CAMDEN, Maine — The Camden Snow Bowl is readying for its first full season with expanded trails, lifts and snowmaking capability.
This follows a difficult year when the start of the ski resort operations was delayed until the end of January because the installation of equipment had not been completed This also followed a year when erosion problems, resulting from work on the mountain, created muddy runoff into adjacent Hosmer Pond.
The town is looking forward to a strong year, however, now that all the upgrades near completion.
The town is offering discounts for people who purchase season passes during October. Typically, about 1,200 season passes are sold annually but Snow Bowl General Manager Landon Fake said he hopes that there will be more this year.
“We hope to attract from a larger geographical area. People are more aware of the terrain and our improved snowmaking,” Fake said.
Season passes purchased during October will cost $719 for a family from Camden, compared to $929 after Oct. 30. A nonresident family pass will cost $999 during October or $1,099 after Oct. 31.
Full rates can be seen at the Snow Bowl’s website, CamdenSnowBowl.com.
“People hiking the trails and riding the triple chair in October will be able to experience two new vistas overlooking the bay,” the town stated in a news release.
The rebuilt double chairlift, which will be finished in the fall, will serve the Snow Bowl’s new beginner area. This will complete the second phase of the Ragged Mountain redevelopment project. The new parking lot was completed earlier this year.
The final phase will be the construction of a new lodge. Fake said construction of the lodge will depend on fundraising. The Ragged Mountain Foundation is raising money for the lodge as it has done for the remainder of the redevelopment.
Camden voters overwhelmingly agreed in November 2013 to borrow up to $2 million that went along with $4.5 million raised privately.
During foliage season, the triple chair will be operating every Sunday in October from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. following the Ragged Mountain Ski Club’s annual pancake breakfasts in the lodge.
On Oct. 20, the events committee for the redevelopment project will hold a fundraiser at Flatbread in Rockport, where $4.50 from each pizza sold will benefit the project.
A new freestyle ski program highlights the Snow Bowl’s instructional offerings this season. The signup process for all programs will be accessible online at the Snow Bowl’s website, as well as during program day in November.
One issue that remains unresolved is action by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on the past year’s erosion problems.
“We have observed a considerable amount of work has been done to address the concerns regarding storm water and soil erosion. DEP staff is scheduled to be onsite again within the next two weeks to monitor the progress,” Department of Environmental Protection spokesman David Madore said last week.
The town was sent a notice of violation originally in September 2014. Madore said the department does not comment about potential penalties while an enforcement case is pending. The Department of Environmental Protection’s last site inspection of the property was in August.
Lee Schneller Sligh, a neighbor who has been monitoring the erosion and condition of Hosmer Pond, said she has been waiting for the department to complete its analysis of abnormal algae blobs it discovered and sampled in August.
She said residents are also waiting for the department to make determinations of violation and fines based on the algae bloom and on previous sedimentation events.