Snowboard instructor Heather Stukas of Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn adjusts the bindings of Alex Theberge’s snowboard Wednesday afternoon before their lesson. Dozens of school-age children took part in the Merrick Chadbourne Learn to Ski & Ride program sponsored by the Auburn Ski Association’s Merrick Chadbourne Memorial Fund. Every half-day Wednesday during the ski season students hop on a bus at school for the ride to Lost Valley. (Sun Journal photo by Russ Dillingham)

Jim Whitmore, right, adjusts his daughter Alyssa’s goggles before her lesson Wednesday afternoon. Alex Theberge, 8, of Auburn, and dozens of school-age children took part in the Merrick Chadbourne Learn to Ski & Ride program at Lost Valley in Auburn on Wednesday afternoon. After their early release from school on Wednesday, many local children hop on a bus that drops them off at the Auburn ski area where they take part in the free program sponsored by the Auburn Ski Association’s Merrick Chadbourne Memorial Fund every half-day Wednesday during the ski season. (Sun Journal photo by Russ Dillingham)

Jim Whitmore, left, adjusts his daughter’s goggles before her lesson Wednesday afternoon at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn. Alyssa, 8, of Auburn and dozens of school-age children took part in the Merrick Chadbourne Learn to Ski & Ride program at Lost Valley in Auburn, Maine on Wednesday afternoon January 16, 2019. After their early release from school on Wednesday, many local children hopped on a bus that dropped them off at the Auburn ski area where they took part in the free program sponsored by the Auburn Ski Association’s Merrick Chadbourne Memorial Fund every half-day Wednesday during the ski season. Alex Theberge, 8 of Auburn, center, and her brother Dameon, 11, right, look for their instructors before the lesson started. (Sun Journal photo by Russ Dillingham)