NEWRY – Sunday River opened its Locke Mountain Triple chairlift Thursday, making it the first ski and snowboarding area in the Northeast to open for the season.

The resort announced the opening a few minutes before 11 a.m. and was open by 11:30.

“Snowmaking operations are under way on T2, Sunday Punch, Cascades, Jungle Road and others,” according to a news release issued by resort spokesman Alex Kaufman.

Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley opens today, the release stated. Both resorts are operated by Michigan-based Boyne USA Resorts.

Bill Swain, a spokesman for Sugarloaf, said the resort would open Sluice and Lower Winter’s Way trails, with guests using the short-side of the Double Runner and Spillway chairlifts.

Sugarloaf Ski Patrol Director Mark Adams said terrain conditions would be available by 8:30 a.m. today.

The resort was also making snow on the Tote Road trail.

“As soon as we can have it covered, we’ll open it,” Swain said.

Sugarloaf expected to have about 1,700 vertical feet of skiing available today, he said.

Terrain now available for skiers and snowboard riders at Sunday River is for those with intermediate and advanced skills, with beginner terrain available sometime today. A small terrain park soon will be installed on the upper portion of the mountain, the release stated.

The resort is opening two weeks ahead of its 2006 opening date of Nov. 21.

Maine’s 17 ski and snowboard resorts sell about 1.5 million lift tickets each season, about 50 percent being bought by Mainers, according to Ski Maine, an association of the resorts.

About 4,500 people work in the ski business each winter and the industry contributes about $300 million a year to the state’s economy, a winter tourism figure only matched by the snowmobiling businesses, according to Greg Sweetser, Ski Maine’s executive director.

Sunday River and Sugarloaf are the state’s two largest resorts, and, while owned by the same company, often compete to be the first to open for the season. Sugarloaf edged Sunday River out by a few days last year.

“This gives us a great jump- start on the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Dana Bullen, Sunday River’s general manager. “The next few nights are looking very favorable for snowmaking. We’ll be working to build our base depths on open terrain with an eye toward getting additional trails open. Early season is a time when Sunday River’s snowmaking advantages really show.”

The resort employed a blend of technologies to offer the earliest skiing in the Northeast, the release stated. “Fan guns were used at the base to allow more compressed air to reach the top of the mountain, tower-mounted low-energy guns were used to give the snowflakes more time to freeze during descent, and land-based traditional guns were used in hard-to-hit areas and steep pitches,” according to the release.

This past summer, owner Boyne USA invested nearly $1 million on snowmaking upgrades at Sunday River. Boyne bought Sugarloaf and Sunday River in June from the former American Skiing Company in a $79 million deal.

Boyne has since spent more than $8 million at the two resorts in some of the largest capital improvement investments the two resorts have seen in a decade.