CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Thanks to American Skiing Co.’s debt refinancing, John Diller expects the company to spend well above $1 million in capital upgrades to its Maine ski resorts in the near future.

Improvements are already under way, said Diller, president of the Sugarloaf/USA resort in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry.

This winter, Diller said, Sunday River visitors will find new cafeterias in both base lodges, new signs and improved snowmaking and grooming capabilities.

Sugarloaf also boosted its snowmaking and grooming capabilities, and added a new food and beverage area in Widowmaker Lounge.

But the big news was the resort’s partnership with Carrabassett Valley Academy in raising the money and installing a new SuperPipe, along with a new terrain park for snowboarding and skiing.

Sugarloaf moved 40,000 cubic yards of earth this summer and fall to create the pipe and 60-foot-wide terrain park to cultivate future snowboard Olympians and champions.

“The Pipeline” is 400 feet long with 16- to 18-foot-high walls, and an imposing 18-degree pitch.

It was carved from the woods low on the mountain between Old Winter’s Way trail and the former gondola lift line, according to Carrabassett Valley Academy reports.

Diller predicted that the company’s Eastern resorts would see snowfall this winter comparable to the company’s Western resorts.

But they’ve got some catching up to do.

Steamboat in Colorado was expecting 4 feet of snow Monday, Diller said.

Two feet fell on The Canyons resort in Utah over the weekend, said American Skiing Co. spokesman David Hirasawa.