Once again, Maine skiers have learned the value of snowmaking and its limits.

The importance of the week between Christmas and New Year’s to ski areas is well known. Without snowmaking, that week could have been a total washout. Instead, reports ranged from OK to good.

After good snowmaking conditions through December, most areas were in fine shape. Then came rain and warm weather. Wednesday was a bright spot with sunny skies and good snow. But the rains returned Thursday, and everyone had to scramble for the final weekend.

I talked with Connie King at Lost Valley, and she said they had a wonderfulWednesday, an OK weekend and a busy Monday, Jan. 2. The week was about as good as a year ago, and she was optimistic looking ahead. The popular learn-to-ski programs are close to full. The adult racing leagues were above last year’s level and were getting started this past week.

At Shawnee Peak, Melissa Rock was upbeat, saying, “Hey, it’s a sunny day and we’re making snow.” That was Wednesday after the numbers were in from the vacation, and it turned out that last Monday was the biggest day. She summed up the holidays by adding that the nice days were strong, and business was even with a year ago.

Roughly half of the area is open during the day, and 80 percent of the lighted terrain is available nights. Although the racing started last week, it’s not to late to put together a four-skier team for moonlight racing.

A little ways west at Sunday River, Alex Kaufman said, “The week turned out well, with the good days taking care of the bad days. December was also very good, so we’re in good shape.”

Monday turned out well, but that was expected because of advanced reservations. It was also a non-blackout day for discount season passes, which were not good through the holidays. Kaufman said a lot more trails would be coming on line as snowmaking continued.

Patricia Carrier reported that Saddleback had a “really good week,” and was packed over the New Year’s weekend. With nearly 30 of their 54 trails open, the resort had plenty of terrain. By this weekend, the upper T-bar could be open, which would make a lot more runs accessible. The $39-lift ticket appears popular, and Maine Day is the first Sunday of every month, with a $25-lift ticket for Maine residents.

“We were one of the few places that got snow at the end of the rain,” were the first words by Bill Swain at Sugarloaf. That summed up the reason conditions were better than the last two-to-three years. Nearly all of the snowmaking runs were open, and the only thing standing in the way of completing the job was wind direction and humidity.

All of Maine’s ski areas are in good shape following the holidays, and will continue to improve with more snowmaking. If we consider the weather before the vacation period, it becomes obvious that without snowmaking, people would have found precious little skiing. Temperatures three weeks before the holidays were good for snowmaking every night. Sunday River made snow 24 hours a day for the duration. There was some natural snow, but a look at trails without snowmaking tells the story. Cover was thin with most trails not fit to ski.

We can thank the snowmakers, but as I mentioned, there are limits, or at least limiting factors. Most skiers know that when the temperatures drop into the 20s, the snow guns can be turned on, but not always.

Humidity is a key factor. When it’s high, snowmaking is not as efficient, and if it’s too high, the snow guns have to shut down. At Shawnee Peak, Moose Pond is a mixed blessing. Having an 11-mile long lake as a source of water is a great benefit. But before that lake freezes over, it creates humidity and often prevents snowmaking. Skiers arrive and wonder why the snow guns are silent with temperatures in the 20s. It’s the lake.

At another area, skiers arriving Saturday see the guns blowing snow on a number of trails. The guns finally shut down Sunday morning, and the skiers assume these runs will be groomed out by Monday. But when they arrive, the trails have huge whales of snow with loose new man-made in between. The problem? Man-made snow has to settle and dry out before being groomed. If not, the snow cats turn out one of the worst conditions a skier can encounter – chunks of frozen snow. One skier term for this condition is “Death cookies,” and if you have ever skied into them with any speed, you know the reason for the term.

Skiers need to understand some of these limits. Today’s snowmaking systems can turn out incredibly good skiing, and what the areas did following the rain attests to that ability. But when we are disappointed by the results, we need to consider the variables. It would take a lot more space than we have here to explore all the challenges to snowmaking and grooming, but this should help to understand.