Upper Mountain at Big Squaw to Reopen with Snowcat Service
The upper mountain has been without chairlift service since a 2004 accident.
Saturday, October 21, 2023, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
Friends of the Mountain announced today that they have entered into an agreement to acquire a 13-passenger snowcat from Parshall, Colorado. The vehicle will carry skiers to the top of the ski area, expanding the vertical drop from 660 feet to 1,700 feet.
Meanwhile, crews have been at work reclaiming the overgrown upper mountain trails. Work was most recently conducted on the expert Seboomook trail.
Located near Moosehead Lake, Squaw Mountain debuted in 1963 as a T-Bar served ski area, expanding its vertical drop to 1,700 feet with the installation of a double chairlift in 1967. In 1974, Scott Paper Company gave the resort to the State of Maine, which struggled with it for a dozen years before selling it in 1986. The resort subsequently went through a series of owners and operators until James Confalone acquired it in 1995. A March 2004 upper chairlift failure resulted in skiing being limited to the lower mountain until the entire operation ceased in 2010.
After sitting idle for two years, the Friends of Squaw Mountain Big Squaw for the 2012-13 season. The non-profit later became known as Friends of the Mountain and has continued to invest in the area, including reclaiming trails and buildings and installing a novice carpet lift. A Borvig triple chairlift currently serves 660 vertical feet of terrain.
