Friday, January 3
Today was a nice return to seasonable temperatures and there was excellent skiing to be had! Androscoggin, Upper Sunday, Ellis, & Aroostook were all open with good coverage and a nicely groomed loose granular surface. Lower Sunday and Bean were ungroomed and had a thin cover of natural snow with some obstacles to avoid. Some wind in the morning died down by mid-day, and it was excellent weather to be out in. There was a decent sized crowd for a midweek ski day, and I assume many were on an extended holiday break. Snowmaking was ongoing during the day on Upper Rapid and Kennebec, and they were preparing to fire up the guns on Swift and Upper Allagash.
It seems that they are going all out with snowmaking this year as they were able to have the tubing park open for opening day for the first time ever. They have also brought out every gun they have, including some ancient fan guns which I had never seen operate until today. We ended the day with a little snowshoeing on the trails at the ski area. It was a great first day of the season at Black, and the cold temperatures should allowing for more terrain expansion soon!
Novice Double
Androscoggin and snowmaking on Upper Rapid
Aroostook
Firing up one of the antique fan guns
Base Lodge
One of the snowshoe trails
