From Skisport to Skiing: One Hundred Years of an American Sport, 1840-1940

Unknown, Author

E. John B. Allen

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.

New Hampshire on Skis (NH) (Images of Sports)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

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.

Skiing in Massachusetts (MA) (Images of Sports)

Cal Conniff

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.

New England Skiing (Images of America)

Travel

Specialty Travel

Arcadia

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Books by E. John B. Allen