Lost Valley Ski Area operations manager Adam Meserve doesn’t get to ski as much as you might think

AUBURN — Adam Meserve is a reserved, easy-going guy who admits he was not destined to be an office worker.

He’s spent his entire life in the Lewiston-Auburn area and bears the hallmarks of someone who works with their hands outdoors — from his wind-chapped face to his work gloves and layers of clothing.

Lost Valley Ski Area Operations Manager Adam Meserve looks over the deck rail Jan. 25 at the Auburn venue. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

At 38, the former heavy truck mechanic has been the mountain operations manager at Lost Valley for just under a year.

“I’ve been skiing here since I was 8 years old,” Meserve said in a rare lull at the ski and snowboard area, “but I started on the ski patrol in 2009 as a volunteer.”

Lost Valley was the first ski and snowboard area in Maine to make artificial snow, with its first season in 1961-62, more than 20 years before Meserve was born.

Snowmaking is a new skill the young manager is learning as part of his job, and he said there’s a lot of science involved.

“You have to have the right temperature, right humidity, you have to be pretty much a weatherman to know how to make snow,” he said. That includes the right equipment because without it, it doesn’t work and the end result is inferior quality snow, which skiers don’t like.

“It’s a good mixture of air and water,” Meserve said, “a lot of high-volume, high-pressure water to high-pressure air to make snow.”

In 2015, Scott Shanaman bought the beleaguered ski area after 10 years of losses, saving it from an uncertain future and charting a course for a new era. Shortly afterward, Meserve started working part time doing vehicle maintenance and one thing led to another, he said.

“Once they heard I was a diesel mechanic, they were like, ‘I need you on maintenance.’ All right. So, they brought me in — great people to work with,” Meserve said. Since then he’s grown into the place and it feels like a big family, he said.

Families are a big part of Lost Valley as anyone who has grown up in the Auburn area knows well. Skiers of all ages and abilities have cut their teeth on the “hidden valley” founded and built by three World War II veterans: businessman Otto Wallingford, veterinarian Dr. “Doc” Camille Gardner, and politician Willis A. Trafton Jr.

If you think it’s all play on the mountain, it isn’t. Meserve works seven days a week in ski season, tending to whatever needs to be done — from working with the electrician on lighting or getting the lifts going, to running the groomer, and there’s always something that needs to be fixed.

Lost Valley Ski Area Operations Manager Adam Meserve climbs a ladder Jan. 24 to inspect the bullwheel prior to firing up one of the chairlifts just before opening for the day. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Operating the equipment is Meserve’s favorite part of his job, paperwork is his least favorite.

This ski season has already presented challenges and rewards, from warm temperatures and flooding rains in December to colder temperatures allowing for the creation of lots of powdery snow that skiers love.

“That one rainstorm definitely hit us hard, it did wash out a lot of our snow,” he said. “But, thankfully our snowmaking team stepped up, did a really good job, re-covered the mountain and more.”

The ski area is abuzz when the weather cooperates. Lost Valley General Manager John Herrick said they have 75,000 skier visits a year and with a 100-day season that translates into an average 750 skiers a day. But that figure can easily double on the weekends — and that doesn’t include special events and functions.

“A lot of kids love this mountain,” Meserve said. “It’s a great learning area. Our ski school program is really good and there are a lot of programs going on right now, plus a lot of terrain park events also coming up for our rails and jumps.”

Like many others who’ve skied Lost Valley over the years, Meserve talked about how the ski area has grown — adding trails, upgrading and adding lifts, snowmaking capability, terrain parks, tubing and the brewpub.

“When I learned how to ski here, there was no jumping allowed,” Meserve recalled, “now we build them.”

At the height of the season, Lost Valley will have about 200 people working at the mountain — some are volunteers. There’s a robust ski school, ski patrol, lift operators, office staff, brewpub workers and more.

Adam Meserve’s job is year-round. In the summer there’s maintenance on the lifts, replacing worn-out parts, checking everything over, hill maintenance, drainage work and of course the grass needs to be mowed. Lost Valley has walking trails, the brewpub is open three days a week and there are always events such as weddings.

Summer is for the most part quieter and it’s special to him because he gets to wear shorts — something he was never allowed to do as a heavy truck mechanic.

Meserve doesn’t get to ski as much as you might think. But when he does get time off, he likes to check out other ski areas and get some “mountain time” in and he said he now has an entirely different perspective, wherever he goes.

“Ever since I started in the maintenance department, I see mountains so much differently now,” he said with a kid-like smile. “I used to ride a chairlift and just watch people ski, stuff like that. Now, I ride chairlift going, oh yeah, I’m usually looking up at all the chairlift parts going, OK, cool — and that’s how that one works or looking at the snowmaking system going, OK, that’s how they have it designed.”

Lost Valley is different from the big resorts in western Maine not just in size, but in function and formality. The bigger resorts will see thousands of people a day and staff are usually separated from guests in that they don’t mingle or eat in the same areas.

But that’s not how it works at Lost Valley and that, said Meserve, sets it apart. “Here, you see our maintenance personnel, our ski patrol, you see everybody come in, get food. You can talk to them, ask them questions. It’s awesome, it’s a great family environment.”

Meserve is grateful that his family is very supportive, despite his schedule. “Yeah, it’s long hours, but it’s all right. It’s worth it.”

His three children all ski or snowboard and two of his teens work at Lost Valley — his daughter is on the ski patrol and does various jobs while his middle son is a big snowboarder and just got his work permit that allows him to put in some time at the terrain park. The youngest son is a skier, he said.

If knowledge comes with time, Meserve is looking ahead. “Learn more about what I’m doing, make this place grow even more, to help with growing. I love seeing this place grow and upgrade.”