PRESQUE ISLE and MARS HILL, Maine — The early snowfall that Aroostook County received in November proved helpful for local ski slopes, which are geared up for what they expect to become another busy winter season.
At Quoggy Jo Ski Center in Presque Isle, manager Gene Cronin and his group of volunteers are grooming the center’s seven trails and performing final-stage maintenance and inspections on ski lifts and equipment. As of late November, Cronin said Quoggy Jo had seen 15 to 16 inches of snow fall onto the slopes, which is close to the same amount that had fallen last year at this time.
Since Quoggy Jo volunteers do not produce artificial snow for the slopes, they rely on natural snow in order to give skiers a smooth, graceful skiing experience.
“Typically, we want to have at least 18 inches before we open during Christmas break,” Cronin said. “When you’re grooming you want to produce a good 8- to 12-inch baseline for skiing.”
Quoggy Jo will open for the season on Thursday, Dec. 26, just in time for the next school vacation. The 45-acre ski center offers regular weekend hours of 11 a.m.-4 p.m., but will be open everyday during that time frame for Christmas and February breaks.
It also hosts an after-school program for SAD 1 students every Tuesday starting in February.
This year Quoggy Jo will introduce adult ski nights, special events during which adults can get together and learn how to ski.
Cronin noted that Quoggy Jo’s season passes and memberships continue to be popular with area residents. All seven trails provide easy to moderate-level skiing, making the sport accessible to family members of all ages, he said.
“Skiing is a family sport that people can do throughout their lives,” Cronin said. “It’s a fun way to stay active and healthy.”
In Mars Hill, the crew members at Big Rock Ski Area opened the snow tubing hills on Friday, Nov. 29, and the 27 ski trails on Saturday, Dec. 7. Big Rock’s trail groomers produce artificial snow as an addition to the natural snow that falls on the mountain.
Big Rock manager Travis Kearney said that the early snowstorms in November and night temperatures in the 20s or below allowed his crew to work extra hours producing snow and grooming the trails.
Though more than a foot of snow dropped onto the mountain, crew members groomed the snow down to 12 inches in order to produce a smooth, hard-packed layer that can withstand brief warmer temperatures or rainy weather.
“You want hard-packed snow because light, powdery snow can blow off the mountain more easily or melt during rain or warmer temperatures,” Kearney said.
This is the first time in possibly 10 years, Kearney said, that the weather has allowed Big Rock to open all its trails and the snow tubing hill a month ahead of schedule. Typically he and his crew aim to open the mountain in mid-December.
After last weekend’s opening, Big Rock will hold ski hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and snow tubing hours from noon to 4 p.m. on Dec. 14 and 15. It will open every day Dec. 21-31, except for Christmas Day, for skiing and snow tubing.
Starting Jan. 1, 2020, Big Rock will be open 1-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Kearney said that Big Rock chose to add Wednesday to the weekly hours after hearing much interest from the area’s older population.
“A lot of our regular season pass holders are retired or semi-retired people who like to come skiing on weekdays when there is less traffic,” Kearney said.
Big Rock also plans to use Wednesday as an extra day for its after-school skiing program. The need came about after more local schools began expressing interest in the program, and the ski area’s staff realized that classes were at capacity.
Kearney credits both the early winter weather and increased interest in youth skiing for the 10 percent growth that Big Rock has seen in its season pass sales thus far. Big Rock will continue to sell season passes throughout December, and Kearney expects that weekly attendance at the slopes might increase as a result.
“I think more people are seeing the value in downhill skiing as a physical activity,” Kearney said. “They want activities they can do as a family while taking care of themselves.”
Snow tubing has also remained a consistently popular activity at Big Rock. Justin and Ashley Guerrette of Frenchville took advantage of Thanksgiving break to bring their sons Cody, 8, and Hunter Guerrette, 7, and Aiden Collins, 12, to the snow tubing hills for the afternoon on Nov. 29.
“It’s a fun thing to do as a family,” Ashley Guerrette said.
