AUBURN, Maine — Lost Valley in Auburn sounds like a place right out of a storybook. Right?
Come to find out, there are a lot of ‘cool’ characters hard at work at the Central Maine ski area.
Erland Torrey has been behind the wheel of the groomer every season for the last 31 years.
You can find him up bright and early every day making sure each slope has fresh corduroy.
“I think a lot of it is just the mystique of being here in the middle of the night and the serenity,” Torrey said.
He is now known as ‘Old man,’ ‘Dad’ and ‘Grandpa’ to the other members of the crew who keep the 22 trails and four lifts up and running.
Unlike the rest of them, he gets to spend most of his time in the warm cab of the groomer—something he admits makes his job a little less ‘cool.’
"I have the best job here,” Torrey said.
Like ski areas across the state, February school vacation week has been good for Lost Valley’s business.
The statewide organization Ski Maine has said the break is the ‘midpoint’ of the ski season.
"There is such a vast amount of terrain available with this deep snowpack. We have 100-percent coverage at all downhill and Nordic centers in every corner of the state,” Ski Maine Executive Director Greg Sweetser said in a statement.
Lift operators and inspectors like Nate Swenson at Lost Valley are the ones braving the cold for hours on end to make the experience the best possible for all the kids.
"Even in the cold you've gotta freeze the smile on,” Swenson said.
Swenson said seeing kids and families having fun is what makes the job worth it.
"It's been a great season so far,” general manager John Herrick said. “We got off to a shaky start. Mother nature wasn't kind to us.
Herrick said the latest storm on Thursday was just the cherry on top of a series of plentiful snowstorms over the last week.
“Thankfully we got a big dumping here just before February vacation to allow us to open up 100-percent for all the skiers so it's been a busy February vacation,” Herrick said.