MONTPELIER, Vt. - Northeast ski resorts continue to invest millions in leaner and meaner snowmaking guns, with Vermont making big inroads this year, thanks to an energy-efficiency program that helped resorts swap older model snow guns for nearly 2,300 new energy-efficient ones.The new low-energy snow guns, which use about 90 per cent less electricity than the older models, are expected to save the equivalent of enough electricity to power 1,500 Vermont homes for a year.This is an opportunity to kind of in one swoop take advantage of the fact that if all of those ski areas in Vermont banded together, we can actually drive even better deals with manufacturers, said Kelly Lucci, spokeswoman for Efficiency Vermont, an energy-efficiency utility which chipped in $5 million to resorts statewide, while resorts spent about $10 million.The utilitys engineers did side-by-side testing on the various new snow guns and reported back to the resorts with the outcomes so they could decide which model worked best for their needs.Sugarbush in Warren added 351 new snow guns this season through the program, allowing it to put out more and better quality snow at lower costs and energy use. The resort opened on Saturday.Its great to have natural snow and we love that, but when we dont have that, we depend on putting out a good snow product for our guests so that theyll come, said Sugarbush spokeswoman Candice White, adding: Its great to be able to make the quantity of snow that we can make and also the quality. The qualitys gotten a lot better with these efficient guns.In Maine, nearly every resort is moving to the low-energy snow guns so that they can be up and running for the December holiday week, if not much sooner. Sunday River in Newry, Maine, with its arsenal of snowmaking, opened Nov. 3. Sugarloaf Mountain Resort began making snow back in late September and opened Nov. 9.In nearby New Hampshire, Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln is installing 50 snowmaking hydrants on top of the 100 it installed last year, which it says will allow the resort to open more terrain earlier in the season and provide better snow throughout the winter. Bretton Woods is replacing old pipe with 35 new, high efficiency snow towers for more than $300,000.Snowmaking technology has taken a huge leap forward in the past few years and the result shows in the short amount of time this ski area goes from a grass- covered trail, to a total winter scene, said Greg Sweetser, executive director of the Ski Maine Association.Aside from snowmaking, resorts pumped money into lift improvements, terrain parks and trails. New Hampshires Loon Mountain is expanding its terrain park for kids and Okemo Mountain Resort will give skiers and riders a more comfortable trip up the mountain on chilly days with its new six-person bubble chair lift with heated seats, which it says is the first of its kind in North America. Adidas Nmd Wholesale China . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Fake Ultra Boost For Sale . -- Kurt Buschs Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, in some ways, was like his career wrapped into one afternoon. http://www.nmdukonlinestore.com/nmd-r1-t...tlet-deals.html. PAUL, Minn. Cheap NMD R2 Trainers . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List. Wholesale Adidas Nmd . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010.ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Greece and Paraguay drew 1-1 in their final group match at the Under-20 World Cup Friday which was enough for both teams to advance to the first knockout round. Striker Dimitrios Diamantakos gave tournament newcomer Greece the lead in the 68th minute before Brian Montenegro levelled five minutes later. Paraguay was reduced to 10 men after 24 minutes when defender Gustavo GGomez received a second yellow card.dddddddddddd In the other Group D match, Mexico bounced back from losing its opening two matches and defeated Mali 4-1. Mexico finished third to leave itself a chance of also reaching the last 16, while Mali has been eliminated. Later Friday, Australia was playing Turkey and El Salvador was taking on Colombia in the conclusion of Group C. ' ' '