AUBURN, Maine — Winters in Maine are long, which means if you don't find an activity you enjoy, the few months of cold weather might drag on. With that in mind, the nonprofit WinterKids helped more than 50 children get their first experience on a ski hill Sunday afternoon.
WinterKids held a "Ski Free" day at Lost Valley on Sunday. The nonprofit covered the costs of the lift tickets, rental equipment, and professional lessons in partnership with the Augusta Recreation Department.
"What we're doing honestly is just complimenting kids' inherent need and want to be outdoors and wanting to play and be outside," Julie Mulkern, WinterKids's executive director, said. "I think that a big key to that is encouraging parents to go along with it, so we're helping families to get outside together."
Nine-year-old Rion Eaton strapped on her ski boots for the first time Sunday.
"It's easy, but it's also hard at the same time," she said. "It's really fun."
Her mother, Jaimi Clifford, brought her three daughters to Lost Valley as she said she's always looking to give her kids new opportunities.
"We have five kids, so having an event like this where you get to try it at no expense is really important for us," Clifford said.
Professionals helped the children "pizza" and "French fry" down the hill together, so if their families want to ski together again, the kids already have a foundation.
"I hope I'm going to be able, someday, to go on the big skiing mountain," Eaton said.
Skiing at Lost Valley and other mountains across Maine last month was difficult due to severe storms and rain, the assistant general manager at Lost Valley, Travis Dow, said. Fortunately since then, the temperatures have dropped and fresh snowfall has given some Mainers an outlet they've been waiting for.
"If you're gonna live in Maine and you're going to stay in your house the whole time, you're probably not going to enjoy it too much," Dow said.
Dow said Lost Valley is almost 100-percent open. Three trails are closed because they need more snow.
WinterKids is holding its second "Free Ski" day for more than 110 kids at BigRock Mountain in Mars Hill on Saturday, Feb. 3.
If you're interested in learning more about WinterKids, click here.
