Finally. Been talking about it for 2 seasons and we pulled the trigger on Sat. Wonderful setting. Loved the ski lodge and bar area. Low crowds. The staff members were SUPER friendly.
Fresh grromers. Bluebird skies. That damn Lower Wildcat is STEEP. I told my buddy I thought it was steeper than Lower Shays.
All in all a great day. Only negative comment is that run out to the lift off the 3 trails on the skiers left kind of got old.. The place must be a blast when all those trails in the "wooded areas" are open.
Stay tuned for a full blown video in a couple days.
I hope you enjoyed your stay. We had one of the best days this season with enough natural coverage to ski some old trails. The machine made and groomers remained good all day. I hope you tried Laurel Run. It has the best natural snow coverage and was in decent shape yesterday.
You deserve great credit, LHC, for the revival of Laurel happening. Without you, I don’t think it would have happened.
I love Laurel. First emcountered it as a grad student in Pittsburgh in the late 60s. I grew up in Boston and was acquainted with New England skiing, it’s roots, tradition and appeal. Laurel had the same attributes, and beautiful surroundings. I believe it was founded by the Mellon family in the late 30s, similar to the pre WW2 patrician roots of New England skiing, i.e. American skiing. After the war, thanks to the passion and dedication of the 10th mountain division veterans and many others, American skiing grew into what it is today. Just for the record, the 10th mountain div., whose vets are almost all gone now, took the heaviest casualties of any American division in the war. They were almost all from privileged backgrounds, many Ivy League, and were all volunteers.
As promised - video footage of our day at Laurel. Too windy for ariel drone footage on this trip.
great video, sorry you missed the whales, you saw about half the skiable terrain if by some mistake it would snow.
Denis wrote:
You deserve great credit, LHC, for the revival of Laurel happening. Without you, I don’t think it would have happened.
I love Laurel. First emcountered it as a grad student in Pittsburgh in the late 60s. I grew up in Boston and was acquainted with New England skiing, it’s roots, tradition and appeal. Laurel had the same attributes, and beautiful surroundings. I believe it was founded by the Mellon family in the late 30s, similar to the pre WW2 patrician roots of New England skiing, i.e. American skiing. After the war, thanks to the passion and dedication of the 10th mountain division veterans and many others, American skiing grew into what it is today. Just for the record, the 10th mountain div., whose vets are almost all gone now, took the heaviest casualties of any American division in the war. They were almost all from privileged backgrounds, many Ivy League, and were all volunteers.
Thanks for the kind words, Denis. Many factors were responsible Laurel's reopening. DCSki played an important role as well. Thanks Scott, for giving us the space to share our passion for the sport. Without this platform, word would gave not gotten out about Laurel's unique character from enthusiast like Denis and the many dedicated skiers here who have enjoyed the terrain and the vibe Laurel has to offer.
I'm not sure many people realize that New England is really the seat of Alpine Skiing here in the US. The Dartmouth and Appalachian Clubs would host winter carnivals, sponsor demonstrations in Boston and employ alpine emigrants to teach the sport. They ran down mountain races and also tried out the new timed slalom race.They organized ski trains, complete with hired instructors, that took members out to the New England mountain rail heads over the weekend. The city folk would ski the nearby fields and hills and seek overnight accommodations in the mountain villages. Rope tows were hastily constructed near railheads and mountain inns.
Kate Peckett's family ran a luxury inn near Franconia, NH that served clients since the gilded age. She set out to create a New Hampshire version of the mountain resorts of the Alps and hired instructors from Hannes Schneider's Arlberg Ski School. Harvey Gibson down the road in North Conway began to build his version of a ski resort and built the skimobile ski lift.
Gibson latter brought Hannes Schneider himself to the US, fresh from Nazi house arrest. Gibson was a banker and so was R.K. Mellon who also was a ski enthusiast. Mellon ask Gibson to help out with a ski ground of his own and Hannes Schneider arrives in Ligonier to design a small ski hill for the Mellon's Pittsburgh guest of the famous Rolling Rock Club. Laurel really took off after the war with its own 10th. Mountain veteran, Ralph "Doc" DesRoches in key leadership positions until Mellon gave the resort to the state becoming Laurel Mountain State Park
imp wrote:
great video, sorry you missed the whales, you saw about half the skiable terrain if by some mistake it would snow.
Like Arnold said in the Terminator ....... I'll be back.
