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V O L . X X I I I N O. V M A R C H 6 , 2 0 1 7 16 A s folks who've shoveled a ton of snow from their driveways over the past month might predict, it's been a great winter so far for Maine's ski industry. "It's a lot better than last year," says Chet Homer, owner of the Shawnee Peak Ski Area in Bridgton. "But we're all counting on a particular week and we don't want to jinx ourselves." Reached prior to February's school break, Homer — like the supersti- tious theater buffs who avoid saying "Macbeth" — refused to say so but was referring to that break, one of the industry's biggest weeks. Others were also happy. "It's going very well, though 22 inches of new snow tends to have that effect," says Darcy Lambert, director of communications for Sunday River Resort in Newry. "It's been a good season, even bet- ter after last week," says Ethan Austin, director of marketing and commu- nications at Maine's largest ski area, Sugarloaf Mountain and Ski Resort. "Everybody's pretty darn good," says Portland-based Ski Maine Association Executive Director Greg Sweetser. By mid-February, Sunday River was reporting 24 inches of new snowfall in just 24 hours, on top of 24 inches since February's start. "is is hands-down the best February in terms of natural snowfall that Sunday River has seen in over a decade," Lambert said in a press release. Not every year has been so good But this year's great snowfalls come after last year's nonexistent ones. "It was a record warm year and nobody was open Christmas week," recalls Homer. "When it became cold and we were able to make snow, we made snow like crazy. at's why you've always got to invest in snowmaking." Homer says he doesn't have an opin- ion in any debate about climate change. "But the extremes between hot and cold seem to be more dramatic," he says. "You can have a violent snowstorm or an extreme rainstorm or extreme heat. After the last three or four years, I don't know what a normal winter is anymore." at doesn't necessarily mean it's any more challenging to run the busi- ness these days. "It's always challenging," Homer says. "But I'm accustomed to it after 23 years. Weather-related businesses have to understand that you go with the ups and downs. You always have to put money back into it, whether you have a good year or a bad year. Fortunately, we're able to do that. It allows us to deal with the nuances that Mother Nature throws at us." e weather is clearly an impor- tant player for an industry that's inte- gral to Maine's winter rural economy, says Sweetser. "e economic impact is over $300 million," Sweetser says. "e snow- mobile industry is also over $300 mil- lion. So the two key components of Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine Association, says skiing and snowmobiling contribute an estimated $600 million to the Maine economy — as long as there's snow. With snowy winter, ski industry relaxes When it's good, the ski business means $300M a year in Maine B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Big business In November 2016, Sunday River and Sugarloaf were part of a package of U.S. ski resorts and other properties sold by Florida-based real estate investment trust CNL Lifestyle Properties to New York hedge fund manager Och-Ziff. The purchase price of about $830 million made it the largest such transaction in the sport's history. Management of Sunday River and Sugarloaf is still handled by Michigan-based Boyne Resorts. S O U R C E : Associated Press W E S T E R N M A I N E F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY

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