GREENWOOD – Off-season work continues at Mt. Abram Ski Resort, which is in the second year of a three-year revamp.

According to Josh Burns, who co-owns and operates the resort with wife, Susan, major changes include a new snowmaking pond, a 2006 Bombardier groomer to upgrade the fleet, more snowmaking equipment and a complete makeover of the popular tubing park.

As of Tuesday afternoon, five acres of land had been cleared for a snowmaking pond between the main lodge and West Side Lodge beside Katie’s Crossing Trail.

“It will triple the amount of water we have and feed the whole mountain,” Josh Burns said Tuesday by phone in Portland of the 150-foot-by-900-foot pond. “Our engineers felt it would have the greatest recharge there.”

Operations Manager Jeff Knight also said Tuesday that the new pond would double the capacity of snowmaking, going from 900 gallons of water a minute to 1,800 gallons per minute. The resort’s old pond will be relegated to emergency use only.

The Bombardier will replace an 8-year-old used groomer that the Burnses purchased when Josh bought the ski area for $325,000 at a foreclosure auction Nov. 15, 2000.

“We’ve also added more snowmaking guns and a turbo fan-gun that will be positioned on the headway to bury that area,” Josh Burns said.

The tubing park was redesigned and a third lane added to better accommodate use and skills.

“It will offer varying degrees of excitement, from beginner to intermediate to expert,” he said.

They’ve also rebuilt all of the existing snowmaking pumps, expanded racing program offerings, and hired Tim LaVallee, who previously ran Gould Academy’s successful Gould/Sunday River program.

“I’m also happy to say that we’ve got our complete staff coming back,” he added.

The resort intends to open on Dec. 22, but they’re not worrying about the weather. Heavy snow dumps last winter didn’t begin until Valentine’s Day.

“Our motto to our staff is to worry about the things you can control. If we could replicate what we got on Valentine’s Day, we would, but we’re going to follow the Farmer’s Almanac. It says we’re in for another cold one,” Josh Burns said.