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Hint: It’s Functional Again!

Wow. That’s a ski jump. A BIG jump. Know where? Significance? How about what folks called it? Thanks to the New England Ski Museum for this picture.

Credit: Dick Smith, New England Ski Museum

Last Week

Grab that twirling rope! Credit: Ski Museum of Maine

Nice guesses out there. However, the photo shows the very first rope tow in Maine. According to the Ski Museum of Maine which contributed this pic, this is Jockey Cap in Fryeburg circa 1936. Back then, ten young business men in Fryeburg got together and formed a corporation, with each member putting in $25.00. So at a cost of $250.00, plus contributions of considerable labor from the corporation members and many of the townsmen, the Ski Tow, under the direction of Henry McIntire, was built. It is said to the the first actual ski hill in Maine.

In those days, the ski train was often the only way to get from Portland to Fryeburg. Here’s an ad for a day trip on the train for $.98. And you can rent your gear on the train. The train continued over the state line to North Conway as well. Sounds like a long day, but what fun it must have been on the ride up and back.

The focus of the Ski Museum of Maine is to educate the public about the significant role the State of Maine has had in the development of skiing.

3 Comments

  1. THe Nansen Ski jump in Berlin NH. It is in the process of being restored for competition for about $300,000. It was repaired enough so that Olympian Sarah Henderickson jumped there several years ago. Not sure of the nickname but have heard it called the “Sleeping Giant” by some

  2. It’s called the “Big Nansen” and it’s in Milan just outside of Berlin. A local group is in the process of restoring it so it can be used again. I watched the 1964 US Nationals there along with a a crowd whose cars filled the entire field across the road. Plans include snowmaking with water from the Androscoggin River also on the opposite side of Rte 16. The jump as built by Hussey Seating the same company that built a jump and lifts at Gunstock, NH and is still in the business of manufacturing stadium seating. Philip Hussey was inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2012 for his work in skiing.

  3. It’s a 90 meter ski jump, owned by the Nansen Ski Club, that in the 50s and 60s hosted some of the best ski jumpers in the East and Canada. It was closed down, I believe, in the 70s when a young jumper was severely injured in a tournament. Two Nansen Ski Club officials were sued as a result of the accident and therefore the jump was closed down. I visit it every time I’m in the area. Hard to believe that an effort is underway to clear out all the brush, trees, and trash that has accumulated at the runout and to repair the take-off. In the 60s, lots of us high school jumpers jumped the 90 meter as a rite of passage.

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