Embrace the spirit of opposites.

Winterguide 2020

By Amelia Stern

Assumption No. 1. Sailing is for rich people in the summer.

The Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club in Rockland builds, sails, and races iceboats on lakes all over Maine. “Iceboats are more like airplanes than boats,” says Bill Buchholz. “People don’t realize how different the dynamics are from regular sailing. You push and run beside it before jumping in. As you accelerate, your sail becomes a wing. Iceboats don’t sail well slowly. We’re talking 50 miles per hour. On smooth ice, you’re going so fast and it’s so quiet you feel the illusion of flight. It’s magical.”

Assumption No. 2. Humans are supposed to walk dogs.

Skijoring is a mashup of cross country skiing and dog-sledding. Dogs pull their human companions (let’s face it, freight) directly through rope and harness. A skijoring dog team hits 15 miles per hour.

Or, saddle up for equestrian skijoring. “Participants hit 35 mph,” event organizer for Skijor Skowhegan Mary Haley says. For competitions, riders tack on cowboy hats, fringed chaps, and bandanas. Instead of lasso-ing a cow, they’re dragging a skier over a 1,000-foot stretch of snow. “We encourage the costume element. Out west, where skijoring is mainly practiced, that’s the riding culture.”

Somerset Snowfest in Skowhegan is the only venue to host the sport in Maine. Participant Hannah Novaria says, “I hope more people will start doing it once they see how fun it is. The crowd gets so hyped as you race around as fast as you possibly can. It’s something different for the horses, too.”

Assumption No. 3. Hockey is a legalized form of assault for
(mostly) caustic young goons.

The streets may be covered in ice, but Portland’s seniors are on fire in Greater Portland Oldtimers Hockey League. “Usually six out of the 20 playing are in their 70s. Our oldest is 76,” says league member Dick Douty, 69. “I’ve been active since the 1980s.” This league doesn’t discriminate against age, and it doesn’t discriminate against gender either. “We have a woman goalie and two women who play regularly. They’re tougher than the boys. They push us around.”

Since 1993, league runner Gordon Wakelin has run the Old Fart Classic hockey tournament at Troubh Ice Arena every September and April. “We run special fundraising tournaments when some of our own fall on hard times—like when teammate Mike Lemieux was paralyzed in a bicycle accident, when TIA arena employee Gary Ingalls was dealing with terminal brain cancer, or when former Deering HS athletic director Bill Flaherty’s daughter Molly died just 19 days after her birth. We come together each time to help. We also fundraise for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the Travis Roy Foundation.”

Assumption No. 4. Flying kites is for babies.

“Spiritual by default, snowkiting will make you dig deeper,” says Zebulon Jakub, owner of Kiteboard New England. Skiers or snowboarders use giant kites to glide across snow or ice and get extra power over large jumps. “The inherent risk forces you to learn personal responsibility, which runs into all parts of your life.”

Jakub’s scaled Mt. Washington multiple times with his snow kite. “It’s usually really relaxing, almost like I’m getting away with murder—I’m doing something so rare.” Which is why you need an instructor. “I warn people that this is one of the easiest-looking sports with one of the hardest learning curves. But if you want to get out of your head and leave your arguments or bills behind, snowkiting lets you do that. After a day out on the snow, I come home a better person, husband, and father.”