Most Maine ski areas are still in recovery mode from Monday’s storm

A pickup truck rests Tuesday in a washed-out section of the Sunday River access road in Newry. It was stranded during Monday’s storm. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Most Maine ski areas are still recovering from Monday’s storm damage and hastening to prepare mountain trails in time for the start of Christmas vacation week, one of their busiest of the season.

Sugarloaf Mountain, in Carrabassett Valley, announced on its website that “we are greenlight to open for ski/ride operations tomorrow, Thursday, 12/21.”

But other resorts say they won’t be able to open until later. Sunday River in Newry won’t open until Dec. 23 at the earliest. Sunday River and the nearby town of Bethel sustained significant damage from the storm and the flooding it produced.

“While tremendous progress has been made, active construction is ongoing across the resort, and we ask guests and the public to stay off the mountain and not explore any washed out areas. In addition, all trails, including uphill access, are currently closed,” Sunday River said in a statement Wednesday.

“Looking ahead, our current plan is to reopen this Saturday, Dec. 23, with limited terrain,” Sunday River said. Any guests with trips booked through Friday, Dec. 22, will receive refunds.

Rumford was one of the hardest-hit communities, and Black Mountain resort there was no exception.

“You know that movie, ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’? Well, we are doing our best to make sure he doesn’t steal opening day as well. If we said that was quite the weather event, that would be an understatement,” Black Mountain said in a message posted on its website.

Black Mountain said it hopes to open on Dec. 26.

Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton announced Wednesday that it plans to reopen for skiing and snowboarding on Friday. It has has been closed since Monday.

“Your experience on our slopes matters, which is why we are taking an extra day to replenish some of what we’ve lost. We’ll ski you soon,” Pleasant Mountain said.

Saddleback Mountain in Sandy River Plantation said on its website said that it plans to reopen for skiing and riding on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

“Like the rest of Western Maine and our friends and neighbors at nearby resorts, we saw a lot of rain, but our man-made trails are faring well,” Saddleback said.

Lost Valley in Auburn said it hopes to reopen for skiing and snowboarding Thursday night.