Books for the Skier in Your Life

While Mohawk Mountain is known as a small, family-friendly ski area, many are unaware of the large impact this mountain had on the sport. Its founder, Walt Schoenknecht, changed the face of modern skiing when he helped create the first snowmaking machine in 1950. That “artificial snow” machine, first tested at Mohawk, received the first U.S. patent for such a device. Today, Mohawk is one of the few surviving family-owned ski areas in the United States, and Schoenknecht's daughter, Carol Lugar, remains its president. Mohawk has had to survive a devastating tornado, challenging weather and economic headwinds to compete with larger corporate-owned ski resorts. Today, the small mountain in Cornwall, Connecticut remains a favorite, with new lifts, expanded snowmaking, more ski school lessons, snowtubing and night skiing. Local author James Shay reveals the unique contributions of Mohawk and Walt Schoenknecht to the sport of skiing.

Dozens of towering ski jumps once dotted the landscape across the northeastern United States. Introduced by Norwegian immigrants in the late 1800s, ski jumping became popular in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. From Lake Placid to Salisbury, crowds thronged to the jumps to watch. Youngsters like the Tokle brothers and Roy Sherwood rose to stardom. All of that changed in the 1980s, though, with the end of college jumping. Today, only a handful of jumping clubs remain. But in a rare few communities, a strong sense of tradition keeps the spirit alive. Join author and coach Ariel Picton Kobayashi as she examines ski jumping's fascinating identity as both a small-town tradition and thrilling sport.

Skiing in New England has not always been such a breathtaking sport connected with winter vacations at distant and local resorts. From the early 1870s, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish immigrants utilized skis to carry the mail and to travel through the woods to school and work. Later, a group of college men at Dartmouth founded the Outing Club, which transformed skiing from everyday practicality into swift-moving recreation. Since that time, the excitement and exhilaration of skiing has spread nationwide. In this volume, we will explore the history of skiing in this region, from its early, simpler days of cross-country and jumping to the rising popularity of alpine skiing beginning in the 1930s. Rather than a technical history, this book concentrates on presenting a story that is fluid like the sport itself, focusing on places, personalities, and major innovations between the early 1870s and 1940.

The state of New Hampshire has a strong skiing tradition to brag about, and in the 1930s, it led the United States in ski activity. The early prominence of Dartmouth College's Outing Club and winter carnival was a major forerunner in the development of the sport and readied the state to receive the alpine impetus coming from Europe in the 1930s. Germans and particularly Austrians-some fleeing Nazi persecution-brought with them the expert downhill schuss and found the White Mountains suitable terrain. Rail excursions from Boston, well-plowed roads, help from the Civilian Conservation Corps, and entrepreneurial activity helped skiing take off, and many ski centers boasting rope tows opened.

New Hampshire on Skis follows this development and the rise in popularity of skiing in the state. Such innovations as the Cannon Tram, operating from 1938, marked a high point of state-supported ski promotion. After World War II ended, development of ski areas began in earnest. In the late twentieth century and today, ski areas have combined their ski sport activity with other snow sports-snowboarding in particular. New Hampshire on Skis documents the growth of the ski industry in New Hampshire from its European beginnings to what is now one of the most popular winter destinations on the East Coast.

In 1938, developer Harvey D. Gibson rented a rope tow from ski shop founder Carroll P. Reed and moved it to Cranmore Mountain. This was the humble beginnings of what would become a booming ski industry in North Conway, New Hampshire. Snow trains of the 1930s would transport skiers and snowsport enthusiasts to this idyllic winter playground nestled in the White Mountains. Cranmore has been home to numerous ski legends, including Austrian ski great Hannes Schneider, renowned as the Father of Modern Skiing"; his son, U.S. Ski Hall of Famer Herbert Schneider; and Toni Matt, winner of the 1939 Mount Washington Inferno. Join author Tom Eastman as he takes on the history of the snowy trails of the Cranmore Mountain Resort."

Join author and longtime Cannon skier Meghan McCarthy McPhaul to learn about the history of this historic mountain that is steeped in legends and lore.

