This shot taken is from the ski lift chair at Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. There are nearly 70 ski resorts in New England, some larger operations with more challenging conditions, and a share of smaller ski areas that are less challenging to the advanced skier, but just fine if you rarely ski.
Ski areas in New England, particularly southern New England, were hit hard in the years of warmer temperatures and less snowfall, and some, like Mt. Tom in Holyoke, Mass., went out of business. These were neighborhood ski areas. Not the grand resorts with challenging slopes one might find in the western states, but the kind where from the top of the hill you can see the grammar school you attended.
New Hampshire leads among the New England states with the most ski resorts, followed by Vermont of course, and then Maine. But you can find skiing in all six New England states, as even Rhode Island, where the highest elevation in the state is only 812 feet, has one ski area.
For more on the early days of skiing as an American popular pastime, have a look at “Skiing in Massachusetts” by Cal Conniff and E. John B. Allen. It can be obtained from the publisher’s website.
Been skiing in New England? Let us know.
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