Enchanted Mountain (ski area)

Enchanted Mountain
Enchanted Mountain
	An aerial view of Enchanted Mountain, 1968
Location	Coburn Mountain, Upper Enchanted Township, Maine, United States
Nearest city	Jackman, Maine
Coordinates	45°27′58″N70°7′5″W / 45.46611°N 70.11806°W Coordinates: 45°27′58″N70°7′5″W / 45.46611°N 70.11806°W
Top elevation	3,200 feet (980 m)
Base elevation	2,200 feet (670 m)
Runs	8
Lift system	3

Last updated November 13, 2019

Enchanted Mountain was a medium-sized ski area located in Upper Enchanted Township, Maine whose isolation and strong wind conditions proved problematic for its success. The area was said to be the "Switzerland of Maine", an isolated alpine area with great views and skiing. It consisted of eight runs (2 beginner and 6 intermediate/expert) using a double chairlift, a T-bar lift, and a Poma.^[1] The remnants of the ski area remain on the southward facing slope of Coburn Mountain (el. 3,717 ft or 1,133 m), in Upper Enchanted Township where it got its namesake.^{[ citation needed ]}

Maine is the northernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Maine is the 12th smallest by area, the 9th least populous, and the 13th least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. It is bordered by New Hampshire to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Québec to the northeast and northwest, respectively. Maine is the only state to border just one other state, is the easternmost among the contiguous United States, and is the northernmost state east of the Great Lakes.

Chairlift type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop carrying a series of chairs

An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They are the primary onhill transport at most ski areas, but are also found at amusement parks, various tourist attractions, and increasingly in urban transport.

Poma, also known as Pomagalski S.A. is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed about 7800 devices for 750 customers worldwide.

History

Enchanted Mountain was designed by E.H. Lord-Wood Associates and built in 1965 by North Haven Construction Company on land that was reportedly leased from Scott Paper Company, who would later become owner of nearby Big Squaw Mountain Resort. The ski area first opened in February 1966^[2] with two lifts: a T-bar that would serve only two trails above the base lodge that season and a baby poma lift to serve the beginner ski area below the lodge.^[1] The following year a 4,200 ft. Poma double chairlift was constructed to the summit, increasing the trail count to seven. One wide open slope was located underneath the lift with six narrower, winding trails fanning out from the top. The vertical drop was only about 1000 ft. but some brochures and guidebooks exaggerated it to as much as 1800 ft. The area boasted that it had the deepest snow and shortest lift lines. In 1968 the lifts operated daily and an adult lift ticket was only $5.50.^[2]

The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including Scott Tissue, Cottonelle, Baby Fresh, Scottex and Viva. Consolidated sales of its consumer and commercial products totalled approximately $3.6 billion in 1994.

Big Squaw Mountain Resort is a ski area in Greenville, Maine. Opened in 1963, the ski area is located on the north side of Big Moose Mountain, overlooking Moosehead Lake. The resort featured two chairlifts that covered 1,700 vertical feet.

A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous.

In 1971 the ski area had grown to include a ski school, shop, lodge, snack bar, nursery, and ski patrol, and by 1974 it had added a restaurant, rental & repair shop, warming huts and parking for up to 600 cars.^[2] It was said that the surrounding area had lodging available for over 300 people. There was no snowmaking or night skiing.

A ski school is an establishment that teaches skiing, typically in a ski resort. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and established these methods as teaching principles for all ski instructors at his school.

A ski lodge is a structure usually located in a ski area that provides amenities such as food, beverages, restrooms, and locker rooms for skiers and snowboarders.

Ski patrols are organizations that provide medical, rescue, and hazard prevention services to the injured in ski area boundaries, or sometimes beyond into backcountry settings. Many have technical-medical certifications, such as Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) provided by the National Ski Patrol (USA), that are specific to the winter-season environment and providing emergency medical services in remote locations. Many patrollers also hold EMS issued credentials, such as emergency medical technician or any other pre-hospital care certification. Due to the remote location and terrain, transportation is often limited to ski toboggan, snowmobile, or, for life-compromising injuries or extremely remote terrain, helicopter rescue. Depending on the ski area terrain, ski patrollers can be versed in a large variety of specialized rescues, such as avalanche search and rescue, outdoor emergency transportation, chairlift evacuation, and, in some cases, helicopter rescue techniques are taught. Patrols work to promote ski safety, enforce area policies, and help the injured within their jurisdiction. Ski patrollers also work to set up the mountain before it opens by conducting trail checks, providing avalanche control work, and setting up necessary equipment in preparation for the day. At the end of the day, they also conduct a sweep clearing the mountain for off-hours.

