Bigrock makes snow

By Jon Gulliver
Staff writer
    MARS HILL — The snow guns were blowing once again at the Bigrock ski area in Mars Hill thanks to some colder weather. Officials had hoped to get a good base made in November, but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate.
    According to the National Weather Service in Caribou the region had its warmest November on record. The mean temperature in November in Caribou was 37.9 degrees which was 6.4 degrees above normal.
    With the temperatures dipping, Bigrock was able to make snow for a 36-hour stint to augment the three to four inches of natural snow. When the temperature is low enough, 27 degrees or below, the process will continue.             Despite receiving roughly 150 inches of natural snow a year, snowmaking is extremely important to the facility according to Bigrock Marketing Manager Mark Shea.
SNOW — Bigrock Ski Area made snow and opened for the season on Dec. 17.
    “Storms can be erratic, said Shea. “Like almost every ski area in the East, snowmaking gives us the ability to provide excellent snow surfaces whether the storms come or not.”
    Because environmental conditions, especially air temperature and relative humidity, play such a large role in the snow-making process, it is difficult to determine how much snow can be made in a given time.
    “The ideal situation is very cold and very dry air, and when those conditions are sustained for a period of a few days or more, we can make literally tons of snow,” he said. “Under fair conditions, we can make enough snow to cover all of the trails serviced by our SouthStar Triple Chairlift, about 10 acres of beginner and intermediate terrain, to a depth of 24 inches in about four days.”
    Shea added Bigrock has top-to-bottom coverage on the mountain through an extensive series of conduits, and cam make snow on about 60 percent of the 27 trails.
UPDATED — Bigrock Ski Area’s  arsenal of snow guns has been completely updated within the last few years.
    “Our arsenal of snow guns has been completely updated within the last few years, and we added one new gun last season,” said Shea. “This summer, we doubled our capacity — 2 million gallons — to store water on the mountain through major repairs and improvements to our existing holding ponds, as well as the construction of an entirely new pond.”
    Besides Bigrock several other ski areas in the state are targeting a Dec. 23 opening date, including: Camden Snow Bowl, Camden; Lonesome Pine Trails, Fort Kent; Mt. Abram, Greenwood; Saddleback, Rangeley; and Shawnee Peak, Bridgton.