Ah, spring. When a snow enthusiast's thoughts turn to soft snow, the sweet and somewhat sorrowful smell of a wet and warming earth (OK, call it the scent of mud) and, of course, the bazillion different ways you can enjoy a raucously wild time and blame it on a case of spring fever.

Don't tell anyone, but scientists, at least according to a recent New York Times report, now believe spring fever to be mostly mythical. It is, scientists have found, the fall when testosterone levels increase in males, for instance. Alas, so much for my excuse. But growing hours of sunlight do have a powerful way of boosting the spirit. And with the snow we've gotten this year there's no excuse really to not stretch out the winter fun for a few more weeks.

"A lot of it is people have been enduring winter in their own way," said Alex Kaufman, the spokesman for Sunday River in Newry. "Now's the time to get out and enjoy it while there's still a lot of snow."

Sunday River, Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Saddleback in Dallas Plantation near Rangeley will all be open for skiing and riding for most of April. Sugarloaf will go at least until the first weekend of May this year, according the Jim Costello, the vice president of marketing for both Sunday River and Sugarloaf.

JoAnne Taylor, the marketing director at Saddleback, said April 20 will be their final day this year.

All three ski hills also offer a host of deals and fun activities beyond skiing and riding.

Locally, Lost Valley in Auburn gets the spring madness all started with its end-of-season "Snodeo" today. Beyond skiing and riding down the slopes, the Valley is offering this fine line-up of spring fever-busting events:

Pond skimming, where you try to ride your skis or snowboard across open water; a real live mechanical bull; cardboard box races; a chili challenge; a beer garden on the deck; and more.

At Saddleback on April 5 you can try your luck in their pond skimming competition, or attack their terrain park during the Park Shark Challenge on April 12.

Jimmy Buffet fans shouldn't miss Sunday River's Parrothead Festival, which starts on April 5 and coincides with the resort's annual Bust and Burn challenge for those wanting to bounce through the bumps on what's billed as the steepest and widest mogul trail in the East, White Heat. And if skiing with strains of Margaritaville on the brain isn't incentive enough, proceeds from the festival help fund two Maine Make-A-Wish Foundation wishes. This year $12,000 will be raised, Kaufman said.

If you and your parrot survive, you can use the same tropical print shirt for Sugarloaf's 20th Annual Reggae Festival starting Friday, April 11, and running through Sunday, April 13. Twenty years ago, naysayers predicted the festival would fail, according to Costello, who was around when former Sugarloaf pitchman Chip Carey first suggested it.

"A lot of people around the table thought reggae would never work," Costello recalled. Last year the resort estimates 10,000 folks showed up on Saturday during the day, when the music is outside and open to the public.

With more than 21 feet of snow so far this season, all three resorts expect snow on the slopes long after the world has turned its attention to warmer-weather pursuits.

Taylor said winter hasn't really ended at Saddleback. "We aren't even melting yet and I haven't even been able to report spring conditions," she said.

The thing about spring is all the "hardship is removed," Taylor added.

"The cold is gone, the wind is gone, the sun is bright and the sky is blue. It's all just a lot easier in the spring."