Stand-in. [Archival photo: early volunteers, kids and the first ski packages]
A volunteer club for the ski trails at Caribou High School.
We support the Caribou High School ski program and the community trail system that grew out of it, so the trails, and what they give kids, are still here for the next skiers.
No membership.
No trail fees.
A lot of trail systems in Aroostook County need a membership or charge to get in. The trails at Caribou High School don’t. Skiing should be open to anyone, and we intend to keep it that way.
How the club got here
Early 2000s
It started with ski packages
The club was started by volunteers with kids in the Caribou ski program, when the Maine Winter Sports Center had the whole community caught up in Nordic skiing. They bought complete ski packages (skis, bindings, boots and poles) and gave them to the Rec Center, so any kid who wanted to ski could.
The building years
The trails take shape
They helped lay out, build and extend the trails at Caribou High School. Most of what we ski today is their work, along with the Nordic and cross country coaches and the school’s athletic department, who put in money and labor over the years.
The last ten years
Quiet, steady care
As their kids aged out of the program, most of the first volunteers moved on. The school and its coaches took over the trails, and one person did most of the grooming, for countless hours every winter.
2024
A call about the groomer
A handful of us got a phone call about the school’s grooming equipment. The Maine Winter Sports Center gave it years ago, and it had become outdated and expensive to run. When we met to talk it over, it was plain the trails had grown into more than a school program can carry on its own. They’re a community trail system.
Now
Northern Skiers, again
We’re raising money to help the school replace the grooming equipment. Meanwhile we’re finding more ways to get people of every age outside and on the trails.
I’m not much of a Nordic skier myself, but I recognized the value of what had been built and wanted to make sure it continued: preserving an opportunity for kids, and making sure the time, effort and investment of the people who came before us weren’t lost.
[Name], Northern Skiers
What we’re here to do
Nordic skiing will always come first. But the club is really about getting people together outdoors, on the trails and at community events.
1
Lighten the load for the school
Take some of the trail care and grooming off Caribou High School.
2
Back the coaches and their skiers
Support the Nordic and cross country coaches and keep the school’s ski program strong.
3
Keep what was built
Look after the trails and the chances the first volunteers worked so hard to create.
4
Get people outside
Give people of every age more reasons to get out and enjoy northern Maine.
With thanks
Our founding volunteers
Caribou High School athletic department
Nordic and cross country coaches
[Groomer name]
Maine Winter Sports Center
Caribou Parks & Recreation
Help the school replace its groomer.
The school’s grooming equipment is outdated and getting expensive to repair. We’re raising money to help Caribou High School replace it, so the trails stay groomed and free.
Goal
[Amount]
Raised so far
[Amount]