Rising at the western edge of New Hampshire's magnificently beautiful Franconia Notch State Park, the granite-domed mountain has been the playground of skiers since the 1930s. Here, the country's first down-mountain ski trail was cleared in 1933, the first aerial tramway was built on the mountain and the first professional ski patrol was established. More than a dozen members of the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame--whose contributions to the sport include historic racing feats, the development of ski techniques and designing countless ski areas across the country and around the world--have called Cannon their home hill.

Discover the ghosts of former ski areas that made the White Mountains the destination it is today.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire are world-renowned for the array of skiing opportunities offered to every skier, from beginner to gold-medal Olympian. Today over a dozen resorts entice tourists and locals each year with their well-manicured trails, high-speed lifts and slope-side lodging. But scattered throughout this region are long-forgotten ski areas that can still be found. In the White Mountains alone, 60 ski areas have closed since the 1930s. Author Jeremy Davis has compiled rare photographs, maps and personal memories to ensure these beloved ski outposts that have been cherished by generations of skiers are given recognition for transforming the White Mountains into a premier ski destination.

Jeremy Davis of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project brings lost locations back to life, chronicling their rich histories and contributions to the ski industry.

Hidden amongst the hills and mountains of southern Vermont are the remnants of sixty former ski areas, their slopes returning to forest and their lifts decaying. Today, only fourteen remain open and active in southern Vermont. Though they offer some incredible skiing, most lack the intimate, local feel of these lost ski trails. Jeremy Davis, creator of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, looks into the over-investment, local competition, weather variation, changing skier habits, insurance costs and just plain bad luck that caused these ski areas to succumb and melt back into the landscape. From the family-operated Hogback in Windham County to Clinton Gilbert's farm in Woodstock, where the very first rope tow began operation in the winter of 1934, these once popular ski areas left an indelible trace on the hearts of their ski communities and the history of southern Vermont.

In 1948, the first skiers to experience the steep and twisting downhill trails of Mad River Glen had to traverse muddy or frozen dirt roads to get to their destination. The warmth of a country inn was a comfort on those cold winter nights and continues as a hallmark of the Mad River Valley today. Even with the condo boom that developed after the opening of Sugarbush on Christmas Day in 1958, little has upset the ambience of the 20-mile-long valley. The valley developed a distinct personality, attracting "ski bums" who exchanged urban pressures for a laid-back lifestyle that continues today.

The Berkshires of Massachusetts have long been known as a winter sports paradise. Over the years, many of these ski areas faded away and are nearly forgotten.

Forty-four ski areas arose from the 1930s to the 1970s. The Thunderbolt Ski Trail put the Berkshires on the map for challenging terrain. Major ski resorts like Brodie Mountain sparked the popularity of night skiing with lighted trails. All-inclusive resorts - like Oak n' Spruce, Eastover and Jug End - brought thousands of new skiers into the sport between the 1940s and 1970s. Jeremy Davis of the New England/Northeast Lost Ski Areas Project brings these lost locations back to life, chronicling their rich histories and contributions to the ski industry.

In 1910, the Boston Sunday Herald reported that skiers were swarming over the Newtons, Middlesex Falls, and Blue Hills. The Berkshires provided splendid terrain, and the skiing was inexpensive. This visual history traces how skiing progressed from the pre-tow era of outings on wooded trails and golf courses to the mechanization of the sport. After World War II came massive building, with sophisticated lifts, snowmaking, and all the modern requirements that have kept Massachusetts one of America's winter ski states.

Before it became home to generations of skiers, Gunstock Mountain began as a Works Progress Administration recreation project during the Great Depression that transformed the small farming community of Gilford into one of central New Hampshire's most renowned skiing resorts. Join local ski historian Carol Anderson as she takes on the triumphs and defeats of four high-altitude jumps and the history of the snowy trails of the Gunstock Mountain Resort. Approaching its seventy-fifth anniversary, Gunstock has molded the careers of champion skiers and Olympians, including two-time silver medalist Penny Pitou, ski icon T. Gary Allen and the ski jumping sensation Torger Tokle. Anderson pays tribute to those individuals who have worked, skied or played a part in this iconic mountain of the Lakes Region.