While many of us rested cozily at home this winter, a special group of volunteers routinely ventured out in the cold and dark.

Acadia Winter Trails Association (AWTA) volunteer groomers often stay up late or rise before the sun to set tracks and corduroy on the park’s carriage roads. This year, that much-appreciated effort translated to a season of spectacular cross-country skiing along some of the park’s most splendid routes. Skiing Acadia’s carriage roads is a unique experience that brings locals and out-of-towners into the park all winter.

On a typical morning, volunteers first hit a local gas station to grab a coffee and fuel for the snowmobiles and Kubota. They then head into the park to operate grooming equipment, often staying at it for hours as they circle around particular loops. The grooming equipment compacts the snow, making a corduroy surface for skate skiers to glide across and setting parallel tracks for classic skiers.

Acadia Winter Trails Association volunteers often groom after dark and before sunrise. (Courtesy photo)

One volunteer, Jake Bison, realized that he’d spent enough time behind the wheel of the Kubota one night that he could have traveled to Portland. “This drive was a lot more enjoyable than being on the road though,” he said.

For those who return to the park for skiing year after year, the ’25-‘26 season has been special. While most winters see a few good weeks of skiing, it’s almost unheard of in recent years for good conditions to occur consistently for the majority of the season, as it has this year. That also means the carriage road groomers have worked hard.

As of this writing, ski grooming has occurred almost daily for more than two months, including Christmas Day and the following week as well as New Year’s Day and the following week.

Temperatures largely stayed below freezing — rarely rising above the mid-30s during the day and then freezing again at night — perfect for resmoothing the surface for skiing each day.

According to Mark Fernald, the most tenured of the volunteer groomers, this winter has had one of the highest snow accumulations he can remember since he started volunteering. He says 2015 had more snowfall, one single storm delivering more than 20 inches, but “it was not a fun year. Drifts looked like breaking waves.”

He recalls not being able to see the coping stones in some sections because the drifts were so large. “It wasn’t good skiing because you couldn’t pack it down,” he said. “This year has had the best conditions we’ve had in terms of snow quantity, quality, and consistency.”

A short pause during grooming to take in the view! (Jake Bison/Friends of Acadia)

Volunteers pose for a photo in February 2026 after receiving medals for number of hours spent grooming during a celebratory event in Bar Harbor. (L-R) Stewardship Manager Nikki Burtis, Acadia Winter Trails Association Volunteer Groomers Phil Lichtenstein, Matt Gerrish, Mark Fernald, and Jake Bison. (Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

At the heart of the Acadia Winter Trails Association are the four active volunteer groomers who are out most days when grooming is approved by the park.

Mark Fernald, a sixth-generation lobsterman from Little Cranberry Island, spends the colder half of the year “off island” at his home on Norway Drive, and has been volunteering with AWTA for the past 30 years. Mark was recruited by his then-dentist, Dr. Bob Massucco, who started the grooming program before it was part of Friends of Acadia. Mark, 73, was 55 when he started skate skiing after years of skiing classic. He quickly found a passion for it, skiing more than 500 miles just this season, including 22 days in a row in the month of February.

Matt Gerrish grew up in Bar Harbor and was recruited by his friend Mike Gilfillan to become a volunteer groomer. “Dr. Massucco taught Mike to skate ski in the 1980s. In turn, Mike taught me in the 1990s, and I started volunteering shortly after.” Gerrish and Gilfillan were long-time AWTA grooming partners and still enjoy skiing together on the carriage roads today.

Phil Lichtenstein is a boat captain in Mount Desert. Lichtenstein was recruited by Paige Steele (former Friends of Acadia manager of the AWTA program) at a College of the Atlantic alumni event in 2014, after Steele learned of his ski and equipment operation experience. Lichtenstein grew up skiing at Okemo Mountain in Vermont. He has been skiing for 61 years and has been skiing and biking on the carriage roads since 1996 when he enrolled as a student at COA.

Jake Bison is in his mid-30s and is the youngest and newest groomer, having just started volunteering last year. He grew up snowmobiling in Michigan with family and is a self-described “lover of winter.” Bison enjoys going on night hikes and skis and often grooms after work. “I see how happy it (skiing) makes people, and I want to help them get out there.” He is also a Stewardship Volunteer Crew Leader with Friends of Acadia during the rest of the year.

A skier takes in last night’s sunset colors from the carriage road. (Nikki Burtis/Friends of Acadia)

The grooming program has been run by Stewardship Manager Nikki Burtis, who departed Friends of Acadia this spring. Brian Sale has taken over the role.

“This program would not be possible without the dedicated park employees who oversee the care of the carriage roads and equipment, while also keeping up with plowing the roads and keeping everyone safe in the winter,” Burtis said.

Burtis coordinated the program with Chris Cipollone, engineering equipment operator work leader for Acadia National Park. Cipollone coordinates equipment repair and maintenance with two mechanics at the park, Chris Lewis and Piper Allen, who troubleshoot and make repairs to the equipment as quickly as possible.

“The park staff are rock stars. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to be out there. We are so grateful for them and the time they dedicate to the program.” says Lichtenstein. “We are so lucky; I pinch myself every day I pull up and get to start grooming from the Brown Mountain Gate House. I can’t imagine a more beautiful or historic place to get to volunteer and ski.”

The volunteer groomers spent more than 250 hours out on the carriage roads this season. Fingers crossed that conditions in future years will be just as fantastic!

Groomed corduroy on the carriage roads. (Jake Bison/Friends of Acadia_

JULIA WALKER THOMAS is Friends of Acadia’s Visual Storytelling and Visual Assets Manager.