The new owners of Hermon Mountain are turning the seasonal ski area into a four-season operation, adding a restaurant, a disc golf course and a concert and event lineup.
Casee and Dave Hart and Amy and Tim McClary bought the mountain for $2.1 million on April 30, taking over from Bill and Marlene Whitcomb after more than 40 years under their ownership. The two couples have spent the two months since working to open the facility year-round.
By adding paying customers in spring, summer and fall, the new owners are trying to smooth out revenue through the months the lifts sit idle, a bet that a dwindling number of small, family-run ski areas in Maine have had to make as costs rise and ownership changes hands.
The lodge restaurant, Scenic Eats, opened Thursday, serving pizza, burgers, subs and salads. An 18-hole disc golf course opened Friday, with plans for a weekly league and another one for cornhole, Amy McClary said. A comedy show is scheduled July 17, with concerts and trivia nights to follow.
Grace McClary paints the steps outside of the lodge at Hermon Mountain on Thursday. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN 
The new owners of Hermon Mountain are expanding the activities at the local ski area to offer disc golf, lawn games, food, entertainment and more. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN 
An 18-hole disc golf course opened Friday at Hermon Mountain. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN 
The new owners of Hermon Mountain are reimagining the local ski area as a year-round destination, offering disc golf, lawn games, food, entertainment and more. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN 
The lodge at Hermon Mountain. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN
This summer is a condensed preview of what’s to come, Amy McClary said. In the fall, the owners are considering running the ski lift to take visitors to the summit for cider and doughnuts during foliage season.
“We know what this facility does for the community, and it brings families together,” Dave Hart said. “It’s a gathering place for people in the winter, and our vision of it is for it to be a gathering place all year round for families in the community.”
Winter operations will largely stay the same as in past years but with longer hours, Dave Hart said. The mountain will now be open Mondays, making it a seven-day-a-week operation for the first time. The added day is expected to allow for more ski school sessions, though final hours are still being worked out, Amy McClary said.
Both couples said their decision to buy the mountain was rooted in family history there. The McClarys have skied Hermon Mountain for a decade; their daughters, now 14 and 15, started on the slopes at ages 3 and 4, Amy McClary said. Casee Hart learned to ski on the mountain about 25 years ago and recalled Bill Whitcomb pulling her out of a tree after she fell off the T-bar. The Hart children, ages 6 and 9, also learned to ski there, Dave Hart said.
“Dave and Tim spent a lot of time this past winter really making snow, understanding the process, so I feel like we’re really well prepared for it,” Amy McClary said.
The Whitcombs remain “cheerleaders” for the mountain and are helping the new owners succeed, Amy McClary said, adding that the former owners are a phone call away.
“We’re really excited to … open our doors again and welcome the community back and for them to see the progress and just have them here,” Amy McClary said.