For the first time since 2014, Saddleback Ski Area in Sandy River, Maine is getting ready to welcome skiers this winter. WMTW reports the ski area’s new owners are overseeing a $38 million upgrade to nearly every facet of the resort’s infrastructure, including an expanded lodge, additional snowmaking and new lifts.

“The skiing downhill was always exceptional. The getting up the mountain part was the challenge.” –General Manager Andy Shepard

The centerpiece of the upgrades will be a new highspeed Doppelmayer chairlift that will move hundreds of people uphill in minutes:

“It’s going to change the whole dynamic of the mountain. The lift is going to be the filet mignon, 2,400 people an hour to the top” -Chase Martinson of Doppelmayr

Happy to report many former employees are going to return as staff after the five-year shutdown and Saddleback is confident it will be ready for the ski season.