Long term plans included three more trail pods, a tramway and six more double chairlifts to cover some 14,000 acres, but after financial troubles put the ski area out of business and on the auction block in 1969, it was sold by the Small Business Administration to three private owners: Willis & Robert LeFavour and Terry Tyler, founder of Maple Valley Ski Area in Vermont.^[1] The mountain opened under the new ownership in February 1970 hoping that unique offerings such as nighttime snowshoe tours and free board for anyone with a sleeping bag would finally bring in enough business to make the area successful. Weekend Full Day Lift Tickets were only $6.00 1970-1972.^[2]

A tram is a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks along public urban streets; some include segments of segregated right-of-way. The lines or networks operated by tramcars are called tramways. Historically the term electric street railways was also used in the United States. In the United States, the term tram has sometimes been used for rubber-tired trackless trains, which are unrelated to other kinds of trams.

Auction Process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, and selling the item to the highest bidder

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder. The open ascending price auction is arguably the most common form of auction in use today. Participants bid openly against one another, with each subsequent bid required to be higher than the previous bid. An auctioneer may announce prices, bidders may call out their bids themselves, or bids may be submitted electronically with the highest current bid publicly displayed. In a Dutch auction, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price for some quantity of like items; the price is lowered until a participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price for some quantity of the goods in the lot or until the seller's reserve price is met. While auctions are most associated in the public imagination with the sale of antiques, paintings, rare collectibles and expensive wines, auctions are also used for commodities, livestock, radio spectrum and used cars. In economic theory, an auction may refer to any mechanism or set of trading rules for exchange.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters". The agency's activities are summarized as the "3 Cs" of capital, contracts and counseling.

Closure

Unfortunately, competition from other developing resorts such as Sugarloaf and Saddleback, along with the mountain's isolation and strong wind conditions, led to its demise in the mid 1970s. The last known season of operation was 1972-1973 after which the area was advertised for sale in an industry publication of ″Ski Area Management″. With no buyer found by 1974, the area was liquidated, allowed to grow in, and the lodge and lifts were torn down. Today you can still hike the mountain on a trail that goes all the way to the Coburn summit. The scar of the resort area remains but has further diminished due to logging projects commenced in the area in the early 2010s. The hiking trail can be reached from the old Enchanted Mountain parking lot located on Enchanted Mountain Road off of U.S. Route 201.^{[ citation needed ]}

Sugarloaf is a ski area and resort located on Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, western Maine. It is the second largest ski resort east of the Mississippi in terms of skiable area and snowmaking percentage (95%); its continuous vertical drop of 2,820 feet (860 m) is the second longest in New England. Sugarloaf recorded a total of 352,000 skier visits in the 2005–2006 season, ranking it second among Maine resorts and 11th in New England.

Saddleback Maine is a former ski resort located in Sandy River Plantation, near Rangeley, Maine, on the northwestern slopes of Saddleback Mountain. It was the third largest ski area in Maine, in terms of number of trails (66), number of lifts (5), snowmaking percentage (85%), vertical drop (2000 ft) and skier days.

Coburn Mountain is a mountain located in Somerset County, Maine.

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References

1 2 3 "Enchanted Mountain Ski Area History - Maine". NewEnglandSkiHistory.com. 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
1 2 3 4 "Enchanted Mountain Ski Area". Nelsap.org. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[New_England_Ski_History-1] 1 2 3 "Enchanted Mountain Ski Area History - Maine". NewEnglandSkiHistory.com. 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

[Nelsap-2] 1 2 3 4 "Enchanted Mountain Ski Area". Nelsap.org. Retrieved 2014-05-24.

v t e Ski Areas in Maine
>1000 Vertical Feet	Big Squaw Mountain Resort Black Mountain of Maine Mount Abram Saddleback Maine Shawnee Peak Ski Area Sugarloaf Sunday River
<1000 Vertical Feet	Baker Mountain Big Rock Camden Snow Bowl Eaton Mountain Lonesome Pine Trails Lost Valley Ski Area Powderhouse Hill Titcomb Mountain
Former Ski Areas	Enchanted Mountain