Maine skiing heritage preserved in museum

updated 12:06 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2007

FARMINGTON, Maine - The popularity of skiing snowballed in America in the 1920s and '30s, creating a new industry for a number of companies that cropped up over schuss-happy Maine. Then came World War II.

"Please have patience," Maine's Bass Boots advertised to anxious ski-boot customers after it turned its attention to making cold-climate boots for troops. After the war ended, a new Bass ad in 1946 proclaimed the good news, "You can buy Bass boots again."

That's just one snippet of history on view at the new Ski Museum of Maine, which opened Dec. 1 in this college town in the heart of Maine ski country.

The history of skiing goes back thousands of years to northern Europe and Asia. Pieces of skis dating back 5,000 years have been found in peat bogs, and cave drawings just as old suggest early use of a form of skis, said Glenn Parkinson, author of "First Tracks: Stories from Maine's Skiing Heritage" and ski museum board member.

The new museum helps to secure Maine's place in the sport through its collection of wooden and newer skis and equipment, ad displays reflecting earlier eras of skiing, and a growing archive of records, documents and memorabilia.

But it's more than just a collection of artifacts, Parkinson said.

It's also a place where Maine's skiing heritage is preserved, where visitors can relate what they see to their own feelings and memories.

"Heritage is the feel of the wet wool and the taste of the hot chocolate from the years gone by," Parkinson said. "It touches on the soul of the sport."

The museum is housed in the same building where the Sugarloaf USA logo, a blue and white triangle that's well-recognized in Maine and beyond, was first designed, according to the museum's consulting curator Megan Roberts, a lifelong skier who is pictured in a couple of the photos on display.

Sugarloaf Mountain, in Carrabassett Valley, and the Sunday River resort, in Newry, are sponsoring the museum's opening exhibit, which runs through March.

IF YOU GO ... SKI MUSEUM OF MAINE 109 Church Street St., Church Street Commons, Farmington, Maine; skimuseumofmaine.org or 207-491-5481. Wednesday-Saturday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.; open year-round. Free admission. VERMONT SKI MUSEUM 1 S. Main St., Stowe, Vt.; vermontskimuseum.org or 802-253-9911. Open noon-5 p.m. daily except Tuesdays. Closed mid-April to Memorial Day and Halloween to Thanksgiving. Admission, $3; families, $5. NEW ENGLAND SKI MUSEUM Exit 34B, I-93, Franconia Notch Parkway, Franconia, N.H.; skimuseum.org or 603-823-7177. Open daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed April-May. Free admission. COLORADO SKI MUSEUM, COLORADO SKI AND SNOWBOARD HALL OF FAME Located at the top of the Vail Transportation Center, Vail, Colo.; skimuseum.net or 970-476-1876. Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Free admission. SKI MAINE skimaine.com (information on ski resorts in Maine) Source: The Associated Press

Maine follows other states, notably Colorado, and neighboring New Hampshire and Vermont, in establishing a ski museum. The New England Ski Museum, of which Parkinson is president, is located at Franconia, N.H. Vermont's ski museum is at Stowe.

Sugarloaf played an indirect role in the creation of Maine's museum about a dozen years ago.

The Sugarloaf Ski Club was looking for a place to preserve old documents, banners and other items in its possession. It also wanted a place where similar items from across the state could be kept, Parkinson said.

Artifacts were first stored in an old schoolhouse in Kingfield, then moved to Carrabassett Valley. In the meantime, organizers obtained grants to properly archive documents, trail maps, patches, ski magazines and other items.

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