Newry, ME (AP)  -- Two of Maine's largest ski areas, Sunday River and Sugarloaf, on Monday joined major ski areas in New Hampshire and Vermont in declaring the 2007-08 season a landmark success, thanks in part to extremely heavy snowfall.

Together, Sugarloaf and Sunday River saw a 21 percent increase in skier visits over the previous season. Without releasing exact figures, officials said each resort tallied more skier visits than in any other year in their history.

A skier visit is defined as each day or part of a day that a snowboarder or skier spends at a resort.

The record-breaking numbers were attributed to a combination of factors, including strong season pass sales, the long season brought on by an unusually snowy winter and continued snowmaking improvements under the ownership of Michigan-based Boyne Resorts.

The strength of the Canadian dollar was also important to the strong season, as visitation to the two resorts from north of the border increased 27 percent over the past season, officials said.

The winter's heavy snowfall in northern New England also played a role, serving as a reminder to people in urban areas that there was plenty of snow on the mountains. Sugarloaf claimed a season snowfall total of 224 inches and Sunday River recorded 211 inches.

Sugarloaf, in Carrabassett Valley, remained open daily through May 5, while Sunday River in Newry closed in late April.

Other ski resorts in the region also had record or near-record seasons. In Ludlow, Vt., Okemo Mountain Resort reported in late April that skier visits were ahead of the previous winter's total by nearly 25 percent. They also eclipsed the numbers from the previous record season of 2002-03 by 6 percent.

Okemo said early snowfall motivated skiers and snowboarders at the start of the season, but much of this year's success was due to a 30 percent increase in season pass sales.

In New Hampshire, Mount Cranmore in North Conway reported a record-breaking season, with skier visits up more than 30 percent over the previous season's total and up 10 percent over the best year in the last five years.

Loon Mountain in Lincoln said it set a record for skier visits, beating the previous year's total by 30 percent.

Mount Sunapee in Newbury said in mid-April it would wind up with around 278,000 skier visits, beating the 272,000 who visited in 2003-2004.