Snows Mountain
The current lift takes mountain bikers and hikers to the top of trails coming down from one end of the Snows Mountain ridge which continues south to the summit (3,060 feet) overlooking Corcoran Pond. The ski jump at the base of the mountain is used for training by Waterville Academy students who land in a large inflated air bag.
Although Waterville skiing first began in 1934 on connected logging roads of Mt. Tecumseh, by the winter of 1935-1936 ski lessons were being offered on the lower part of Snows Mountain behind the Waterville Inn. The first Waterville Valley ski tow, a rope tow, was installed on Snows Mountain in 1941 in what is now a road and residential area to the left of the present lift. Except for closure during World War II, rope tows operated on the mountain into the 1960s.
In 1952, a T-bar tow was purchased in Colorado and brought to Snows Mountain. This was one of the earliest long distance relocations of a major ski lift, and by the late 1950s a second T-bar reached the Snows Mountain summit. About this time one of the early Tucker Sno-Cats was acquired to improve grooming of Snows Mountain trails and to transport skiers to the Tecumseh Trail on Mt. Tecumseh. A new Tecumseh Trail had been cut by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in 1937 and was a walk-up trail into the early 1960s.
In December 1966, the Mt. Tecumseh Ski Area opened with four double chairlifts, six new slopes, and twelve trails. Snows Mountain subsequently accounted for only 10-15% of Waterville Valley’s total skiing until it closed in the early 1970s. It was reopened with a new chairlift in 1974, and the ski school put on Tuesday night torchlight parades down the mountain that winter.
In 1995-1996, Snows Mountain operated for snowboarders but closed at the end of the season. On February 28, 2015, Snows Mountain, described then as “a lost ski area of New England,” opened for one day of commemorative skiing.
Waterville Valley Historical Society
wvhistorybuffs@gmail.com
