Exploring CCC Ski Trails

Skiing the Gulf of Slides in New HampshireNew York Times reporter Jonathan Mingle describes his ski adventure down CCC trails in the Northeast. From the Times:

“The Thunderbolt is one of more than a dozen semi-hidden gems tucked throughout the hills of New England, the legacy of a trail-cutting frenzy conducted in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a signature program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

…The program also helped catalyze the nascent ski industry in the United States. Many New England ski resorts were built around trails first cut by the C.C.C. “In the scope of what the C.C.C. did, it was a real drop in the bucket,” said Jeff Leich, director of the New England Ski Museum. “And yet you think about Cannon, Wildcat, Stowe and what that’s meant for the economy of the region.” The winter tourism industry they helped spawn remains an important source of revenue throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and the Berkshires.”

One comment on “Exploring CCC Ski Trails

  1. Yet more long-range dividends paid back to the local communities 80 years after an investment that saved the lives of so many young men and their families. At the same time, it democratized a sport formerly restricted to the elite, as did the New Deal construction of public tennis courts, golf courses, swimming pools, horse stables, archery ranges, and so much more.

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