Fresh powder — skiers' favorite — brings locals and visitors to Camden Snow Bowl for impromptu Monday treat
A view of the top of the triple chairlift at the Camden Snow Bowl, from inside the Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol shack, Jan. 26, after a foot of fresh powder had fallen overnight and into the day. (Photo courtesy Patroller Brian Robinson)
A photo of the base of Ragged Mountain at the Camden Snow Bowl, Jan. 26, taken off the lodge webcam.
The Snow Bowl was lively Jan. 26 with intrepid skiers and boarders making their way to near the top of Ragged Mountain in Camden for a day of fresh powder skiing, and no school. (Photo courtesy Ragged Mountain Assistant Ski Patrol Director R.J. Polky) 
Angels in the fresh snow, Jan. 26. (Photo courtesy Snow Bowl Assistant General Manager Grace McMullan)
Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol, getting ready to close the mountain, Jan. 26. (Photo courtesy RMSP)
A view from the top of the Snow Bowl looking east over Megunticook. (Photo courtesy RJ Polky)
A view of the top of the triple chairlift at the Camden Snow Bowl, from inside the Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol shack, Jan. 26, after a foot of fresh powder had fallen overnight and into the day. (Photo courtesy Patroller Brian Robinson)
A photo of the base of Ragged Mountain at the Camden Snow Bowl, Jan. 26, taken off the lodge webcam.
The Snow Bowl was lively Jan. 26 with intrepid skiers and boarders making their way to near the top of Ragged Mountain in Camden for a day of fresh powder skiing, and no school. (Photo courtesy Ragged Mountain Assistant Ski Patrol Director R.J. Polky)
Angels in the fresh snow, Jan. 26. (Photo courtesy Snow Bowl Assistant General Manager Grace McMullan)
Ragged Mountain Ski Patrol, getting ready to close the mountain, Jan. 26. (Photo courtesy RMSP)
A view from the top of the Snow Bowl looking east over Megunticook. (Photo courtesy RJ Polky)Skiers are reveling in copious powder snow that fell overnight, January 25-26, and are out in it today, making tracks on Camden Snow Bowl trails that until a week ago the clipper systems from the Great Lakes were just starting to cover.
The current nor-easter, however, that has packed a punch in a line of weather stretching from Maine to Mississippi, is leaving the Midcoast with almost a foot-plus of powder and temperatures — at sea level — of about 11 degrees F.
And, the snow was still gently falling, as of mid-afternoon, Jan. 26.
The Snow Bowl is normally closed on Mondays through the regular ski season, except for vacation weeks. But in advance of the no-doubt-about-it snowstorm, mountain management decided to close the hill on Saturday, when subzero temperatures made for dangerous frostbite conditions, and instead opened on snowy Monday, Jan. 26, to celebrate.
And, the mood was celebratory. Maine’s coastline does not often get so much lighter, powder snow, and this rare treat could not be passed up, especially when school was cancelled and municipal snow plow crews were quickly cleaning the roads.
Snow Bowl General Manager Jeff Nathan reported: "A once in a decade epic ski day at the Snow Bowl. There are so many happy people out here enjoying amazing conditions. What a way to spend a Monday."
Bundled up, the skiers and boarders are mostly riding the double and triple chairlifts, unless they are skinning up the hill, all destined toward the highest level of the Camden Snow Bowl ski terrain on Ragged Mountain. At the summit, clouds were heavier than below, but the skiing was outstanding.
One young college couple, who had traveled over the weekend to the Midcoast from Western Massachusetts because they heard about skiing near the ocean in Camden, decided to stay one more day to enjoy the new snow. They were also looking for a good restaurant for a lobster dinner.
Snow Bowl Assistant General Manager Grace McMullan said at the end of the day that Monday was, "a fantastic day of ticket sales," at approximately $15,000, which beat the Martin Luther King Day holiday Monday for revenue.
