Maine's Ski Industry off to an optimistic start

SKI MAINE ASSOCIATION NEWS BUREAU PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT:
Greg Sweetser, Executive Director
207-773-7669 (SNOW) ext 1
gsweetser@skimaine.com

Ski Maine: (Jan 04, 2009)

Portland ME: Maine ski areas welcomed the New Year with good crowds at both the community slopes and destination resorts. Although the deep natural snow suffered from the heat on Sunday December 28, most ski areas were able to recover quickly with excellent snowmaking conditions. Maine's smallest area, Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick is on pace for record attendance as a result of the December snowstorms. According to Warren Cook, CEO at Saddleback Ski Area in Rangeley, "we posted a 14% increase in skier visits and real estate sales are very active." Sunday River's new Chondola, a combination gondola, chairlift, brought new skiers to this Western Mountain Resort. Sugarloaf's Seth Wescott opened the new skier/snowboard cross park with solid TV media coverage. Shawnee Peak's Marketing Director, Melissa Rock was enthusiastic about the long vacation period. "We had ten long vacation days with Christmas and New Years falling on Thursdays. Our Ullr Fest, on Monday the 29th generated a record turnout with the lifts open until ten followed by fireworks." At Mt Abram, Art McNeally, Marketing Director echoed the enthusiasm. "Our parking lots were full, our New Year's Eve party sold out, the tubing park had lines and the owners and managers worked on the front lines of all departments not only because we were busy, but we want to hear what the customers are saying."
 
Maine Nordic Centers are more dependent upon natural snow and they endured the range of emotions with near record snowfall to start the vacation, followed by a thaw. Dixie Harris at Harris Farm in Dayton reported, "If I had a nickel for every phone call since the melt down we would have had a great winter already. Our skiers are south of here where the snow actually fell last week. Dec 26 was one of our best midweek days ever and then it was gone." The Nordic centers located farther away from the coast retained much of the snow and reported average vacation week crowds.
 
The outlook for January is strong and a snowstorm is in the forecast. According to Greg Sweetser, Executive Director of Ski Maine Association, "across Maine, at both the Alpine Ski Areas and Nordic Centers, we experienced a good start to the season. Skiers are a passionate group and they know that winter is a relatively short season, so when the skiing is available, they are going to get out and enjoy the snow. If the current trends continue, winter sports will be a bright spot in Maine's winter economy."

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