CARRABASSETT VALLEY – At a time of year when nighttime comes early and festivals of light abound, what could be a more appropriate winter activity than skiing, by firelight, in the dark?

Cancer buddies Meredith Strang Burgess and Julie Jordan Marchese have made a tradition of it the past two years, after Sugarloaf/USA opened what used to be an employees-only perk to visitors once a year.

The ski mountain’s Carry the Torch for the Cure Torchlight Parade has been going on since 2004, according to a Sugarloaf statement, and was begun as a way to raise money to fight cancer, while also giving guests the chance to do something usually off-limits.

For a $50 (minimum) donation, people old enough to vote and capable enough to ski black diamonds without poles can ride the chairlifts up to the Spillway trail next Wednesday, Dec. 27, and take part in the parade, bearing a flare to light their way.

“It’s really cool,” said Strang Burgess, president of the Maine Cancer Foundation and a breast cancer survivor, on Monday. “The two nights we’ve done it have been beautiful, beautiful starlit nights – it’s a unique sensation. It’s so beautiful up on the mountain.”

After a relaxed ski (or ride) down the mountain, paraders wind up amidst a crowd standing around a huge bonfire, Burgess said, and line their flares up along the trail, before watching a fireworks display. “It really is very cool,” she said.

Standing at the bottom of the trail watching light weave through the darkness is also a popular activity the night of the parade, according the Sugarloaf press release.