Skiing up mountain a challenge, especially pole-less

When the girls were small and just learning to cross country ski, they had a hard time using poles. The poles would get caught up in their skis and create general confusion on how to get in a rhythm of gliding on skis and pushing off with poles. So for the first couple of years we mostly left the poles at home, myself included. I liked skiing pole-less so I had my hands free to assist with the kids' various 'issues' including glove fixing, boot tying, stepping in and out of bindings, taking a picture, grabbing a tissue for someone's nose, etc.

After a couple of years on cross country skis and the girls were showing some proficiency with the sport, I remember chatting with a coach from the Maine Winter Sports Center about our pole-less status. I was embarrassed about it because I hadn't taught the girls how to use poles up to that point. The coach actually thought it was "great" that my kids learned how to ski without them. Apparently skiing without poles is part of the MWSC's athlete training program. It helps skiers become stronger because your body has to work a lot harder to kick and glide without the assistance of poles.

But skiing without poles back then was always done on mostly level terrain and since we've expanded our trail horizons to include hills, now we almost always ski with poles (and the girls are much more proficient at using them).

But this season I've been having a pesky problem with my hand and gripping my ski poles for even a short time causes a lot of pain. So I've left them in the car on all of our cross country ski treks this season. And although I'm not always graceful in my pole-less form, I have been managing just fine until our ski adventure at Bald Pate Mountain in Bridgton.

After spending our morning at Highland Lake during the Musher's Bowl, we decided after lunch to head to Five Fields Farm to watch some of the dog sledding and skijoring races and then ski to the top of Bald Pate Mountain.

I had taken the girls hiking at Bald Pate when they were small and knew it was not a big elevation gain to the summit. We found the Moose Trail at the trail head for Bald Pate to be ungroomed and not being used by the races. From that trail, it's a short hike to the summit (about 1.5 miles round trip) so I didn't think we'd have much trouble skiing it.

Well, it was a bit harder than I anticipated because ungroomed trails are narrow by nature and not all that conducive to duck-walking up an incline on cross country skis. We were all having to lift our ski tips through a few inches of snow with every step and that was harder (even though it doesn't sound like much) and more tiring.

The girls have skate skis, which require regular waxing and don't have the fish-scales of waxless skis like classic and back country skis do, so they have a bit less "grip" on the snow. This means the girls have to work harder to keep their skis from sliding backwards up a hill. But the girls had poles to dig in to the snow and give them the leverage needed to climb.

I did not bring along my poles and I really, really missed them on this ski/hike up the mountain.

I fell down repeatedly as my ski tips were caught in the snow and/or I lost my balance with a slide backward as I was trying to make my way upward.

I'm OK with falling down, I do it all the time, but I couldn't keep up the pace Fino had set at the front of the line. He had waxless skis with poles and although a challenging climb even with those benefits, he had equipment better suited for the conditions than the girls or I did.

So being the good wife I am, about 1/4 mile in to the uphill trek I got snippy and told him to let one of the girls lead the way to set a more manageable pace for the group. And being the good and predictable husband that he is, he became annoyed with me. In a short video clip I took on the mountain you can hear him say, "Come on carpel tunnel." He's such a supportive and caring guy when I need him to be.

My friend Shannon came along with us on this adventure and brought along the comedic relief needed to find some humor during our uphill climb. When we made it to the summit we were treated to a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains so we hung out there for a while. Well, we also spent some extra time at the summit because I needed to catch my breath while I tried not to throw up. My body's reaction to the physical exertion of climbing a mountain on skis without poles had my heart pumping hard, my face bright red, and my stomach churning with a need for more carb fuel. A few Hershey kisses and some water fixed me up just fine though.

Our trip down the mountain was much more fun, although not without it's own share of challenges. As I've mentioned previously, we have not mastered the Telemark turn on our cross country skis so the traversing mountain trail was tricky. We basically skied a bit then intentionally fell down near the turns to avoid going in to the trees. There was a lot of laughing at ourselves, and each other, all the way down the mountain and everyone gave this part of the adventure two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Although this skiing adventure was harder than I had anticipated because of the elevation gain (550 feet according to my GPS) on cross country skis, it would have been much easier on snow shoes. I'd highly recommend the trail for families to visit in the winter if you hike it. The view of the surrounding area at the summit is one not to be missed at this time of year. And actually, everyone in our group thought that it was worth the effort to ski up to the summit because the view - and trip down - were that great.

TRAIL REVIEW

BALD PATE MOUNTAIN, BRIDGTON
LENGTH: 486 acres are managed by the Loon Echo Land Trust and include about 10 miles of looping trails
TRAIL MAP: Loon Echo Land Trust
GROOMING: Five Fields Farm does groom some of the land trust's trails but the Moose and summit trails were not groomed the day we visited.
PARKING: Yes
FEE: none on ungroomed trails but fee required to Five Fields Farm to ski groomed trails through the land trust.
EQUIPMENT RENTALS: None at the land trust but Five Fields does offer rentals and is 1/2 mile away from Bald Pate's trail head.
BATHROOM: No
ABILITY LEVEL: Intermediate to make climb on cross country skis to summit
DOG-FRIENDLY: Yes
KID-FRIENDLY FACTOR: OK on cross country skis, GOOD on snow shoes. For kids with only advanced beginner skills on cross country skis, the mountain trail could be more challenging than fun for them.

We took a couple of much-needed breaks on our way up the mountain. The kids were playing to the camera by throwing themselves down in the snow to show how hard they were working but I was appreciative of the photo op to take a breather myself.

At one point the trail was very narrow and the incline steep so the girls and I took off our skis for a respite and walked for a bit. Shannon and Fino kept their gear on the whole trek up. The girls and I did not mind being "shown up" by the waxless skis-with-poles people.

L. spotted a house on a mountain top as well as the snow-capped Mount Washington further in the distance. It was a clear day and the view of the White Mountains was fab.

The girls like to eat snow and say it helps cool them down on the xc ski trail.

We all did our fair share of falling on the way down the mountain trail. Here Shannon has an amused audience before I make my way down and end up wiping out in the same place.

Cross Country Skiing at Bald Pate Mountain