NEWRY, Maine — Despite a smattering of precipitation types heading into the weekend, mountains have prepared ahead of time in hopes of outsmarting Mother Nature.
Abby Borron, communications manager at Sunday River, said the mountain operations crew has been working tirelessly.
"As far as the snow surface goes, we're in pretty good shape despite the warm temps that we've had. We've been able to groom every night, and we have been making snow," Borron said.
Snow guns blazing in March is not the norm but has become that way in the last few years. They were on Tuesday night at many mountains in New England. It's helping to keep the trail counts up and the season going strong into April.
Sunday River expects over 80 trails open for the weekend ahead. It's also the last weekend that the Jordan Express lift will be in service before it's replaced by the Jordan 8 next winter.
"It's a pretty big deal," Borron said. "We're replacing it next season with an eight-person chairlift, so we're going to have some music. There will be a prize or two for skiers whose RFID card gets scanned at the Jordan lift, and we've also extended twilight skiing for the weekend as well."
Tickets for twilight skiing are only $10 for the closing weekend, and amenities at the Jordan Hotel will be open later for Twilight skiing too.
For the 21-and-over crowd, it's Craft Beer Weekend. This kicks off the launch of the Western Maine Brew Passport, a collaboration between Sunday River and breweries across Western Maine, culminating with Maine Brew Fest in the fall.
Picking up three stamps in the passport through the summer will enter beer enthusiasts to win tickets for entry to the fall festival.