1936 Map of New Hampshire Ski Trails
DESCRIPTION
An exceptional Depression era guide to skiing in New Hampshire, this large 1936–37 map documents the state's rapidly developing network of ski trails, clubs, jumps, and winter recreation areas.
Prepared by the New Hampshire State Planning and Development Commission, the map identifies 37 principal ski areas stretching from the Massachusetts border through the White Mountains to the Canadian frontier. Numbered circles correspond to detailed descriptions on the reverse, while separate lists identify ski towns, ski jumps, airports operating during the winter season, and member clubs of the U.S. Eastern Amateur Ski Association.
The reverse, titled New Hampshire Skiing, provides an extraordinary directory of the state's skiing landscape, describing individual trails with their length, width, vertical drop, difficulty, and access. Among the destinations are Mount Washington, Cannon Mountain, Franconia, Pinkham Notch, Mount Moosilauke, Mount Sunapee, and numerous trails maintained by local outing clubs and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The map appeared during a formative period in American skiing, when New Hampshire's mountains were being transformed from destinations primarily for hikers and mountaineers into organized winter recreation centers.
Especially interesting is the map's connection to the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose crews constructed and improved numerous ski trails throughout New Hampshire during the 1930s. Many of these early trails helped establish the infrastructure for the state's postwar ski industry, making this map both a practical winter guide and an important record of the formative years of recreational skiing in New England.
CONDITION
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