CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — As Mainers say their goodbyes to the state's colorful fall foliage, they turn their heads toward the highly anticipated ski and snowboard season this upcoming winter.
Maine is scattered with an assortment of ski mountains and resorts. Among them is Sugarloaf, which is already preparing for skiers to hit the slopes.
On Tuesday, Sugarloaf's snowmaking team conducted a snowmaking test, according to a news release from Sugarloaf.
The ski resort said Monday night's temperatures, which dropped into the 20s, allowed for the test to be held on Maine's second-highest peak.
"The temperature window allowed the resort to test a system that saw substantial upgrades over the summer, including the construction of a new mid-mountain booster pump house that will enable the snowmaking team to run more guns simultaneously," the release said.
In addition to a new pump house, the resort also installed 100 new HKD low-energy snowguns and multiple fully-automated fan guns, Sugarloaf said in the release.
As for the snowmaking test Tuesday, around "75 snowguns came online to Scoot at roughly 6:30 a.m., blanketing the trail in an early season coat of white."
"These early season tests are a good way for us [to] make sure we’re ready to go as soon as Mother Nature is,” Sugarloaf Vice President of Mountain Operations Rich Wilkinson said in the release. “We'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast, and we’ll take advantage of any extended opportunity that we get to blow snow.”
The resort said its snowmaking team would soon be in full-swing snowmaking operations once it sees a solid and extended window of below-freezing temperatures.
For information and updates about Sugarloaf's weather and trail conditions, click here.
To learn more about the resort, click here.
