Michael Knight, co-owner of Smiling Hill Farm, on one of the farm’s trails Thursday. The farm announced Wednesday that it would no longer offer cross country skiing because of a lack of consistent snow. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Call it another casualty of climate change.

Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook is permanently closing its cross country skiing operation because of a lack of snow.

It’s been seven years since the farm has made money off its cross country ski business, co-owner Michael Knight said. The historic family-run Westbrook dairy farm began offering groomed trails and ski rentals about 25 years ago as a way to bring people in during the slow winter season.

“For the much-needed income that this dairy farm needs in the winter months, it’s a revenue that’s not there anymore because of global warming,” Knight said in an interview Thursday.

He said there was just one skiable day last winter. Now, the farm is permanently getting out of the cross country business.

The popular dairy farm, which offered 13 kilometers of groomed cross country ski trails and equipment rentals, announced the change in a Facebook post on New Year’s Day and said it is selling its ski equipment. It will continue to offer snowshoeing and rentals when snow conditions permit.

Advertisement

Smiling Hill told disappointed followers on Facebook that the change would be permanent, a response to dwindling snowfall.

“Unfortunately, the last few years have provided either little snow … or snow that melts within a day or two,” the post said. “We need a consistent base of at least 6” to maintain trails.”

The farm has offered groomed trails and equipment rentals since the 1990s. It is one of several farms that created trail networks as a way to diversify their incomes and generate revenue in the offseason. Knight said his father came up with the idea as a way to bring in winter customers, and back in the day it served as a practice area for high school Nordic ski teams. But he said the declining snowfall, and the labor costs of staffing the rental booth, have long been unprofitable.

The closure is a tangible result of the changing climate and a what climatologists say is a long-term trend in Maine of less snow and more rain during the winter months, especially in southern and coastal areas. Last winter was one of Maine’s warmest, and there was also little snowfall. The winter outdoor recreation industry suffered, especially snowmobiling.

A pair of skiers on the trails at Smiling Hill Farm in February 2023. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Smiling Hill hosted a sale of its ski gear on Tuesday and Wednesday. Knight is holding on to his snow grooming equipment for now, just in case, and said he’s considering venturing into a new activity not dependent on snow, like disc golf.

“I just need people to come here in the wintertime and help support this farm,” Knight said. “This is our slowest time, from New Year’s Day to April vacation.”

Advertisement

Smiling Hill Farm continues to operate a store and ice cream shop, although it will be closed on Tuesdays except during school vacation weeks to save on labor costs.

“We are sincerely grateful for those who will continue to visit and support us during the harsh and difficult winter months,” farm staff said on Facebook.

Other southern Maine cross country venues are remaining open, but haven’t had any skiing days yet this season.

Harris Farm, a dairy operation in Dayton, has offered groomed skiing trails and rentals for at least 35 years, and co-owner Rachel Harris said they have no intention of stopping.

She said this weather isn’t unusual to her, and that winter conditions in the region have always been unpredictable.

“We’ve never had, ever in our 35 years, a consistency where we’re open every single day in the winter. That’s not how it works in southern Maine, so this is not unusual in that way,” Harris said. “It comes, it goes. You’re open when it comes, you’re not when it goes.”

Advertisement

Harris Farm was one of the first in the area to offer cross country trails, and Harris said her in-laws introduced skiing as an extra source of revenue in the winter. She said it helps with bringing people in, but dairy is still the backbone of the farm.

“The ski business helps the farm, and the farm helps the ski business,” she said. “You get skiers in here who don’t know about your farm, it promotes the farm, and vice versa. It’s a nice little boost in the winter when you don’t have vegetables and it’s a little slow.”

Harris said the business has always been dependent on the timing of winter storms, which doesn’t always align with holidays or school breaks. She said one reason her family will stick with skiing is because they are all passionate about the sport.

Pineland Farms in New Gloucester hasn’t opened any of its ski trails for the season yet according to its latest trail conditions report. Pineland offers 19 miles of groomed trails, alongside snowshoeing, sledding, ice skating and disc golf.

Related Headlines

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.