Eaton Mountain
TripAdvisor was mixed, but the comments on Google were pretty good: 4.4 stars after 57 reviews over the course of a decade. Instagram only had a handful of images pinned to the location and they were mostly what one might imagine: selfies of folks in cold weather gear having a nice time. There was nothing on Flickr as far as I could tell, and not much via online search aside from the occasional local news story or basic historical info. The business’ Facebook page hadn’t featured a new post in over a year and both of their former domain names went nowhere. The digital trail of the Eaton Mountain Ski Area didn’t seem to offer much, but I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for anyway aside from a way to keep this story from being too…simple? Straightforward? Boring? But maybe the first draft, scribbled in my notebook while throwing back Narangansetts at a Worcester, MA dive bar was ok: “This was a seemingly abandoned ski resort, here’s when it opened, here’s when it closed, and here are some photographs.”
Something kept nagging at me, though. When I was there, the place felt like more. It had to have meant something to someone at one point, been the subject of memories or stories. But I’d never been to Maine before, I hate the winter, and I’ve never skied—couldn’t even conjure what those personal tales might’ve sounded like. Even my uncle, our welcoming and expert tour guide around the area, didn’t seem to know much about the place. So, that’s when I took to the internet and learned what a snowcat is.
Abandoned Snowcat, Eaton Mountain Ski Area.
Like Band-Aid or Kleenex, “snowcat” has essentially become a generic term derived from a brand name. These machines feature treads similar to construction vehicles and military tanks. They’re designed to easily navigate snow-covered surfaces and often serve as the primary utility vehicles for winter resorts. They were the first things we came across on a summer evening–multiple snowcats sitting in various states of disrepair among the overgrown grass. It was also a snowcat that had allegedly brought one of the resort’s seasons to an abrupt end a few years back. During some routine maintenance, one of the machines had accidentally run over the business owner. That incident would end up being the most dramatic I could find in the attraction’s past, but it wasn’t what caused the business to ultimately fold. And most importantly: the gentleman survived with only a few injuries.
I’m sure that somewhere out there, there’s someone with a connection to this place. I just haven’t found them online and wasn’t really around Skowhegan enough to ask any locals what they remember of it. I’ve photographed numerous abandoned locales, though, some of which I knew personally and many of which others have told me about. Standing below the idle chair lift and peering through dusty windows at faded posters and old equipment, Eaton Mountain just had a feeling. Even in the summer when it wouldn’t have been active anyways, I could sense that it had once been a space of significance. A feeling similar to all of the abandoned amusement parks and other forgotten places I’ve documented over the years. This spot had been someone’s everyday, their life, their passion—a place that made sense to them.
And now it’s gone. At least for now.
There’s been a few announcements that it could return, but nothing concrete yet. Compared to nearby “big” names like Sugarloaf or Saddleback, Eaton Mountain seemed to be a place geared more towards the casual winter sports enthusiast. The history I could find online pretty much boiled down to the following information (although, if you’ve got a story to share, I’d love to hear it).
According to NewEnglandSkiHistory.com, the first organized skiing on Eaton Mountain took place in 1937. Things started to take off by the 1960s when locals bought stock in the area and it was developed into a full-fledged winter spots complex. It maintained various levels of success all the way to 2010 when snow tubing was added.
In 2011, the aforementioned snowcat incident cut the season short, but the mountain was back open for the 2012/2013 season. By this time, however, skiing would intermittently came and go from the roster of activities with snow tubes remaining as the primary draw. The Eaton Mountain Ski Area closed its doors following the 2018/2019 season and has been dormant ever since.
Discarded snow-making equipment.
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