by Dan Cassidy

The foliage in the Carrabassett Valley region was at peak as Sugarloaf held their annual Homecoming events over Columbus weekend.

Thousands of Sugarloafers, young and old came to take part in meeting and reconnect with friends, attend condo meetings, check out the homecoming craft fair in the Base Lodge, take complementary chairlift rides on the SuperQuad, bike, hike and just hang out listening to a live band on the Landing, and attend the Sugarloaf Passholder’s meeting at the Inn.

Sugarloafers also visited the new state-of-the-art CVA/ Sugarloaf Ski Club Comp­etition Center, next to the Base Lodge where the old Gondola Station used to be. The new center will become a hub for social activity and networking providing a warm and welcoming venue for athletes of all ages. The 11,000-square-foot building includes day lodge space, tuning and waxing facilities, locker rooms, a trainers’ room, meeting space and offices. The facility’s total cost was $2.1 million. Thanks to a $1 million grant from the Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation helped make a dream possible.

Passholder’s meeting

Karl Strand, general manager greeted a large crowd at the Sugarloaf Inn, who were all eager to connect and hear about summer activities, mountain upgrades and to find out about what’s in store for the upcoming season and beyond. Strand, Ethan Austin, director of marketing and communications, Richard Crusher Wilkinson, vice president of mountain operations, Sam Punderson of Mountainside Real Estate and Kate Punderson, head of school at Carrabassett Valley Academy and Bruce Miles, president of the Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Club spoke about plans for the upcoming season.

Strand spoke about last year’s snow content that affected the bottom line of their budget. “It was a tough year,” Strand said, showing a graph. “The mountain received about 50 percent of snow over the season. There was no measurable snow in November, and only 24 inches of snow from the February vacation week on.” Strand said that rain events on weekends didn’t help out. “The groomer’s did a great job of grooming out and making snow until the next rain event came. It was a very unusual year, and as a result, lift ticket sales were down lodging was down, everything affected the bottom line, it was a rough year.”

Ethan Austin, marketing director of Sugarloaf, gave a run down on last year’s numbers and a look at what’s coming up this season. “Passholder sales were down, along with skier count, resulting in a somewhat down season,” Austin said, “but things are looking better for the upcoming season in lodging and ticket sales.”

The new CVA Comp Center at Sugarloaf is near completion. Photo by Dan Cassidy

“Some of the things like lift tickets are challenging,” Austin said. “Lift tickets are a huge part of dynamic pricing – more in demand. We have dropped the price of a mid-week lift ticket by 13 percent. Weekend and holiday prices are increasing this year. There is more demand on the weekends.”

“Going further into the dynamic model in online sales, we have a partnership with a new company called Intopia through our website, we’ll be selling lift tickets online that are available right now. Purchase a lift ticket for a March date and lock in the price and you will save a ton,” he said.

Other speakers including Kate Punderson, head of school, Bruce Miles, president of the Ski Club and Sam Punderson of Mountainside Realty gave updates on projects ongoing at the Mountain.

It’s time to get your gear out and ready. Tune and wax those skis and snowboards up and get into shape.

Hope to see you on the mountain soon!

by Roland D. Hallee

Last week, a friend of mine, who is a member of the Fairfield Police Department and an aspiring photographer, was telling me how he was out looking to snap photos of bald eagles when he came upon two of them devouring what was left of a red fox on the side of the road. His stealth attempt to retrieve his camera proved fruitless as the eagles sped off on their way. That would have been a really great photo.

You’ve probably read stories about the cunning fox trying to outwit his animal brothers and sisters. Foxes no doubt got their crafty reputation from the way they look, with their long, thin faces and yellow eyes that have narrow slits for pupils. But in real life, foxes are more concerned with finding food than with playing tricks on anyone.

The red fox, Vulpes vulpes, is a lean, mean hunting machine that’s built for speed. About 3-1/2 feet in length, slinky and long-legged, they only weigh about 10 pounds full grown. But red foxes look a lot bigger because of their thick fur, which can range from deep brownish red to sandy blonde with black legs, feet, and backs of the ears and white underparts. Sometimes red foxes can even be all black or black with white tips, or have a dark brown “cross” across their backs.

