There is nothing I like better in the winter than to don my skis and take some turns on one of Maine's many mountains.

But the equipment and the lift ticket for my favorite sport both come with a fairly hefty price tag. Of course if you're a good shopper you can get last season skis and other necessities for a fraction of the original price. The same holds true for lift tickets.

If you have some flexibility in your schedule you can get a lot more downhill for the dollar. Let's look at the deals out there:

• BLACK MOUNTAIN, RUMFORD: All day, every day $15 to ski alpine or Nordic, under 5 or 75-plus years gets you in free. How do you beat $15 a day?
• CAMDEN SNOW BOWL, CAMDEN: Open Wednesday through Friday, $23 for the day or $14 for a two hour ticket. Weekends are $35 for all day.
• LOST VALLEY, AUBURN: Monday through Thursday 3-8 p.m. $24 All week specials: Monday is Save-a-Wicket. Show a ticket from a recent trip to another area and ski for $18. Tuesday and Wednesday are 2 for the price of 1 and Thankful Thursdays bring canned goods and get 2 for 1.
• MOUNT ABRAMS, GREENVILLE: $25 on Thrifty Thursdays or pack up your buddies (everyone must have a seat belt) for Car Load Fridays $79 for the whole lot. Now lets see, if you have a six person Suburban that works out to $13.17 per person and everyone chips in on the gas. Pretty good deal!
• SADDLEBACK, RANGLEY: Save the first Sundays in the next three months, February 2, March 2 and April 6. These are Maine days and you ski the whole day for $29 per person.
• SHAWNEE PEAK, BRIDGTON: There are a whole bunch of deals at Shawnee Peak like Sunday afternoons, 12:30-4:30 pm for $29.99. Monday is Carload day. You must arrive before 11 a.m. and everyone in the vehicle get in for $92. Monday nights from 3:30-9 p.m. for just $13. Tuesday is all day skiing for $25, Thursday is Men's Day and Friday is Women's Day, both are $47 for the day with lunch included.
• SUGALOAF/SUNDAY RIVER, CARRABASSETT VALLEY/NEWRY: The deals are the same at either area: you can buy a Spring Pack which is three all day tickets good from March 14 to the end of the season for $149. Another way to bring down your cost is the purchase of a Frequent Skier Card for $99. You get one free lift ticket, $25 discount off weekday tickets and $10 off weekend tickets. This card is good at both areas plus Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. A further way to save is to go to their websites and check out the Online Ticket Store. The earlier you buy your tickets the more you save.

There you have it. Great ways to get in a lot of skiing for less of your hard earned cash.

Now let's all do a snow dance to keep the mountains covered until April.

See you out there.

Thomas Porter, a life-long skier and outdoor enthusiast, has been writing about his experiences for more than 25 years. Porter competed for his high school and college ski teams, racing at many of the ski areas throughout New England. He continued his engagement with downhill racing by coaching at Windham College in Vermont and the Brattleboro Vermont high school team. Porter has written articles for Explore New England magazine and was the winter sport columnist for The Brattleboro Reformer for more than 25 years before moving to Maine. Porter has contributed to The Maine Outdoor Journal and The Times Record. He is a 26-year member of the Eastern Ski Writers Association and The National Ski Journalist Association. Porter can be reached at tport1950@hotmail.com.