Books for the Skier in Your Life

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.

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.