Greenville mountain is reopening ski trails that have been closed for 19 years
By Valerie Royzman, Staff Writer
The group that maintains Big Moose Mountain in Greenville is clearing four trails that people last skied nearly two decades ago.
Friends of the Mountain, a nonprofit, pledged in March to use $200,000 to improve the ski area, including an overhaul of the lift and parking area upgrades, among other projects. One of those is reclaiming trails on the upper mountain, which began in early July and will cost about $57,000, President Amy Lane said.
The project is positive news for Piscataquis County residents and visitors, who will have renewed skiing and hiking access to the four upper-mountain trails this winter — something that hasn’t existed for about 19 years. After a ski lift failed in 2004 and injured four people, there wasn’t much demand for the trails, Lane said. They were mostly forgotten and became overgrown with trees.
NEW TRAILS — Friends of the Mountain has hired a contractor to clear four trails on Big Moose Mountain that people last skied down nearly 20 years ago. Pictured are a few of the trails, which are named after rivers in Maine.
“Those trails on the upper mountain have been waiting for their day,” she said. “We feel it is time to prevent any further growth and get the area under control.”
Clearing the trails, along with the other improvements, is also important to some community members whose hopes for a flourishing Moosehead Lake region were crushed late last year when developers working to revitalize the partially defunct ski resort halted their $126.3 million plans after failing to come to terms with James Confalone, who owns the property.
Granite State Land Management, a contractor based in New Hampshire, is clearing four trails: the Penobscot, the Piscataquis, the St. Croix and the Moose trails, which are named after rivers in Maine.
While Friends of the Mountain does not own the property, it leases the land from Conalone and each year picks a project that benefits the mountain and community, Lane said.
The ski lift that broke in 2004 was never repaired, so Friends of the Mountain has operated on the lower portion of the mountain since 2012.
There is no lift access to the upper mountain, so those wishing to ski the new trails will have to hike to the summit or catch a ride on the snowcat, which the group will offer visitors, Lane said.
Access will depend on the weather this winter because there is no snowmaking equipment on the upper mountain. As long as there is enough snow, the trails will be groomed and ready for skiers, she said.
“Our chairlift isn’t open every day, but the trails are always there,” she said. “It’s a way for local people to get out and be active in a beautiful environment.”
Among the improvements, overhauling the ski lift is the largest and most expensive, costing about $100,000. Work is mostly being done off-site, by Updyke Systems Enterprises in Pennsylvania.
The 1986 Borvig Triple chairlift was “operating on borrowed time,” and the mountain cannot function without it, so it is a necessary investment, Lane said.
To cover the costs of the improvements, the group is relying on multiple pots of funding, including funds from previous seasons, about $25,000 raised during an auction this past winter, a sponsorship campaign that allows people to adopt a chairlift for $500 and a recently created fundraiser.