NEWRY – Building on the success of last winter, area ski resorts invested heavily during the off-season in everything from lifts to restaurants despite a turbulent economy.

In all, local ski resorts in western Maine invested at least $22 million in improvements.

So far, the investments seem to be panning out, according to Greg Sweetser, spokesman for the industry association Ski Maine.

Sweetser said a troubled economy may have actually have a more positive effect on Maine ski hills than many would expect. Frustrated with airline travel and looking for less-expensive ways to vacation, many Mainers and New Englanders will head to nearby mountains this winter, he said.

“There are families that do not want to be stuck in an airport for nine, 10, 11 hours on their vacation, missing a day of lodging and of skiing,” Sweetser said. “Part of the conventional wisdom is that New England has such a population base within a drive time of our ski areas that we will do all right.”

So far, room reservations from people in Maine and New Hampshire are up for local resorts. A host of pricing options, package deals and shared season passes for skiers and riders all point to another good season. Last season, with its bounty of natural snow, was one of the best for Maine ski areas in a decade. Now, the resorts are hoping for more good snow and good snow-making weather, Sweetser said.

“We enter every year cautiously optimistic and we have such a resilient group of operators I think we will always do all right,” Sweetser said.

Here’s a quick look at who did what during the off-season at nearby ski resorts.

Sunday River

Boyne Resorts dumped more than $19 million into its two ski hills: Sunday River in Newry and Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabassett Valley.

Of $14 million at Sunday River, $7.2 million was spent on a high-speed hybrid lift that sports 48 six-person chairs and 16 eight-person gondola cabins on the same cable at regular intervals.

Dubbed a “Chondola” by resort officials, the first such lift in the Northeast will carry guests from the South Ridge base area to the summit of North Peak. It is expected to open by Christmas and will be operated year-round.

“This new lift will cut what was a 20-minute trip on two separate lifts to a single ride of just under seven minutes, bringing skiers and riders to a point from where they’ll have direct access to six of Sunday River’s eight peaks in a single run,” marketing director Nick Lambert stated in a recent report.

The Chondola and South Ridge express lifts will also service the debut of 12-hour skiing and riding on North Peak and South Ridge.

Other investments include $1.5 million in snow-making upgrades, including 70 new Boyne low-energy fan guns, renovations at Barker Mountain and Peak lodges, and upgrades at both Grand Resort hotels.

Additionally, initial development was started on a new multi-use trail system that will span the resort and new mountain biking trails were constructed.

Sugarloaf

At Sugarloaf, more than $5 million was spent on enhanced snow-making capacity, terrain park makeovers and upgrades to on-mountain facilities, according to spokesman Ethan Austin.

To make more snow earlier in the season, the resort added a sixth water pump to its pump house, replaced all existing pumps with new, more efficient ones, and augmented its snow-making fleet with 25 new Boyne proprietary energy-efficient guns.

Sugarloaf also added 50 new low-energy HKD snow guns and a new high-flow snow-making pipe to the summit to improve snow-making in its above-tree-line area.

Freestyle skiers and snowboard riders will find a new terrain park landscape with a new advanced terrain park on Haywire trail, a new beginner park on Whiffletree, a newly designed Superpipe and a new, permanent snowboardcross/skiercross course designed by Olympic snowboardcross champion Seth Wescott.

Called Sidewinder, the new course will be located in an area known locally as The Yard. Austin said it will feature live-timing, allowing guest to test their skills and weigh their times against each other and Wescott.

Other additions include new trail signage, three newly marked glades, new energy-efficient lift buildings for eight lifts, and a new addition to Bullwinkle’s, Sugarloaf’s on-mountain restaurant.

Mount Abram

After buying Mount Abram Family Ski Resort in June, new owners Matt Hancock and Rob Lally invested $350,000 in the Greenwood ski hill, according to Hancock.

Noticeable improvements include extensions of the children’s Magic Carpet lift in the Westside Learning Park and the tubing run on the other side of the mountain, creation of a new tubing park for small children and snow-making upgrades.

Hancock said they are adding 80 feet to the children’s lift and constructing a tubing run near the on-mountain day-care facility.

Because the sport of tubing – riding inflated inner tubes down a snow-covered slope – is rapidly growing, the pair decided to add 300 feet and some turns onto the resort’s 1,200-foot-long tubing run. They also moved it up the mountain a bit farther.

Other upgrades include overhauling the racing program, hiring new staff, renovating the lounge, adding a stage for live music and expanding snow-making capacity at the Headwall, the resort’s racing venue.

Additionally, half the mountain underwent trail widening to brush back tree creep. The other half will be done next year.

Black Mountain

Black Mountain Ski Area in Rumford invested about $100,000 in snowmaking improvements and a used groomer, according to Director Brad Adley.

In addition to dredging 4 to 5 feet of muck from the bottom of its snow-making pond to increase water capacity, Black Mountain spent $24,000 on two new low-energy fan-jet snow-making guns.

“The pond hadn’t been dredged in 10 to 15 years,” Adley said last week. “We didn’t enlarge it, we just dredged it.”

The ski hill also spent $74,000 on a 2005 Piston Bully Edge groomer, which gives the alpine area two such machines now instead of one.

Lost Valley

Like the others, the Auburn destination has been making improvements, including a new feature in the terrain park called a Wall Ride, for skiers and snowboarders.

Lost Valley has also added a new snowmaking pump, which will improve manmade snow coverage and quality.

And Nordic skiing offerings are being expanded, including more freestyle and traditional cross-country terrain – work being done by Auburn Nordic Ski Association members.

The resort has welcomed new mountain Manager David Whitcomb. Whitcomb last worked at the Nashoba Ski Area in Massachusetts.

Shawnee Peak

Bridgton’s Shawnee Peak celebrates 20 years of night skiing this winter and worked this summer expanding its lodge with a new Great Room. The 40-by-40-foot addition features all-glass walls, atrium ceilings, post-and-beam styling and solar heating, resort officials said.

The resort is also working to improve its energy efficiency again this year by replacing all of its remaining low-efficiency snow guns with high-efficiency guns, reducing energy consumption by an estimated 50 percent.

Titcomb Mountain

Off-season work and investments at Titcomb Mountain Ski Area in Farmington include terrain work, lighting and grooming equipment improvements.

According to Manager Karleen Andrews, Titcomb invested $15,000 in its two Bombardier groomers, regraded its terrain park hill to create better slope flow, excavated and smoothed ground around lift lines and improved lighting, wattage and positioning for night skiing.

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