If you’ve never traveled north of Houlton to ski at two Alpine areas that embody the best of what community-focused and operated facilities can be, you owe it to yourself to pack up the car and head to Aroostook County. There you can experience what skiing used to be like in days gone by, and what upgrades can accomplish at one of Maine’s oldest still-operating areas. And rest assured, there’s plenty of the white stuff in northern Maine.

Lonesome Pine

The northernmost ski area in Maine, Lonesome Pine looms just south of downtown Fort Kent on the St. John River. Its location attracts skiers and boarders from two countries, with Canadian visitors helping sustain the member-owned, nonprofit facility. The volunteer workforce supplies the necessary labor to keep things humming along.

The adult day ticket of $20 is listed on the rate board as a membership, as is the $15 half-day and evening rate. Students ski for $17 all day and $13 for half-days and evenings.

Uphill transport is provided for beginners on a handle tow, and once having mastered that hill, skiers and boarders graduate to the T-bar.

One novice, seven intermediate and five expert trails provide plenty of variety, and the area’s location often offers better natural snow skiing than areas further to the south.

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Night skiing is available on Fridays as the mountain operates 3 to 9 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The area is closed Mondays through Thursdays, except during school vacation weeks.

Bigrock

Mars Hill towers over the surrounding Aroostook County potato fields, so shortly after Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states, the local Junior Chamber of Commerce did what seemed to them to be a logical thing: build a ski area so County folks, along with their neighbors in New Brunswick, would have a place to enjoy the long northern Maine winters.

In the years following that auspicious launch in 1960, the area continued to provide exceptional skiing for folks as far away as Bangor and Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Enter the Portland-based Libra Foundation, which in 2000 provided funding for a newly formed entity, the Maine Winter Sports Center. Operating as Bigrock Mountain, significant capital investment turned the somewhat moribund facility into a thriving destination.

Now sporting a triple chair as well as a double, along with a Poma, a handle lift and a carpet, there’s plenty of uphill capacity for the biggest weekend crowds.

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With 14 intermediate, five beginner and 10 advanced trails, there’s variety enough for skiers of every ability. A terrain park with 20 elements keeps boarders entertained, and an extensive snowmaking system covers 80 percent of the mountain’s terrain with the man-made stuff when nature fails to cooperate. But that’s not often the case in northern Maine, where snowfall totals are legendary.

Among the many appeals at Bigrock is an enticing price structure that allows adults to ski for just $22 on weekdays and $38 on weekends, and during holiday weeks. For folks in the 65-74 age group and for kids, it’s even cheaper. And if you’re 75 or older, you ski for free.

Similarly reasonable season pass rates are also available, as are lessons for skiers and boarders.

Lift tickets are even more reasonable than at many other areas due to the fact that 13 of the trails are lighted, so your day can extend well past sunset.

In 2014, after making significant capital investments, modernizing and operating the area for 14 years, the Libra Foundation turned the mountain over to the community.

There are a variety of Ski and Stay packages at nearby inns and cabins, that combine lodging with lift tickets and meals at the ski area. The Hampton Inn in Presque Isle even includes breakfast for two as part of the package.

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Reasonably priced packages can be found at My Sunset Cabins in Mars Hill, Blaine Country Cabins in Blaine, the Bear Paw Inn in Mars Hill, and the Presque Isle Inn and Convention Center.

Bear in mind that Bigrock is closed Mondays and Tuesdays except during the vacation weeks.

John Christie is a former ski racer and ski area manager and owner, a ski historian and member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. He and his son, Josh, write ski columns on alternating weeks. John can be reached at:

jchristie@fairpoint.net


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