The Maine Winter Sports Center started a new event last weekend that was tailor-made for people who eat, sleep and breathe Nordic skiing.

The first annual “Arooski,” billed as a “24-hour ski adventure,” was held at cross country ski areas throughout Aroostook County. The event challenged participants to ski varying distances at each of 20 ski facilities, from Fort Kent’s 10th Mountain Center in the north, to Mars Hill’s Big Rock Cross Country Trails in the south, for a grand total of 100 kilometers.

“This whole thing started during a [MWSC] staff meeting a while back,” said Greg Rawlings, a MWSC coach, and the event’s organizer.

At that meeting, Rawlings and the other MWSC coaches realized that they “put upwards of 40,000 miles on our vans every winter, driving to all of these trails, and what do we do when we get there? We ski! So I figured, why not cap off our season by inviting other people to do it with us? We just added a little challenge to it by setting a goal of skiing a total of 100 kilometers in a 24-hour period.”

In all, Rawlings found 18 skiers, including himself, who were willing to test their mettle against a weekend of warm temperatures and rain, soft snow, very little sleep and the 100 kilometers. The group had just one, three-hour sleep break, plus naps while driving to each facility.

“My wife thinks I’m crazy,” said Justin Marquis of Caribou, “but I think that’s pretty much the response we’re all looking for.”

Dave Roberts and his 11 year-old son, Stanis Roberts-Moody, came all the way from Cape Elizabeth to join in.

“It’s really not a big deal” Roberts said, explaining his five-hour drive to Aroostook County. “We drive the same distance to go to events in Vermont. I just thought this would be a great experience for Stanis and me.”

Beginning at Madawaska Lake, the Arooski itinerary called for stops at ski trails in Stockholm, Westmanland, New Sweden, Woodland, Caribou, Ashland, Eagle Lake, St. Francis, Fort Kent, Madawaska, Van Buren, Limestone, Fort Fairfield, Mars Hill, and Presque Isle. Undesirable trail and weather conditions forced the skiers to skip several of the ski areas, although they did ski at 14 of the 20.

Although no official measurement was taken, “I think we skied more than 75 kilometers,” said Russell Currier of Stockholm, one of the MWSC’s up-and-coming biathletes.

“Not getting 100K doesn’t disappoint me at all. We had so much fun,” Currier added. “We skied in the dark in Fort Kent, and had nothing but headlamps to light the trail. It was a blast! This has been a great experience!”

After skiing his final 5K of the event at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, MWSC Chief Operating Officer Max Saenger had visions of a much bigger event in years to come.

“Instead of a couple of vans and 18 people this could become a school bus and 100 people, with skiers coming from all over the state to ski in Aroostook County,” Saenger said. “With snow staying this late in the season, it could be the end-of-the-year blowout that everyone looks forward to.”

Other skiers who participated in the inaugural event were: Justin Marquis and Carl Soderberg of Caribou; Jeff Dubis, Sherry Dubis, Ben Paradis, Newt Rogers and Carl Theriault of Fort Kent; Maurice Lizotte of Madawaska; Greg Rawlings of Madawaska Lake; Tom Campbell and Karen Saenger of Stockholm; and Tim Woodbury of Sullivan, N.H. (Woodbury is currently training and residing in Presque Isle).

Mark Shea can be reached via e-mail at shea@cariboumaine.org.