NEWRY — Maine’s two largest ski areas, Sunday River and Sugarloaf, are calling the past ski season, when both resorts saw action into May, a record breaker.
Together the resorts saw more than 900,000 skier and snowboarder visits in the 2007-08 season, a spokesman said.
The spokesman, Alex Kaufman, wouldn’t reveal exact numbers, claiming that the resorts’ owner considers those figures proprietary.
His claim of a record-breaking season was based on the percent increase the resorts reported compared to the last publicly released data on visits when the ski areas were part of a publicly traded company and skier visits were reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The resorts were purchased last year by Boyne USA, based in Michigan.
Kaufman did confirm the combined estimate to be in the ballpark of 900,000 to 950,000 visits for both resorts.
Strong season pass sales, the long season brought on by an unusually snowy winter and continued snowmaking improvements were credited for boosting visits, a release issued by Kaufman Monday stated.
Also a factor was the strength of the Canadian dollar, which helped push visits from that country up by 27 percent over the previous season, the release stated.
“Sunday River was the first resort open in the East and Sugarloaf was the last resort to close for the season,” said Jim Costello, director of marketing and sales at Sugarloaf and Sunday River. “Our snowmaking crews and continued investment in new snowmaking technology are why we’re able to offer over a ski season a week longer than the rest of the Northeast. It’s the first time Maine has been able to claim that title.”
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