Carrabassset Valley, Maine – It was another busy offseason at Maine’s largest ski resort. After West Mountain made its debut last winter, Sugarloaf Mountain made more significant improvements this offseason. Here’s a breakdown of what’s coming to the Loaf for the 2024-25 season.
West Mountain: The West Mountain expansion, which brings 12 more trails to Sugarloaf, debuted last season. Nine of those runs opened last winter, and two will make their grand debut this upcoming season. Twitcher and Yarder are easy trails that connect Lower East Mountain to Whistle Punk. The top of Upper Gentler, which didn’t open last winter, was regraded, making it skiable from the top.
In terms of snowmaking, they’ve upgraded 2,900 feet of snowmaking pipe on the Main West Mountain line to improve efficiency. They’ve also added snowmaking to the Twitcher trail and snowmaking guns to the Beavertail piste.
Various improvements have been made to the areas around the Bucksaw Express. The loading and unloading sections have been designed to make getting on and off easier. A wind fence has been added near the top terminal to reduce the risk of wind further holds.
Terrain Parks: Sugarloaf’s parks are getting a refresh. The small and medium parks are moving to the Whiffletree area, allowing the terrain parks to be isolated into one area. The Cruiser trail will now have two terrain parks: one with medium features and one with a mix of medium and large features. Skybound, which is their small terrain park, will be located at the bottom of the Whiffletree terrain pod.
New Snow Groomers: With an expanded mountain, Sugarloaf decided to grow its grooming fleet. It has added three PistenBully 600 Polar Winch groomers, which allow them to lay the corduroy down on steep slopes.
Lift Upgrades: The SuperQuad has undergone a renovation, which includes refurbishing the gearbox, electric motor, and planetary gearbox.
L.L. Bean: Maine’s most famous retailer has arrived at Sugarloaf. The Life Is Good store has been replaced by L.L. Bean in the village, which opened earlier this month. A new dining venue is also planned, with more details to be announced in the near future.
Sugarloaf’s projected opening date is November 22nd.
Image/Video Credits: Sugarloaf Mountain