Skiing Used To Be All The Rage Around Bangor Back In The Day

To be honest, in all my life, I have never once strapped on a set of downhill skis and hit the slopes. Mostly, because I'm wildly uncoordinated, and fear going downhill fast on slippery footwear. Or more plainly, I'm a big chicken. But back in the day, skiing in the Bangor area was something that happened all the time. So what happened?

To be fair, you can still go skiing at Hermon Mountain, which has been a staple of local skiing for years. But back in the day, there spots like Bald Mountain in Dedham, Ski Horse in Newburgh, Snow Mountain in Winterport, and Bangor also had a spot on Essex Street that is a site where kids today still occasionally take their sleds to.

According to an article in the Bangor Daily News, most of these spots were phased out in the 70's and 80's. However, Ski Horse in Newburgh was letting people up for sledding as late as the 90's. But these days, all of these spots are long gone, and are now private property. Again, with the exception of Hermon Mountain.

Now, the real clincher is, around these parts, the mountains just aren't that high. And if you're interested in downhill skiing, I would think the objective would be to spend as much time going in a downward direction at a high rate of speed, as possible. And I imagine some of these smaller hills in the area may have filled a void, but I can see where a lot of folks would want to head out to Sugarloaf or Saddleback or whatnot.

So yeah, the Bangor area does have strong ties to the skiing world, but it's mostly ancient history at this point. But who knows, if you're lucky, you just might spot me someday on the tiny hill by the Union Street Pool, trying to get my ski legs under me. And if you wait long enough, you'll definitely see me give up, and head to the bar. Meet you there?