AUBURN — On tap for Lost Valley next year: Groomers and brew.

The ski resort this week announced plans for Kassbohrer ATV to build a new regional assembly and test site for snow groomers at Lost Valley.

The resort is also applying for a brewery license, owner Scott Shanaman said. 

Kassbohrer, which has a German parent company, has its Northeast regional headquarters in the industrial park off Alfred Plourde Parkway in Lewiston.

“They’ve outgrown that site,” Shanaman said. “We have some land here for them. What really attracted them to this site was to be able to use Lost Valley, its alpine trails, its nordic skiing trails and its snowmobile trails for testing and for demos.”

The new facility would be on a driveway off Lost Valley Road, largely out of public view. Between six and 12 people would work there. He was unsure of the size of the new building and said Kassbohrer is working on the permit process now.

Kassbohrer hopes to have it open by next spring.

“The appeal to us is they are probably the premier manufacturer in the world of snow grooming equipment,” said Shanaman, who bought Lost Valley with his wife about 18 months ago.

There’s also sentimental pull: “Lost Valley’s original owner, Otto Wallingford, brought that company to the United States, back in the late ’60s, so it’s kind of cool, a back-to-the-roots thing,” he said. “It will allow us to be a demo and test site where we’ll have the latest and greatest in grooming equipment available here.”

Shanaman also has tentative plans to open Lost Valley Brewing Co. at the resort next year. 

“We have obtained our federal permits,” he said. “The next step is the state and the city of Auburn, so we’re working with both of those entities right now. Everything’s looking pretty positive.”

It would be a small brewery within the existing lodge. “The plan is by next year to have a couple of our own beers on tap,” Shanaman said.

Lost Valley’s last scheduled day for skiing this year is Sunday, the first time in a long time the resort has seen April skiing, he said. It’ll bring an end to a good season.

Last year, with so little snow, was rough, “probably the worst season in over 30 years in New England,” he said. “It’s definitely been a much more positive season, that’s for sure. A little weird, kind of up and down with the weather this year, but overall better, for sure.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

Kassbohrer, makers of the ATV PistenBully snow groomer, is moving its Northeast regional assembly site from Lewiston to Lost Valley in Auburn next year.

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