GREENWOOD — The weather hasn’t been kind to Mt. Abram this year.

On July 6, lightning struck the main lodge and it burned down. On Wednesday, it was raining on what little snow had fallen on the mountain.

General Manager Kevin Rosenberg isn’t fazed. There is snow in the forecast, he said, and a week of good snowmaking weather before the ski area opens on Dec. 17.

“We’ll be ready for all our customers,” Rosenberg said from his temporary office in the West Side Lodge. He said that since the fire and demolition of the former main lodge, work on a temporary replacement started at a crawl while the mountain looked at its options, finally choosing a metal-and-fabric structure by Rubb Building Designs of Sanford.

With 10 days left before opening day, the ski area is in “the sprint stage,” Rosenberg said. Contractors are in a frenzy to finish up the temporary lodge, with only the frames of the bar, cafe and ski store standing.

On the side of the building, a foundation waits for a prefabricated kitchen and bathroom area built by Schiavi Home Builders of Oxford. Rosenberg said the building is ready to hook utilities up to the prefabricated section. “It’s basically plug and play,” he said.

Despite the project of rebuilding the 50-year-old lodge, Mt. Abram isn’t just playing catch-up. Work is moving forward on several energy-saving projects. On Monday Sustainability Director Erin Bragg started in a position new to the ski area.

In addition to installing low-energy snowmaking guns, Mt. Abram is planning a one-acre solar array that would allow the mountain to produce more electricity annually than it uses. And on Tuesday, the mountain got its new wood pellet boilers, which are housed in a large storage unit.

Bragg said the storage unit will pipe hot water into the lodge, where it will run beneath the floor at about 120 Fahrenheit. She said she expects the pellets to save money for the ski area while supporting local businesses and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

According to Rosenberg, the pellets will come from Maine Energy Systems in Bethel, about 6 miles away, which also provided the boilers.

Bragg said sustainability is important to Mt. Abram and that the ski area is trying to set an example for businesses that going green doesn’t have to impact the bottom line.

She said the ski area is looking into other potential projects, like electric vehicle charging stations. She said Mt. Abram skiers have inquired about them and that Stevens Pass, a ski area in Washington state, has already installed them.

Bragg said global warming is a long-term concern for ski areas. “If we don’t have snow in 50 years, that’s going to be a problem.”

treaves@sunjournal.com

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