By Will Grunewald
Illustrations by Mike O’leary
From our February 2022 issue
As of this winter, one company owns nearly half of all the alpine ski trails in Maine. That outfit, Boyne Resorts, has a portfolio that ranges from Montana’s Big Sky and other major destinations out West to New Hampshire’s venerable Loon Mountain to the Boyne Highlands, a little nub of a hill in northern Michigan, near company headquarters. Boyne moved into Maine 15 years ago when it bought the state’s two biggest ski areas, Sugarloaf and Sunday River. Late last year, it also gobbled up Shawnee Peak, Maine’s fifth-largest area, by vertical drop, and something of a locals’ hill to Portlanders. Now, Boyne’s Maine holdings dwarf the combined assets of the state’s other three largest ski resorts — Saddleback, Black Mountain, and Mt. Abram — not to mention the many smaller ones. A few comparisons:
Aggregate Vertical Drop
6,460 feet
Boyne Resorts
4,530 feet
Saddleback, Mt. Abram, and Black Mountain
Average Adult Season Pass
$1,341
Boyne Resorts*
$623 Saddleback, Mt. Abram, and Black Mountain
*Based on Shawnee Peak pass plus Gold New England Pass for Sunday River and Sugarloaf, valid at both resorts plus New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain. Cheaper Boyne passes come with blackout dates.
Combined Trails
344 Boyne Resorts
188 Maine’s 13 other ski areas*
160 Saddleback, Mt. Abram, and Black Mountain
*Baker Mountain, Big Squaw Mountain, BigRock Mountain, Camden Snow Bowl, Lonesome Pine Trails, Lost Valley, Mt. Jefferson, New Hermon Mountain, Pinnacle Ski Club, Powderhouse Hill, Spruce Mountain, Titcomb Mountain, Quoggy Jo Ski Center
Number of Lifts
37 Boyne Resorts
13 Saddleback, Mt. Abram, and Black Mountain
