CARRABASSETT VALLEY -- Police said icy, slushy roads from an overnight snowstorm contributed to a two-vehicle, head-on collision on Route 27 Monday morning that killed a 25-year-old Whitefield man.

Craig Morin was driving a 1997 Geo Prizm south when he lost control of the car near the intersection with Campbell Field Road and the Carrabassett Valley Touring Center, said Carrabassett Valley police Chief Scott Nichols.

The car skidded sideways, crossed the center line and was struck by an oncoming 1999 Dodge Ram driven by Martin Tomich, 65, of Hackettstown, N.J.

Tomich "saw him coming and steered to the right to get out of the way but was unable to avoid hitting the Geo head-on," Nichols said. Both men were wearing seatbelts, he said.

The Geo was struck with such force that the impact bounced it back more than 20 feet down the road, the chief said.

Tomich suffered some facial cuts but did not want to be transported to the hospital and he was treated at the scene by NorthStar EMS. His truck had about $3,500 in damages, Nichols said.

"The roads were just terrible and it appeared (Morin) was driving too fast for the conditions. Even doing 35 to 40 mph on those roads would have been imprudent speed," he said.

Nichols, a former state police trooper assigned to patrol Franklin County before he was hired as chief earlier this year, said it had been about five years since there had been a fatality in Carrabassett Valley.

Nichols said Tomich was staying with friends and was on his way to Sugarloaf to go skiing and Morin was heading home to Whitefield after visiting his mother, Karen Hutchinson, in Stratton. His father is Peter Morin of Whitefield.

Assisting at the scene were members of the Carrabassett Valley Fire Department, Officer Wallace Spencer and State Police Trooper Aaron Turcotte. Nichols said the accident was unable to be reconstructed due to the conditions on the roads.

Nichols said road conditions were so poor that traffic, normally busy at that time of day, had to be stopped in both directions for about 40 minutes.

He estimated cars and trucks were backed up for almost a mile each way.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com