Lonnie Kachuck of Kachuck Enterprises buries explosives Aug. 9 on the Coyote ski trail at Lost Valley in Auburn. The new chair lift’s tower three will be placed at the site where Kachuck is standing. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

AUBURN — Contractors and employees have been digging, blasting and felling trees this summer at the Lost Valley Ski & Snowboarding Area, which is making a huge investment in its infrastructure.

The investment by owners Scott and April Shanaman — between $750,000 to $1 million — is a testament to the determination of the couple, who bought Lost Valley in 2015, as it faced closure and a dismal start to the 2016 season due to a lack of snow.

Since then, there have been steady improvements to the popular ski area, where General Manager John Herrick likes to say half of Maine learns to ski. “When the Shanamans took over going back, the skier visits for that year… was 30,000 skier visits,” Herrick said, adding that every year since, that figure has increased.

“Believe it or not, COVID-19 did us a huge favor because it got everybody back outside,” Herrick said. “The 2023-2024 season was our highest of all, it was like 76,000 skier visits.”

The National Ski Areas Association reports the 2022-23 season was the best on record for visitation and domestic participation and the second record-breaking season in a row.

That, Herrick stated, is the new benchmark for Lost Valley to gauge how they are doing and if they are on track to achieve their goals. Last year, skier visits were down 14% in a season of up and down temperatures and rain instead of snow in critical weeks like the Christmas holiday. On December 18, 2023, the temperature reached 58°.

WHAT’S NEW, WHAT’S CHANGING

What Lost Valley is doing represents a considerable investment of scale and echoes what ski resorts around the country are doing, according to the NSAA, with more than $800 million invested nationally in infrastructure for the 2022-2023 season, an all-time record for capital investment in ski resorts.

Over the summer, Lost Valley has focused on the following improvements:

• Install a third double chair lift

• Create a new trail, expand existing trails

• Add snowmaking capability

• Add lighting for night skiing

• Move terrain park back to Bear from Bobcat

Lost Valley General Manager John Herrick describes Aug. 9 the changes being made at the ski area in Auburn that were needed to install a new chair lift up the Coyote ski trail. The new lift will give Lost Valley three lifts to move people up the mountain. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Shanaman bought the lift from Mt. Southington in Connecticut two years ago and it’s since been regalvanized in preparation for installation at Lost Valley.

“It’s exactly like our other two lifts,” Herrick explained. “So, the nice thing about this lift is all the parts are interchangeable with every other lift. From a maintenance perspective, it’s going to be huge adding a new lift.”

The engineering is complete, and the state approvals have been secured. Now comes the biggest challenge — installation. The first step was to clear the trail and widen it for the lift towers.

“The trail we’re going up is the old T-bar line, so it was a previous lift-served area. It’s good to bring that back,” Herrick said. For perspective, looking up the mountain from the lodge, it’s to the far left.

That side of the mountain doesn’t get as much natural snow due to less exposure in the valley and other factors. But the new lift, which has not been named yet, will open up the far side of the mountain to ease some of the congestion in the center of the mountain.

Black diamond, or expert trails Ermine, Raccoon, Lynx and intermediate Logging Trail will become more accessible with lights and snowmaking planned to further enhance the trails.

“The whole objective is to disperse people to different areas of the mountain,” Herrick explained, cautioning nothing is for sure when it comes to the installation of a lift. “If nothing else, if the lift doesn’t make its way in, we’ll at least have night skiing and snow making on that side.”

The tubing park is out this season but not off the table for the future. It adds to the congestion, uses up a tremendous amount of snowmaking capability and is labor intensive among other factors.

The terrain park is moving back to its original placement on Bear, which Herrick said will open up lanes for racing and training which is a big deal at Lost Valley. It will mean parents will have to hike a bit further to watch the kids do their tricks.

Justin Paton, left, and Mike Dastoli of Capital Rock Drilling & Blasting bring explosives up the Coyote ski trail Aug. 9 at Lost Valley in Auburn. Skiers and snowboarders will get on the new chair lift in the dugout area in front of the truck below. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

The water pumps have been upgraded and the lifts are no longer one speed but variable, so operators can slow them down to make it easier for new skiers to get on and off the lift and speed them up if conditions permit.

The parking lots have been filled and graded to improve parking for guests.

CHANGING WITH THE CLIMATE

Ski resorts can ill afford to ignore the changing climate. John Herrick and his team know that they have to make adjustments because climate change, he says, is the new norm. That’s why it’s critical to expand snowmaking — which produces more durable snow but is very expensive.

“When we started, I think our snow making system … could run 17 guns simultaneously,” Herrick said. “Now we’re up to like 32 guns and two fan guns, so we greatly increased our capacity.”

With earlier ice-outs and warmer winters overall, Lost Valley can’t depend on average seasonal snowfalls of 70 or more inches, which is why increasing snowmaking capacity by 30% is extremely important says Herrick.

Lost Valley General Manager John Herrick holds up his hand to stop traffic Aug. 9 as two explosions blow up a ledge on the Coyote ski trail at the ski area in Auburn. Blasts were needed to build two tower pads for the new chair lift being installed this summer. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

THE SEASON AHEAD

The opening date for skiing at Lost Valley is targeted for Dec. 15 and Herrick is already counting down the 123 days to the forecasted opening.

When Herrick came on board with the Shanamans, there were about 10-15 employees in the summer. That’s now at around 35 with the brewpub and restaurant. Winter operations will see the employee and volunteer roster expand to 250. Almost half of that figure is the ski patrol, which is volunteers, and the ski school.

There is the rental department, lift attendants, mechanics, grooming staff, restaurant staff and more.

Herrick says they are really excited about the improvements and brags Lost Valley is the best place to bring your children to learn to ski — bar none, referring to themselves as Lewiston and Auburn’s biggest daycare provider.

“At the end of the day what we have to do is we have to meet our customer needs,” he said. “We try new stuff and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Weather predictions aside, Herrick says he is already praying for snow.