It’s always tough to say exactly when a ski season gets underway. For close to 300 skiers it started at Lost Valley on Oct. 23 with the seventh annual Maine Ski Hall of Fame induction banquet. Eight Maine skiers were inducted this year — Tom Bennett, Sarah Billmeier, Byron “Bud” Dow, John Litchfield, Les Otten, Herb Adams, Ted Curtis and John Roderick. You can find out about them and previous classes at www.skimuseumofmaine.org.

For others it may have been the local ski club ski swap and sale or maybe a trip to Boston for the annual Ski and Snowboard Expo. And, of course, there are those of us who don’t consider the season truly underway until we make those first turns, which for me are usually at the Sunday River demos this weekend. Unfortunately, limited cover has postponed that event to later in the season.

If you’re heading for Sugarloaf, you can get your skis blessed for safety. The Reverends Pam and Earle Morse will be blessing skis and snowboards at the Jean Luce Timing Building at the bottom of Comp Hill at 11 a.m. There will also be some awards for oldest skis and other categories. Check sugarloaf.com for details. When I heard about this one, I wondered if Earle had heard about a similar activity in the 1940s over in the Mount Washington Valley.

Al Ouellette who skied at Wildcat into his 80s told me the story. He and some skiing buddies cooked up the idea. They would take the skis to the local priest and donate 25 cents a pair to the church. They in turn charged 50 cents to those who had their skis blessed. The scheme turned a bit sour when they drove their station wagon with one of those upright ski racks into the garage. Needless to say the 50 cents a pair didn’t cover the cost of the shattered wood skis. Apparently the blessings didn’t cover ski racks and garage doors. I hope Earle has better luck.

After a record cold October got skiers thinking this was going to be a great early season, November turned warmer. Even though a few areas opened, it has been difficult to expand terrain. Instead, the snowmakers had to keep adding new snow to trails already open. The good news is that with today’s powerful snowmaking systems, all it takes is a stretch of cold weather to change things in a hurry. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some events in December.

Next Friday, Titcomb will have their annual Holiday Auction. The next day, Mt. Abram will host the second annual racing clinic for coaches and team captains. The day-long event will cover fundamentals of alpine racing, injury prevention, training, technical aspects of racing and more. An all star cast of presenters includes Tom Reynolds, Tim Lavallee, Dr. Linc Avery, Shaun Goodwin, and Georg Capaul, a group with experience around the world. Sunday is the 10th annual Santa Sunday at Sunday River. Wear a complete Santa outfit, and ski free and get a pair of early-season tickets, as well. It’s limited to 250, so preregistration is required. It’s also a reminder that there’s not a lot of shopping time left, so next week we’ll have out suggestions of Christmas gifts for the skier on your list.

Next weekend is sign-up time for the Bud Light racing series at Sugarloaf. That’s a reminder that it’s time to check with the various leagues that will be starting up. Shawnee Peak has racing with the moon, and Lost Valley offers corporate racing.

Saturday Meisters gets underway Dec. 12 at Saddleback. Demos will be at Sugarloaf on Dec. 12-13. Lost Valley’s on-snow training clinic for new and returning coaches will take place Dec. 12.

Shawnee Peak’s opening will occur when the weather cooperates. Night skiing is scheduled for Dec. 21. Lost Valley is shooting for Dec. 18, and Mount Abram, Camden and Titcomb are planning on the 19th. All of Maine’s ski areas can be monitored through www.skimaine.com for events and projected openings.

As we get closer to Christmas, look for special events such as the Nativity Pageant at Sugarloaf on Dec. 20, and Community Candlelight Services on the 24th.

Spruce Mountain will open the day after Christmas, which is also Kid’s Day at Mount Abram. Shawnee Peak’s Ullr Fest is set for the 29th and, of course, there will be New Year’s celebrations.

The biggest celebration in December will be at Sunday River the weekend of Dec. 18-20. The area opened Dec. 19, 1959, and will have a birthday celebration on the 19th to mark the 50th anniversary. The celebration will last the entire season with almost every event somehow tied to the birthday.

That first day, skiers had a single T-bar which, due to lack of snow, could only be ridden half way. The trail choices were the bottom half of Lower Casacades or Rocking Chair.

In Sunday River’s first mailing of the season, the brochure featured a patch from the early years, a picture of the original base lodge, pictures of the mountain as it appeared in the ’60s and early ’70s, the first T-bar, the first chair lift and other reminders of the past.

For the occasion, a book by yours truly will be on sale at the mountain and book stores detailing the 50 years. We have seen advance copies, but we’re not sure if the full order will arrive in time for the big birthday party. For this and other details of the celebration, check www.sundayriver.com.

Now get those bindings checked and ski tuned, and we’ll see you on the mountain.