SAM Magazine—Portland, Maine, Sept. 10, 2025—Ski Maine hosted the annual New England Summit in Portland this year, bringing approximately 320 attendees together at the Holiday Inn by the Bay for two half days of education and networking, Sept. 8-9.NES 2025L to R: Greg Sheets of Torrent Engineering & Equipment, Ian Jarrett of HKD Snowmakers, Kris Blomback of Pats Peak and Brian Betts of HTM Fittings enjoy the trade show.

The event incorporated the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Fall Education series, with multiple sessions on risk management, including data from the association’s 10-year injury study that showed a downward trend in injury rates.

The data also pointed to collisions as the continued leading cause of fatal and catastrophic injuries in the sport, and Snow Angel Foundation founder Chauncy Johnson, who led several other seminar discussions on slope safety and collision mitigation throughout the event, was a guest speaker during the seminar.

In addition, there were five lift maintenance and awareness sessions that examined 2024-25 incident trends, unseated passenger plans, aerial evacuation best practices, NSAA’s PEAKS learning management system, and the latest lift maintenance education offerings around the country.

A seminar on base area design challenges and solutions led by Adam Portz of SE Group and Brian Sawyer of Bull Stockwell Allen was well attended. And a seminar facilitated by The. Pipeline Project’s Tiffany Whitcomb exploring opportunities to tap local high school career and technical education (CTE) programs to develop a stronger workforce pipeline prompted lively discussion first thing in the morning on day two.

 

  • Mike
  • Keynote
  • Vendor
  • 5EB1BB40 EA97 410E BC4B BD6225CCBC8C
  • 60DDEDBF B746 44E1 AADD CBB503F1575A
  • 8ED25042 9566 43AC 9B28 F846DC4DA49B
  • NSAA CEO Mike Reitzell shares insights from the 24-25 Kottke Survey report.
  • A packed house for the keynote presentation with NSAA CEO Mike Reitzell.
  • L to R: Greg Sheets of Torrent Engineering & Equipment, Ian Jarrett of HKD Snowmakers, Kris Blomback of Pats Peak and Brian Betts of HTM Fittings enjoy the trade show.
  • Attendees in Ryan Triffit’s session think big in a group exercise on finding the right technology solutions for your resort.
  • Attendees explore the latest with industry suppliers during the trade show.
  • SE Group and Bull Stockwell Allen team up to talk base area design with case studies from Loon Mountain and Pats Peak.

 

The opening day keynote from NSAA CEO Mike Reitzell introduced NSAA's new leader to Eastern resorts. He touched on NSAA’s goals to foster collaboration, technological advancement, and support for small ski areas, and reviewed the Northeast’s Kottke data. A supplier showcase followed, and then a cocktail cruise ferried 215 attendees around Casco Bay to enjoy live music and a spectacular sunset. 

Vendors appreciated the Portland venue for its easy access, according to Ski Maine executive director Dirk Gouwens. Easy access appeared to help more resorts attend as well. Gouwens said the mix of attendees included representation from more ski areas than last year, although without access to mountain infrastructure for hands-on sessions, the event reportedly saw fewer ski area attendees per area than in years past.

While summer technically isn’t over until Sept. 22, the crisp fall air and conversation in Portland had attendees looking ahead to winter.

NES will meet next year at Sunday River in Bethel, Maine, Sept. 14-16.