XC Skiing, Five Fields Farm, Bridgton

There is so much more snow in Bridgton than there is in the Portland, Westbrook, Gorham area! 

(View from the wrap around porch on the restroom building!)

Activity: XC Skiing

Location/Address: 720 South Bridgton Road, Bridgton Maine 04009 (If coming from Gorham, heading up 107, it comes up a little faster than your GPS may indicate!) 

Cost: I paid $28 today for ski rental and trail access, and we arrived around 11:30... I am not sure of the full day pricing... but I know it is cheaper if you get there after 1. 

Parking:  There is a decent size lot for parking.  When I arrived there were probably a dozen vehicles parked and that was about at capacity.  But It seemed to work.  I would say if the lot is full, head inside and see what they suggest.  They are very friendly and accommodating!  

When leaving... BE CAREFUL... It is a bit of a blind exit... especially with the high snowbanks!  

FMI: For more info on the Five Fields Farm XC Skiing, click here. They are open 9 am - 5 pm daily.   Rates are not posted on their website but you can call for pricing 207-647-2425, for a Trail Map click HERE. (I am including a small screenshot here.On the trail map they give you there are some additional details.) 

Ohhh... and there are restrooms here!In their own little building...with a wrap around porch with great views! 

Notes: It was a BEAUTIFUL day to be outside!!  I was scheduled to go xc skiing with someone I had met on LLBean's Outdoor Discovery School for xc skiing.  (Click here for that adventure!) But.. she got hit with the flu so I reached out to some friends and they were up for an adventure!  I went with them last year once, to Smiling Hill Farm.  So.. other than my experience as a kid I only had Smiling Hill Farm to use as comparison to Five Fields Farm... I was happy to head to Bridgton where there was more snow and Five Fields Farm is lovely!  Their rental building is charming.   They rent skis and snowshoes... with a variety of sizes! 

These are the skis and poles I used today.  

 

***I am not a gear snob... or at least I hope not... but I liked the skis I used at the LLBean class than these.  The poles I used here were too short for me and... the strap kept coming out of one of the poles.  THAT was a pain in the butt... I don't think it would have kept me from falling, but... it was frustrating. 

Ok... about the experience at Five Fields... 

Sorry Smiling Hill, but... Five Fields is much more picturesque!  Even the drive to Five Fields was beautiful!  I caught a couple of glimpses of Mount Washington.  And there is more snow at Five Fields.  I heard conditions at Smiling Hill were a little icy today.. but I could be wrong...

Despite being more picturesque.... At Smiling Hill there was a large hill to go down at the beginning of the trail but other than that, there were only a couple of very gentle hills... and I didn't fall! (Which my tailbone is grateful for!)

Today... today I fell a few times... and not gentle falls.. crash and burn falls...   My first fall was the worst... I went down a hill and landed on my BFA!  (BFA is a term of endearment for my butt... coined by a friend it stands for Big Fat... well you can finish that!)  My tailbone is still very ...tender!  Turns out I didn't have enough extra padding to help break that fall!  

The trails are way better marked at Five Fields than at Smiling Hill.  (At least as I remember it!)  And they are categorized as beginner, intermediate or... well I didn't even see what the next category was called because I knew I wasn't close!  In my opinion the trails they deemed as 'beginner' were not beginner... I think beginner trails should be mostly flat.  These trails were not flat.  If these trails are for beginners... I am going to classify myself as a novice novice....

The trails here start out from the rental store and goes onto the farm property.  To access the trails you do have to go down a hill... and the hill was pretty slippery... and that's where I wiped out... hard.  It gave me the opportunity to get back up... which, on xc skis is not innate at all... after some trial and error I managed to stand... and then we headed  up into the trees.... yes.. up... I got to use my herring bone technique I learned from LLBean... and it worked great! 

After we went up.. we went down... the hills were not wicked steep but they were hills and had turns... a tough combination for me...  I fell again... and got back up... then on one of the last hills before we got to the orchard I was going down and picking up speed... and my friend's daughter who was ahead of me had wiped out at the bottom of the hill... I knew I would hit her so.. I bailed!  Throwing myself into the snowbank!  That was the most gentle of all my falls of the day!  

The trouble is.. I had to get up..but I was only halfway down the hill.  I decided to sidestep down the rest of the hill... keeping the toes of my skis in the edges of the trails where there was some less packed snow... I was slow, but I got to the base of the hill without falling again.  

The orchards were really pretty! 

At this part the trails were groomed ... where there were tracks for the skis.  I think the grooming helped... I wish there had been tracks like this on all of the trails... including the initial trails to get to the rest of the property.  I am not sure it would help on the hills...but being a newbie... it helped. 

Skiing through the orchard was the 'easiest' part of the trail.  It was a very slight decline which was very nice. given the tracks and the very slight incline I felt like I had a little control over my speed!    

 (That's my frined and her daughter way off in the distance!)

After crossing the orchard there were connections to other trails.  Straight involved a pretty steep hill going down then up... to the right, also a steep hill...going down... to the left... a steep hill going up!  My friend and her daughter wanted to do more hills!  (Love their adventurous spirits!) 

I told them I was not going to go down the steep hills (knowing my own limits AND knowing my tailbone couldn't handle another hard hit!)  and told them I would go back across the orchard, where we had just skied... for more practice... then I would return to this spot and go left UP the steep hill... and we agreed to meet at the top of the hill... 

I was a little relieved to have a few moments to myself to reflect a little... and to keep myself in a good mindset.  I admit I had hoped to have more trails here that were novice friendly.  But... I was outside on a beautiful winter day... and I was moving my body.  (Granted in ways I didn't know was possible...especially when contorting myself to get up!)  I gained a little confidence going back and forth on this part of the trail.  It felt better.  But.. I still wish the poles were longer and ... I realized the skis I was using were more narrow than the ones I had used at LLBean... Granted I know that the user, me, is the biggest factor to the skills being used... but.. I felt like the equipment I used at Beans was more suited for me.  

I wanted to get a photo of e on the skis... but my friend is not someone who takes a lot of photos... so.. this shadow will have to do!  

As I skied though the orchard I noticed some turkey tracks.  I bet there are deer here too!  

I returned to the intersection of Hill down, hill down, and hill up... and started to go up the hill.  The hill started out fairly gradual.. but got a little steeper... I had to talk to myself... trust yourself, you got this... herring bone, herring bone... you got this... and eventually I got to the top!  And found a cemetery!  I was happy to be alive!  Especially after not falling backwards down a hill!! 

 The view from the top of the orchard was so pretty!  Looking over the hills and ponds... I kayak in this area... one of my favorite places is Peabody Pond which is very close to here! 

 

I did my best to take a selfie with the beautiful scenery!  

(I was happy I had chosen to not wear my winter coat.. instead I had a couple of shirts under a fleece pullover and my vest.  I was plenty warm.  It was not windy and temps were in the mid thirties... )

I would love to come back here after I get more skilled.  I am planning on buying xc skis from Beans at the end of the season.  And... my mission will be to find some flat places to go... to build my skills and my confidence.  I will continue to share!  

If you want to go here, you will not be disappointed by the views!  I would say if you are a novice skier... consider coming here to snowshoe!  The property is worth seeing!