this winter, despite unusually warm temperatures.
The Portland Press Herald reported that Mount Abram in Greenwood, Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry have all benefited from from the new technology that allows snow to be made in warmer temperatures and more efficiently.
Mount Abram, which opened for the season at the start of December for the first time in its 55-year history, invested more than $475,000 last year on 25 snow guns and a high-pressure water pump, the Press Herald reported.
Sugarloaf’s snowmaking capacity has doubled since 2010 with the help of $2.5 million in investments in water pipes and new low-energy guns, and Sunday River has spent $15 million in a revamped snowmaking system over the past six years.
The new snowmaking technology allows ski mountains to make snow when it’s 32 degrees, as opposed to the temperatures of 28 degrees or lower required by older equipment.
At a weather station in Eustis, just north of Sugarloaf, the average temperature in December has been about 30 degrees, about 12 degrees higher than normal, according to Press Herald.
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