RANGELEY — Wrestling with a weak-snow winter and premature summer temperatures in March, the trio of ski resorts still open in Maine are taking advantage of the recent dip in temperatures and have fired up their snow-making systems.

Saddleback Ski Area  in Rangeley first announced it was making snow early Monday followed shortly by announcements from Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry.

“Making snow even this late in the season is all part of our commitment to providing better snow conditions to our skiers and riders,” Jim Quimby, Saddleback’s operations manager, said.

Sunday River in Newry was also making snow, according to the resort’s website, which listed snow-making on eight of the resort’s 54 open trails.

A release issued by a spokeswoman for Sunday River and Sugarloaf said it was the latest in the spring either resort had made snow.  

Loon in Lincoln, N.H., which is owned by the same parent company as Sugarloaf and Sunday River, was also making snow, the release noted.

“We are committed to ensuring our guests are able to ski and snowboard well into late season and we have the infrastructure to handle it,” John McGregor, senior vice president of Ski Operations at Boyne Resorts, said in a statement.

The three ski resorts still operating in Maine and a handful of others in New England have the advantage of high elevations, which will see far cooler temperatures than more southern areas over the next few days, according to local forecasts.

Weather forecasts for the resorts show overnight temperatures dropping to the teens and daytime highs reaching the low 40s for the rest of the week.

Greg Sweetser, the executive director of Ski Maine, an industry association, said the March 26 date for snow-making was likely a late season record.

“This is the latest snow-making that anyone can remember,” Sweetser wrote in an email.

Resorts were taking on the added effort for a couple of reasons, Sweetser wrote.

“First, Sugarloaf and Sunday River have a substantial number of British students coming for their annual spring break,” he wrote. “Many of them are new to skiing, so snow-making will insure plenty of great learn-to-ski and snowboard conditions.”

Making snow this late also demonstrates the commitment all three resorts have to their regular clientele as well as to people who have made ski and lodging reservations for spring skiing, Sweetser stated.

“Finally, with temps falling to 10 degrees, the efficiency of the snow-making makes it as economical as midwinter conditions,” Sweetser wrote. “March and early April are very popular ski weeks and taking advantage of this snow-making opportunity will give us a good send off to winter.”

sthistle@sunjournal.com

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