RUMFORD — Black Mountain of Maine has started a new skier incentive program to attract first-time daily skiers to the mountain, general manager Jim Carter said Friday.

The program, which Carter said was brainstormed by “a group of people we have at the mountain trying to increase skier visits,” relies on the efforts of season pass-holders to reach out to skiers who have never skied at Black Mountain before.

“This is basically a way to promote the mountain through word of mouth,” Carter said. “In the last few years, we’ve had a large growth of skiers that live outside the area, due to our marketing campaign. We’ve found that the best way to attract new skiers is to rely on word of mouth.”

Each season pass-holder is being asked to find 20 skiers who have not skied at Black Mountain, Carter said.

“Once they find a new skier, the season pass-holder will have to ask the new skier to fill out and hand in a Skier Incentive Form at the ticket office on their first visit to Black Mountain,” Carter said. “Once 20 new skiers have listed the season pass-holder as the person who encouraged their visit, the Black Mountain Operating Board has agreed to give the season pass-holder the cash value of their season pass.”

Carter said that for “a long time, Black Mountain only supported skiers in the River Valley area.

“With all of the growth from outside areas, we’re also supporting our new customers from out of state, or from the coast or even from southern Maine,” Carter said. “What we’re doing for advertising is definitely working, and right now, it’s clear that word-of-mouth advertising is getting us new skiers and visitors here, even more than other advertising on TV or in the newspaper.

“We’re just trying to get ahold of those people who may see our inexpensive ticket prices and assume we don’t have a lot to offer,” Carter said. “We’re actually one of the larger ski areas in Maine.”

For more information on the New Skier Incentive Program, call Black Mountain at 364-8977.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com