Red Fox, a sleek and efficient hunter.

Foxes are great hunters, and not only because they’re fast. Their large, upright ears allow them to locate a rustling sound within one degree of its true location, a trait that is not possible in humans. A fox can also hear a mouse squeal from 150 feet away.

Red foxes are solitary hunters that slowly approach their prey, creeping low to the ground and stretching their head high to spot the target. They pounce on the mouse, rabbit, or other prey with their forefeet.

Mice, especially meadow voles, are a popular food for red foxes, but their favorite dish is cottontail rabbit. They aren’t picky eaters either, and will eat berries and insects in the spring and summer, along with squirrels, songbirds, ducks and pheasants. In the north, they will also eat snowshoe rabbits, and they’ll even clean up after humans by eating garbage.

Nighttime is when red foxes are most active. They do most of their hunting from two hours before sunset to about four hours after sunrise, and travel up to nine miles a night. When they aren’t hunting, foxes like to rest in forests, ravines or woodlots, curling their long bushy tails around themselves to keep warm. The tail is also used for balance or as a signal flag to communicate with other foxes.

Fox families each have their own clearly marked home ranges that they defend from intruders, but they don’t usually fight. A group chase or a “threat display” – charging, growling, etc. – will generally do the trick. A fox family has a hunting range of about 150-400 acres, but in less diverse habitats, like farmland, one family might need up to 2-3 square miles.

Red fox don’t live in dens most of the year, but do set up nurseries in abandoned badger or woodchuck burrows when it’s time to have pups. Foxes breed in mid-January and have five or six pups in mid-March. The pups will hunt with their parents when they’re three months old and are ready to strike out on their own at eight months.

Red foxes can be found along fence rows, gravel roads, paths or treelines, especially after a light snowfall. Their tracks are very similar to that of a small dog. On spring or summer evenings, search along hillsides with binoculars. If you see a mound of fresh dirt in front of a dark hole, it could be a den entrance. But remember, be careful never to get too close and disturb the family. Remember, they are not fighters, but they are animals.

Once they have been discovered, they might pack up and move.

Treat red foxes with respect, and they could be a source of entertainment for you for quite some time.

by Debbie Walker

My poor old beat up, well-used dictionary tells me scoliosis’ definition is a lateral curvature of the spine. I believe in most cases it is fixable these days. Doctors are able to say “this is what it is and this is how we fix it.”
Other than the definition of scoliosis nothing else here is technical, just a personal experience. I had never heard of it ‘til it hit my family 12 years ago. Both situations of it had positive outcomes. One was more severe than the other.

The story goes like this: my granddaughter and her friend were walking in front of their mothers at the soccer field. The girls had on crop tops and hippy huggy pants. The other mother asked my daughter, “what is wrong with Tristin’s hip?” She pointed out to her that there was a big difference from the left to the right side, waist on the right side was very curved and the left one was straight, no curve.

To make a long story short that question made a huge difference in Tristin’s life. Surgeon explained the process for repair in Tristin’s case. She required a major surgery with a six-inch steel rod with six screws. Ken’s grandson Mark several years later was diagnosed with scoliosis. His, they were able to correct with a brace worn at night time. Their conditions were very different degrees of one problem.

They caught Mark’s before it got really bad; it was caught in an exam for school. Evidently that is how it is supposed to happen. However, for Tristin it didn’t happen that way. Her curvature was moving rather fast and included a twist of the spine happening as well.

It would take a surgery and 10 months of wearing a turtle shell brace 24 hours a day. Just 10 months, not the 12 that was predicted.

All is well, both kids are walking tall and straight, no distortion as would have been years ago.

Scoliosis is a scary word. Check it out in your family. It is not something talked about much. It is something not to be ignored. After Tristin’s surgery we discovered one reason they did the surgery right away was because it was already affecting her breathing. It happened gradually so it wasn’t noticed at the time.

Go ahead, take the chance and ask the question, ask if the child in your family was checked for it. I saw Dr. [André] Nadeau’s ad in our last paper and wanted to make sure people are clear on what it is.

Thanks for reading! Hope it is helpful or better yet not a necessary thing. And as usual I’m Just Curious. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub. line: Scoliosis.