PORTLAND — The Downtown Showdown, an annual Portland skiing and snowboarding event put on by the Sunday River and Sugarloaf ski areas, has been canceled this year due to a lack of snow.

The event had been scheduled to be held in Portland’s Monument Square Friday. But officials from the ski areas met this morning and decided to cancel the event, said Ethan Austin, communications manager for Sugarloaf, in Carrabassett Valley.

Austin said the event will not be rescheduled for this winter.

The free event has been held for the past few winters in Monument Square. A 35-foot-high skiing hill has been constructed each year with scaffolding and snow trucked in from nearby areas. Skiiers and snowboarders then competed in a range of events while crowds in Monument Square looked on.

The event was created as way for the ski resorts – which are part of the same company – to get exposure in the state’s largest city, said Austin.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at: rrouthier@pressherald.com