Thanks to the generosity of 51 winter sports areas statewide, 1,832 kids and their families got outside and active this winter with the WinterKids Passport.  Mt. Abram, Black Mountain, Lost Valley, Shawnee Peak, and Camden Snow Bowl were the top 5 most popular Passport destinations this season with 4,328 tickets redeemed, valued at $54,648 in support of Maine families enjoying outdoor winter sports!

“It’s wonderful to see so many Maine kids trying new winter activities,” says WinterKids Executive Director, Julie Mulkern, in a news release.  “We are very grateful for the support of our Passport partners who provide tickets to these kids as an incentive to get the whole family outside and active.”

The WinterKids Passport program is open to Maine children in fifth, sixth and seventh grades.  The Passport is Maine’s original outdoor winter activity discount book, providing free and reduced tickets for alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, snowshoeing, snow tubing, and dog sledding.  This winter, two new recreational areas joined the Passport program; Quarry Road Trails in Waterville and The Rink at Thompson’s Point in Portland.

“The Passport began solely as a learn-to-ski program, but it’s grown to include many other winter activities,” said Mulkern. “It’s wonderful to have a variety of partners offering an introduction to seven different winter recreations across the state.”

Some participating Passport partners also offer “WinterKids Family Days” with deep discounts to entice the whole family to try a new area. This year, WinterKids Family Days were held at Mt. Abram, Camden Snow Bowl, Shawnee Peak, Lost Valley, The Rink at Thompson’s Point, Smiling Hill Farm, and Midcoast Recreation Center.

Information about the 2017-2018 WinterKids Passport will be available this fall on the organization’s website. All told, 20,256 kids, families, and educators across Maine got outside and active this winter with WinterKids family, school and community programs. 

For more information about the WinterKids Passport visit:

www.winterkids.org/kids-and-families/passport/

WinterKids is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Our mission is to help children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity.  The organization delivers innovative outdoor programs for families, schools, and communities.  WinterKids’ Major Community Sponsor is Hannaford.  WinterKids’ Supporting Sponsors are L.L.Bean and TD Bank. Learn more about WinterKids programs at WinterKids.org.

For more information about Mt. Abram visit mtabram.com

For more information about Black Mountain visit skiblackmountain.com

For more information about Lost Valley visit lostvalleyski.com

For more information about Shawnee Peak visit shawneepeak.com

For more information about Camden Snow Bowl visit camdensnowbowl.com