NEWRY — With frost this morning and temperatures dipping into the 20s in some spots of Maine or in the 30s elsewhere in the state, ski season can’t be that far off.

That’s what they’re thinking at Sunday River in Newry, which fired up 40 low-energy fan guns across the slopes near the resort’s South Ridge Base Lodge early today. On Saturday, the resort used another 40 tower guns for a test on the highest elevation points of Locke Mountain.

Sunday River says last year’s early-season snowmaking efforts helped to deliver a season that lasted six months and six days. Sunday River’s opening day is weather dependent and slated at this time for mid-November.