Ski Heritage alive and well in Maine
Column by Heather Burke Feb. 24, 2008

Winston Churchill said, “those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” If that was a warning to skiers, you better visit the Ski Museum of Maine, or we’ll all be back on long wooden skis, climbing for our turns, before we know it.

Last Saturday, skiers and riders at Sugarloaf witnessed a flashback group of skiers, dressed in vintage woolen sweaters and leather boots, making long sweeping turns down the slopes on six to seven foot long wooden skis with bamboo poles. They were head turners, and they were on a mission – to bring history to life and educate today’s skiers on the rich past of Maine’s skiing heritage.

Today’s youth, my kids included, need to know that our alpine ancestors hiked for their turns, many made their own skis. There was a time, when quads were not high-speed, high-capacity transports up the mountain; they were the thigh muscles that burned after a day of climbing up the ungroomed snowy hills, footpacking the windblown slopes, before descending the rugged terrain on seven-foot long skinny wooden boards with bear trap bindings.

Last Saturday’s scene was a hint of that history, as Greg Sweetser, Executive Director of Ski Maine, was dressed in knickers, a boiled wool jacket and knit socks, accompanied by Glenn Parkinson, board member of the Ski Museum of Maine, as they skied the slopes of Sugarloaf in antique equipment stirring up a scene from the 1930’s.

Parkinson skied on a pair of 6’6” long hickory boards, made by Marius Eriksen in 1936. “These skis were crafted by Stein Eriksen’s father, the family got their start making skis,” said Parkinson, long before Norwegian famed racer Stein won the 1952 Olympic gold medal in Giant Slalom.

Glenn Parkinson, former President of the New England Ski Museum at Cannon Mountain and board member of the Ski Museum of Maine, is a walking/skiing wealth of alpine history and author of “First Tracks- Maine’s Skiing Heritage.” He explained that hickory was an early wood of preference in ski production, “Hickory is a damp wood, so it provided a natural vibration dampening.” In today’s skis, manufacturers patent sophisticated vibration absorption systems and use technologically advanced materials like bulletproof Kevlar. Parkinson also wore low cut leather Bass boots, made by Bunny Bass right here in Maine in 1936.

Peter Skapinsky of Cape Elizabeth was part of the time traveling skiers at Sugarloaf last weekend. “The 215-centimeter Northlands I was on today require a very different ski style than short shaped skis, you need to do a long Stem Christie turn.” These skis sported brass edges which early ski pioneers discovered were a very slippery metal on snow. It was a time of exploration and experimentation, and a ton of energy expended on climbing up to ski down ungroomed, unaltered terrain.

That adventurous spirit of skiing has been passed from generation to generation as teens and twenty-somethings are kicking around new techniques in today’s terrain parks, but they might learn a trick or two by visiting the Ski Museum of Maine. Turns out the first twin tip skis were designed back in 1934 by Olympic figure skater turned skier Jimmy Madden, called goon skis for their goofy appearance – Madden was able to perform tricks with the turned up tips and tails. According to Ski Museum archives, Vermont ski star of the 70’s Suzy Chaffee (a.k.a.: Suzy Chapstick) choreographed her first ballet freestyle ski moves to music at age 10 on these so-called goon skis.

Parkinson said, "The main lesson I take away from skiing on vintage equipment is that our skis are just the tools to get you outside and on the mountain. They all slide on snow, the technology has changed but the passion for skiing is essentially the same today as it was back then."

In 1936, it cost $.98 to ride the first snow train from Portland to Fryeburg, where you could grab onto the rope tow at Jockey Cap for $.10 a ride or $.50 for the whole day. The Press Herald advertisement for the snow train that season read, "There will never be a better bargain in Winter Sports fun." True enough. While we pay more for our ski tickets these days, and our modern lifts are far less likely to tug your arms or rip your leather gloves, the spirit of sliding down snowy slopes remains.

To conclude last weekend’s first annual Maine Ski Heritage Classic, hundreds of enthusiastic skiers gathered for après cheer and cheese fondue at the Sugarloaf Hotel, a time-honored tradition amongst skiers. Skiers dressed in handknit wool sweaters (from their attics and archives) gathered to share ski stories of the day and days gone by. They bid on Maine ski memorabilia including vintage posters, John Christie’s book “The story of Sugarloaf,” and a ski signed by US Ski Team medalists, all donated to benefit the non-profit Ski Museum of Maine, founded in 1995.

Sweetser said, “Maine’s ski history is rich and the Museum’s mission is to preserve and celebrate that heritage. We hope today’s event brought a little of that history to life.”

You can take your kids to The Ski Museum of Maine, open Wed.- Sat. 1-4pm, located at 109 Church Street in Farmington. They may find it funny for example that “thong bindings” are not actually undergarments in a twist – but the original straps that held leather ski boots to those long wooden skis a century ago.

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