Category Columns

The new RetroSki season will start on November 17th! Welcome to another winter of skiing history, nostalgia, and, of course, trivia! Just for a warm-up: Who was the first American to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Alpine Skiing?

The ski season is down to its last gasp. Of course for many the season ended a month or more ago. This winter’s weather and lack of real snowstorms had left most people ready to move on to summer activities…. Continue Reading →

When I was growing up, my family always ate breakfast together on weekday mornings. While we were having breakfast, we listened to the local Conway radio station, WBCN, primarily for the daily weather forecast. That forecast was called into the… Continue Reading →

I started skiing in the 1950s which meant I started on wooden skis. I’ve written about Northland skis and how Northland became the largest ski maker in the world. Their hickory skis combined relatively good performance and durability for a… Continue Reading →

A couple of weeks back Mad River Glen announced that it was closing for the season after only 45 days of operation. The sign at the entrance to the ski area said it all in one word: “Uncle!” Yes, it’s… Continue Reading →

It was in March 1975 that I arrived in Vail for a week of skiing with friends who were “ski bumming” there for the winter. On the first day, one of those friends, Herb, and I rode up the Lions… Continue Reading →

The 1966-67 ski season was the first for the Waterville Valley ski area and I was a junior at the University of New Hampshire. My first visit to the new area made a big impression on me because everything was… Continue Reading →

In a column last season I mentioned that the 1969 overall World Cup trophy won by Karl Schranz somehow ended up in a barn in Hinesburg, Vermont! I promised a future column explaining how that came to pass. “Ski Racing”… Continue Reading →

All through my college years I skied on wooden skis, Northlands to be precise. That was an economic decision based on what I could afford and the fact that a neighbor worked for Northland in their Laconia, New Hampshire, factory…. Continue Reading →

We’ve all been there: standing at the top of some precipitous pitch when that feeling of doubt or maybe even fear creeps over us. It could be the top pitch of Starr or Great Scott at Snowbird or Corbet’s Couloir… Continue Reading →