Twin
Mountain Slopes
Twin Mountain, NH
Before 1938-likely
World War II
The Twin Mountain Slopes was a brief local ski
area that operated near the present day Carroll Motel in Twin Mountain from
before 1938 until likely World War II. It had a 350 foot long rope tow and an
open slope. A skating rink was available nearby.
Bill Vecchio has provided
NELSAP with first hand information on this ski area, provided by his
mother-in-law, Phyllis McGee Ricardi:
Born in 1926 Phyllis is a lifelong resident of Carroll (Twin Mountain).
She visited with two others who grew up in town, Flora
Jordan, 90, and Eddie Monahan, 89 to gather more information about the
ski tow. The following are her words:
Eddie Monahan remembers the ski tow (rope
tow) and said Larry Fahey, Sr. owned the car which Lenny Burroughs and
Johnny Houghton fashioned into a rope tow. They put the car at the top
of the hill (above the house at the present day Carroll Motel). They ran
the rope through the rim of the car with the car motor running. There
was no charge to use the tow. Originally, it was operated for the
townspeople.
There was one trail.
I never skied there but my husband, Charles Ricardi, did when he was
young. He lived near the base of the rope tow.
Flora Jordan said her
dad, Bradley Jordan, also helped the men. Skiers grabbed the rope at the
foot of the hill and were pulled to the top where they skied over and
down the hill. The Twin Mountain Outing Club ran it. They would ski down
to where the first cabin at the motel now stands.
Boston and Maine
“snow trains” from Boston came into Fabyans Station in Bretton Woods
where skiers were transferred by trucks to the ski tow. Some skiers were
also brought to Crawfords where they hiked up and then skied down Mt.
Willard. Flora’s father would charge $1 to transport them there.
Twin Mountain High
School seniors (5 or 6 total) sold coffee, hot dogs, etc. They raised
money for the class trip in April.
I don’t remember a
skating rink but we did skate near the present day Zermatt Inn. At that
time it was an inn owned by Dana Brown and we called the pond Dana Brown
Pond.
Eddie graduated in
1938 and the rope tow was running then. I graduated in 1944 and don’t
remember it operating then. |
An overhead view of the
area from 1994 shows the long abandoned and grown in former ski area
near the Carroll Motel. |
Phyllis' brother in law
has more information:
When I was a kid, maybe 10 or 12 years old, I
remember skating with my sister and other kids down at the skating rink in
the open space between the Carroll Inn and the cabins. It wasn't a real
skating rink but just a flooded area of flat ground where someone created a
big patch of ice.
As I remember the ski tow it was a home made
rope tow driven by the remains of a car or truck motor. I skied there a lot,
and at the time, I saw it as a really big hill. The tow went up the
left side (east) of the hill with a wide open slope to it's right. Just to
the east of the tow was a trail cut through the trees which was
difficult for us kids. When I look at it today I can't believe it was as I
remember it.
The toboggan chute was on the west side of the
slope. You could travel down from the top of the hill and continue across
Carroll Inns Yard almost to the road, Rt #3.. It was a wooden structure
with a level deck on the top for loading the toboggan and riders. Then they
would tilt the deck and off you would go down the chute. I doubt that any of
it remains there today but I'd like to check it out. In the summer. some of
us kids would use cardboard to side down the chute which resulted in more
than a few injuries from slivers and nails sticking out.
I have no idea who ran the place or how it was
operated. I do remember a few weekends when many townsfolk were there with
their skis. It must have been fun because I have vivid memories of enjoying
the slope. When the tow was not operating we had to climb the hill to get a
ride.
If you have any further info just let us know.
Last updated: Nov 28, 2010
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