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Early Openings Bode Well for Ski Season in Maine

November 23, 2009 - "If you're not first, you're last." That's our Burke family mantra. It's a competitive clan, for sure, but things get done. I think Stephen Kircher would fit right in at our family reunions.

Kircher, president of Boyne USA, told me in his first year as the management company of Sugarloaf and Sunday River: "We want to be first. We don't like to lose."

Since taking the helm in 2007, he has backed up that statement. Sunday River has opened first in the East every year since. It actually eclipsed its two previous Halloween openings with a super-early Oct. 14 ski debut this year. With sister resort Sugarloaf taking last-to-close honors in May, Maine now has the longest ski season east of the Rockies.

"With Sunday River's early opening, the Farmer's Almanac and the woolly caterpillars, people are feeling optimistic about this ski season," said Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine. "That translates to strong early pass sales, which we have seen here at Ski Maine and throughout the state."

According to Sweetser, Maine's ski areas had their second-best season ever last year, logging more than 1.3 million visits in a challenging economy. While the winter of 2007-08 remains the best season on record, with about 1.4 million visits, last year's Maine visits only dropped 2.5 percent.

Conversely, neighboring New Hampshire saw a 3.3 percent drop from the previous year, and Vermont was down more than 6 percent in skier visits.

Sweetser said that thanks to the efforts of the Maine Tourism Office, Nancy Marshall Communications and Maine ski resorts, Maine has received significant media coverage and increased its share of the northern New England market by 1 percent.

"We don't have the marketing budget that Vermont has by comparison, but the fact that Maine is gaining market share in the competitive Northeast is a very positive sign," Sweetser said.

Big capital improvements last year, including Sunday River's $7.5 million Chondola and Saddleback's new summit quad, contributed to the winter's success.

Smaller community ski hills also had good seasons due to innovative programs designed to introduce new skiers to the sport.

Partnerships like the one between Shawnee Peak and Powderhouse Hill have brought about a spirit of cooperation between the bigger resorts with their greater resources and the smaller hills popular with locals new to skiing. Sugarloaf's partnership with Mt. Jefferson is another example.

"It benefits the community and generates excitement when Big Rock, for example, holds a free ski night sponsored by a local business," Sweetser said. "New people come out to ski. The larger resorts will benefit when the new skiers improve and move up to their mountains. And these skiers will never forget where they learned to ski, so they will always show support to their local ski area."

This season, the Maine Learn to Ski and Ride card is a fantastic example of cooperation. For $89, new skiers or snowboarders can purchase the card at Lost Valley, Titcomb or Camden Snow Bowl and receive three days of skiing as follows:

The first day at the one of these three ski areas includes rentals and a lesson. The second day includes a lift ticket and rentals. The third day at either Sugarloaf or Sunday River includes a ticket and rentals. The retail value on this package is more than $300, so it's a great deal at $89.

While Maine skiers and riders won't see a huge capital splash on the slopes this season, snowmaking has been bolstered at several Maine resorts, and a few new trails will make the maps.

• Shawnee Peak goes Hollywood with Sunset Boulevard, a new trail descending from the summit and featuring 2,000 feet of gentle intermediate terrain. Shawnee previously did not have a lower intermediate trail from the summit triple. Cruising down Sunset Boulevard, skiers and riders are treated to spectacular views of Mount Washington – and that beats Los Angeles any day.

• Saddleback drops ropes on the largest glade in the East. Casablanca, a double black-diamond glade between Black Beauty and Muleskinner, will offer 44 acres of inbound, ungroomed terrain. Saddleback's other new trail, Family Secret – under the Kennebago summit quad – will launch Saddleback's total trail count to 66.

• Camden Snow Bowl has cut a new glade, thanks to volunteer pruning efforts, and the terrain park has been ramped up.

• Mt. Abram also cleared three new double black-diamond glades as part of its Boundary to Boundary blaze, with team efforts from New England Telemark Association. Watch for the return of night skiing once a month at Mt. Abram, too.

• Sugarloaf upgraded snowmaking guns on the revered Gondola Line for an earlier season opening and installed wind fences on Double Runner West and No. 3 T-Bar and new sheaves on the Superquad to improve lift reliability.

• Sunday River has further beefed up its already impressive snowmaking arsenal and made lift improvements to Spruce Peak and White Cap. Sunday River will celebrate its 50th season Dec. 19, so be on the lookout for $50 deals and special events to commemorate five decades of skiing. The Loaf's 50th in 2000 was an impressive party of Maine ski memories and shared passion, so I expect no less at the River.

The ski season party has already started at Sunday River. I hope to see you out on the slopes, because if you're not first, well, you're not first.

HEATHER BURKE, Portland Press Herald, 11/19/09


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