Stories from the Slopes

Tonight while browsing through possible PBS shows to watch, I selected the category Documentaries and noticed a WGBH Special titled, "Stories from the Slopes: Western New England Skiing History."

That peaked my interest, especially today. My father was born January 8th and became an avid skier. He ran ski-tows in eastern Massachusetts for decades (especially the Locust Lawn Ski Club in Danvers in the 1940s-1960s). I loved skiing with him, and hearing my parents' stories of early ski history. But none of those stories involved WESTERN Massachusetts, where I have lived now for over 30 years.

This documentary taught me much about the downhill ski areas here, past and present. I'm astonished by the very early dates (1930's) when many of the ski slopes were first developed.  I wonder if my father knew of these places. He was a college student at "Mass Aggie" (Mass State College) in Amherst 1930-34, so perhaps he did. 

I really enjoyed watching the scenes in this 38-minute program.  Although I didn't know the specific hills or operators, I certainly recognized the fun of the sport – just as I had grown up with it. Everything was SO familiar!  The way we skied, the way rope-tows worked, the ski styles and technologies... Such memories!  

Although I haven't been a customer at a downhill ski area in decades, I did ski today, on my x-c skis. The day was beautiful, bright and sunny with deep fresh snow from this weekend's storm.  At one point I did aim my skis down a hill, and let myself go fast -- almost as if I were on downhill skis again. Fun!

If you'd like to watch the documentary (which first aired 12/06/17), visit this link:

 https://video.wgbh.org/video/stories-from-the-slopes-western-new-england-skiing-history-vz1oru/

Description: "Western New England was once a skiing mecca, with nearly 80 ski areas across four counties. Today, there are fewer than a dozen. Using archival film, historical images, and interviews, this locally produced film explores our ski history, revisits past ski-centric social norms, pays tribute to some of the major resorts no longer in operation, and celebrates the region’s still-active ski areas."