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History

Pictures of the Area Today and Further Info:

John and Linda Osgood have some information about the mountain:

I actually visited the place in the summer of '70 when I was 5 years old, but never until the day we found it did I ever think I would find out where the place was. Here's the base of the T-bar:

 
 

The lift still runs, but only for the guy who inherited it from his father and his circle of friends.  The vertical may have been 250' and there are about six moderate runs.  One odd thing about the lift was that it was definitely a Roebling, the owner wasn't sure of the make, but he says it was put up around '70; making it one of the last Roebling T-bars made I think, maybe. Here's a close-up of the T-bars.

Here's Linda Osgood at the Ossipee Mountain sign, broke in two. Notice the "beware of dog" sign at the lower left. Please respect the owner's privacy and do not trespass.

Memories of the Area

M. Pettiglio
I actually worked at Ossipee Mtn as the rental shop manager as a freshman in high school through my senior year 1979-83ish . My cousin Chuck and friend Jack decided that opening up a rental shop on the mountain would be a great way to invest some money and be close to an industry that we loved in a small family atmosphere . The owner of the mountain, John Viano, was a truly remarkable guy who unfortunately was tragically killed while mowing a neighboring parcel of land for a friend when his tractor flipped and crushed him. John was a true mountain man and in the 80's stayed true to his old wooden boards complete with their bear trap bindings. Unfortunately John's son Peter came home one night after a few cocktails, stoked up the woodstove on the second floor and neglected to shut the stove door. The results were predictable, the lodge burned to the ground, all of our rental stock melted and having no insurance our business dealing with OMSA came to an end . It was truly a sad day, fortunately no one was hurt . I have so many fond memories of skiing those barely groomed slopes with the only snowmaking being done by god himself, some days we had the mountain totally to ourselves and our friends who came up to ski and crash at our place in Moultonboro and magical does not bring justice to the way it felt to have a ski area to play with. 

Galen Doscher  I met a member of the family who owns the ski area a few years ago. It is private property, I must say in advance.  The family keeps the few trails clear and I believe that the lift is kept operational as well.  It is used  for the family and rarely for private parties if the people want to pay for  the insurance.  This is the main reason the family doesn't operate it  publicly - the insurance is astronomical.  A family member lived on the property last I knew so I don't recommend an unannounced photo excursion.  The trails and the summit cabin are viewable from locations to the  west/southwest if you know where to look.

Eric Hager: Anyways, as I was looking through the lost areas in NH, I noticed Ossipee Mountain. I can remember skiing there when I was about 10 years old, which would have been around 1987-1988. It was my second or third time on skis, and I loved the place. The mountain was fun but not intimidating, and the staff was friendly and helpful. My brother and I have continued to be avid skiers, and we've often remembered our day at Ossipee Mountain with a fond chuckle.

Jeff Fullerton: My aunt lives just down the street from the ski area, so we had known about it for years, but surprisingly, had never been. One time, after a 6"-8" storm (it must have been somewhere in the late 80's), my brother and I stopped by to check it out. The ticket was inexpensive, maybe about $12. There were probably about 40 to 50 people there on that day; most were learning to ski or skiing with their children. Naturally, the fresh snow made for great (soft) conditions. We skied most of the morning on the beginner and intermediate slopes to the right of the T-bar, flying down the trails (remember these are memories from my teenage years, so there maybe some age-related glorification in this piece). They proved to be great for our developing abilities, with gradual slopes and fun twists and turns. We found the greatest treat, when we headed off to the furthest left expert slope. At the time, no one had ventured down this trail yet that day, and the snow was still an amazingly soft power! Even better, the trail had great fall line and a little bit of overgrowth, which made it seem like glade skiing at times. We felt like we were skiing the Wild West! In all, we had the most amazing time. Even years later, we continue to remember the powdery conditions (in contrast to all the ice NE areas get these days) and narrow winding trails (is this how it was in the old days?) that gave us so much fun for a day. Whenever there is a fresh snowfall and I'm in that area, there comes an desire to visit again.

Jack Marshall: skied here one day in the late 70's.  My friends went to Waterville Valley and I did not want to deal with the crowds.  By midday, I decided to check out Ossipee, nearby where I was staying.  It was a beautiful warm, sunny day and an afternoon lift ticket was only about $5, so I gave it a try.  I had a ball!  The trails were cut narrow through the trees.  I remember one trail in particular that was like a bobsled run through the woods.  I took the last ride up before closing and watched the sunset.  The summit had a very nice overview of Lake Winnipesaukee.  I've been to many bigger and better places, but this day is still one of my fondest skiing memories.

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