When learning to cross-country ski, we avoided trails with a lot of hills. The girls learned to downhill before they tried cross-country skis, and we realized that first-year "skinny skis" feel, and respond, differently on a hill. Doing a "pizza pie" to slow down and stop on cross-country skis takes some getting used to if you first learned the technique on downhill skis. The response time to actually come to a stop when you've built up some speed going down a hill is a lot longer.
But these days the girls love going down hills on cross-country ski trails. Although they can't stop quickly, they have developed a comfort level for speed on their skinny skis. As a mother, I have mixed feelings about this development, but can't deny there is a certain appeal for speeding down a hill, even for me.
At Five Fields Farm, there are some looping trails through the apple orchard that are fairly level, but if you really want to explore the area, you're going to have to do a little downhill, and uphill, skiing. We spent some time on the trails leading to Bald Pate Mountain's summit and enjoyed the beautiful mountain views before turning back to the orchard. There was a big hill the girls spotted earlier there and were itching to try.
For our trip to this trail system we brought along our GPS unit. The kids enjoy using the "trip computer" feature on the unit to determine our maximum speed when we're on the trail (i.e., the fastest hill). We also like to know how far we traveled on our skis.
At Five Fields Farm we skied about two and a half miles, but the total elevation gain on the looping trails we explored – nearly 500 feet – was a bit more than we usually do, according to our GPS. Typically our cross-country ski adventures are not more than 200-foot gains. T
o put this in perspective for people who do a bit of hiking with their kids, a trip to the summit of Douglas Mountain in Sebago is about a 550-foot elevation gain; Morse Mountain in Phippsburg is about a 100-foot gain. If you're a beginner cross-country skier, be sure you are familiar with how to do a snowplow down a hill, as well as duck-walk (i.e., herringbone) yourself back up one, before your visit to Five Fields Farm.
My kids' need for speed was well satisfied on this trail system. The GPS clocked us at 17 miles per hour skiing an open straight-away trail down part of the mountain. None of us have mastered the telemark turn on our cross-country skis yet (we had a primer from a high school Nordic coach recently, so we're going to give it a try soon). Until we do, we are more cautious on our approach to winding trails through the woods.
The kids handled themselves well on their skinny skies down the fast hill and did not attempt to stop until the terrain (and their speed) leveled off farther down the trail. I, on the other hand, felt like I was going too fast down the mountain and attempted a "controlled" fall. The control part of that plan didn't happen quite the way I had hoped and after skidding and bumping on my behind for at least 25 feet, my ski was caught under some snow and flipped me forward. I avoided a full face dive into a snowbank but did manage to get a pretty purplish bruise on my left knee. The kids came over to check on me as is their usual practice when I fall, which is (unfortunately) frequently, to ensure I was OK. Then they proceeded back up the mountain while giggling for their second, and third, runs down again. I opted to skip a follow-up trip.
The hills weren't the only thrill of the day for my kids at Five Fields Farm, though. We saw a dog sled team on the trail as well as a couple of harnessed dogs pulling a skijor racer. The kids stopped to admire the dogs running on the trails and briefly greeted them when they stopped nearby. My kids love animals and any opportunity to combine an outdoor adventure with an animal is always a treat.
My 12-year-old summed up our adventure this way: "These trails are for kids who have some experience skiing. I would have been scared on some of the hills if I had never been cross-country skiing before. When you go down the hill you feel like you are going to fall because you get going really fast, really quick. But it is fun!"
So for parents out there who have some experience cross-country skiing with their kids, Five Fields Farm offers some beautiful mountain views and some hills for your thrill-seekers to keep everyone in the family entertained.
Cross Country Skiing at Five Fields Farm
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TRAIL REVIEW
FIVE FIELDS FARM, BRIDGTON
LENGTH: 27 kilometers of groomed trails that leads to backcountry
terrain in the surrounding 450-acre Loon Echo Land Trust and Bald Pate
Mountain
CONTACT INFORMATION: www.fivefieldsski.com, 647-2425
GROOMING: Yes, 12 feet wide for classic and skate skiing
PARKING: Yes
FEE: $10/adults; $8/kids 12 and under
EQUIPMENT RENTALS: Yes
BATHROOM: No
ABILITY LEVEL: The farm's trail map identifies novice to advanced ski
trail options but there is a hill or two to manage to get on the
looping trail system, so children will need some experience on
cross-country skis.
DOG-FRIENDLY: Yes
KID-FRIENDLY FACTOR: Great. For kids with some experience cross-country
skiing, the hills on this trail system offer a thrill. And the wide
looping trails through the orchard offer plenty of space to skate ski.
OTHER: Dog sleds and skijoring can be seen around the trails, but no
snowmobiles are permitted.
KIDS' REVIEW
THE 13-YEAR-OLD: "I liked the easy trail loops and skiing into the
preserve where the mountain was. But my favorite part was the fast hill
because that was fun! Our GPS said we went 17 miles per hour. That's
really fast for us on cross-country skis."
THE 12-YEAR-OLD: "I liked going down the hills. I didn't like how it
was flat for a long time because hills are much funner so I was happy
when I was skiing down the mountain part. And I also saw a skijoring
guy on his skis with a pair of huskies in their harnesses on the trail.
That was cool."
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram, January 17, 2010
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