Grant helps fund $1M Sugarloaf snow-gun upgrade
Sugarloaf ski resort in Carrabassett Valley has received a $300,000 grant from Efficiency Maine to help it purchase 300 high-efficiency snow guns. The entire project will cost $1 million, and Sugarloaf will foot the remainder.
Sugarloaf will install the new snow guns this fall, according to a press release. The new technology is expected to improve the resort's ability to make snow in key areas and at warmer temperatures, while also reducing its electricity consumption. The snow guns, made by Snow Economics/HKD Snowmakers, will replace less efficient snowmaking equipment. The guns will make the same amount of snow using up to 90% less compressed air, which is generated by electricity.
"After the weather we saw last winter, we decided that upgrading our snowmaking capabilities needed to be a priority this summer," Sugarloaf General Manager John Diller said in the release. Other ski mountains in Maine have already invested in similar technology, including Mt. Abram in Greenwood.
The investment is part of the resort's "Sugarloaf 2020," a 10-year development plan, which over the past two years has added nearly 400 acres of new terrain and a new state-of-the-art chairlift, as well as other upgrades.
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