Put 15 Pins in the Delorme

Rip the back off my Delorme, tape it to the wall, and stick 15 pins around northern Maine. So far this winter I have Nordic skied at 15 different ski areas! This does not even count all the schools I've skied at or the snowmobile trails I've been on.

But wait, you all know there's no way I'm ripping the back of my Delorme. That thing is way too precious. Instead, we will imagine the pins while looking at this list.

10th Mountain Ski Center, Fort Kent
4 Seasons Trails, Madawaska
Ed's Trails, Ashland
Caribou High School
Trafton Lake, Limestone
Big Rock, Mars Hill (for Nordic and Alpine)
Aroostook State Park
Nordic Heritage Center, Presque Isle
New England Outdoor Center, Millinocket
Abbott Park, Winterport
Orono Schools, Orono
University of Maine, Orono
Black Mountain, Rumford
Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge, Limestone
Snowy Mountain Trails, Stockholm

15 ski areas! And except for Rumford, these are all Bangor-area and north. Places like Titcomb, Gould,  and Pineland have yet to be hit this year.

(Full disclosure: I feel badly writing this, since I know so many areas are suffering from an extremely low snow year. I'm not trying to make you jealous, I'm simply sharing because I am so excited about how many awesome places there are to ski in Maine. The snow will come and then we'll get to explore even more places to ski.)

People have asked me before what is my favorite place to ski. There's no way to answer that question. Every area has a special feel or a special purpose or maybe hosts a special event. But here are a few photos from some of the places that are as close as they can get to "favorites"...

Amber at Aroostook State Park. Double-tracked, gentle trails make for spectacular classic skiing. (Read: Great for tired coaches that really just want to chat the whole time. "Amber, how's your kick?" "Great! Extra blue, baby.") 

Daniel on the trails in Millinocket. These new trails are wicked fun - just be careful on the crazy downhill. It makes the corkscrew at NHC look tame. Pick your head up regularly for awesome views of the lakes and Katahdin, and to avoid the trees flying towards you at 30 mph.

How could I not mention NHC? Home to awesome trails and, judging from this photo, always perfect weather.

Ashland 8th grade boys. They showed me around their trails and weren't afraid to rip down some crazy icy hills.  

Also, we managed to scare up a flock of wild turkeys.

Me (with a noticeable amount of pride): "Wow! Check out those turkeys, must be 20 of them. You know, I shot one this past spring." 

8th Grade Boy: "On purpose?"

Me: "Ummm... yes..."

8th Grade Boy: "Isn't that illegal?"

Me: "Oh right! No, it's not illegal downstate. They're crawling all over the place down there."

8th Grade Boy (not impressed): "Oh."

So, you've made it to the end of my first blog post. Consider it a small introduction to what will (hopefully) be humorous stories about my adventures around Maine. Thanks for reading!