FARMINGTON – Titcomb Mountain has added a tow lift capable of carrying more than 300 skiers and riders an hour. The purchase was made with $15,000 from private donations.

General Manager Megan Roberts said Titcomb Mountain is about more than building great skiers. Priding itself as “The Friendliest Mountain Around,” Titcomb is run and owned by the Farmington Ski Club. Roberts stressed that etiquette around the mountain “requires ‘pleases’ and ‘thank-you’s’ and most of all, respect.”

The 400 families that make up the club are asked to donate at least eight hours of their time during the season to volunteer either on the hill, the Nordic trails or in the lodge. And a local high school student sits as a voting member on the board.

When Roberts needs a hand, she is quick to ask young skiers and snowboarders for help taking out the trash or building jumps in the terrain park.

As a result, people who recreate at Titcomb have a sense of pride in their mountain.

Club president is Peter Judkins. His father was president from 1959-1960, and his sister was the first female president in 1989-1991.

Last spring, when Peter Judkins spotted an idle handle tow lift sitting on the side of slopes at Cranmore in New Hampshire, the club jumped on the opportunity to add a new lift to Titcomb.

In less than two weeks, Roberts secured around $15,000 in private donations to bring the lift to Farmington. Now, it joins two T-bar lifts there.

The pony lift, as it’s called in ski industry lingo, is being set up on a beginner trail and can carry more than 300 skiers and riders an hour.

More than 500 feet long, the lift moves slow enough that someone could walk beside it, and skiers and riders can get off at any point on the way up, depending on their confidence level.

Roberts said the lift will be much easier for beginners to use and help with self-confidence on the slopes.

The mountain won’t open until Dec. 13, pending cooperation from Mother Nature.

During the off-season, volunteers have been working to get the mountain ready, removing rocks from the trails, cutting back trees and sprucing up the base lodge.

In response to the requests of a group of local youth snowboarders, the terrain park will be expanded. Those youths worked with Roberts to design the new features and students from Foster Technology school built two 20-foot rails and a local family built two eight-foot beginner rails.

Work is also being done below the base, thanks to a $15,000 grant from Maine Trails and Recreation to continue renovations on two-kilometers of Nordic trails around Cedar Swamp.

And despite the popularity of Sugarloaf Mountain up in Carrabassett Valley and the expected growth of Saddleback in Sandy River Plantation due to new ownership, Roberts is optimistic that Titcomb will remain a pillar of the ski community in the area.

The mountain long ago found its niche and plans to stick with it, she said. That specialty, Roberts explained, is being a “recreation area that is truly run by those who use it.”

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