Memories from the 1970's posted the other day by Suzanne Stiles Seale: 

It was 1970 when I was 10 or so. My mom, Lois Stiles decided our family would all learn to ski. Carrying my own skis up the road to the trails from the parking lot seemed such a huge chore, but of course, worth it. In weekly lessons. we progressed through snow plow, stem turn, stem christie, then parallel. Parellel felt so grown up. I remember getting cold and feet then numb. Going into the lodge, there was a barrel cut in half that had a fire for warming our feet. I broke a ski (Fischer, part metal, part wood) on the trail to the left of the rope tow. The hard, steep trail. In a way I was proud to have broken a ski, something I thought only great skiers did, but at the same time, these were the skis I got from Santa and I loved them with all my heart. I am so happy to see this ski tow is still around. What a wonderful experience for kids to grow up with.

Thanks for posting this Suzanne!

This weekend a lot of people came to Prospect for a light-hearted ski race. The race was split into two categories for men and women: White Mountains Regional Alumni and an open category. Thanks to everyone who put in the work to make it happen!

The WMRHS Alpine Ski Team and Mt. Prospect Ski Club established a mutually beneficial partnership this this year with the best state meet record in fifteen years and increased fiscal and physical support for the rope tow, respectively. All of this is attributable to the sustained fiscal and physical support from the community and a dedicated group of volunteers!

A renewed interest in winter sports, inspired in part by Athletic Director Mike Berry, has produced a young team of freshmen and sophomores. Practice twice a week at Mt. Prospect has had several distinct advantages, according coach Kelly Renaud. With little to distract them, the enthusiastic support of veteran skier Dick Farrell and the tutelage of Ski Coach Jamie Sorochak the young skiers were able to focus on the Slalom and GS course set for them. Even to the untrained eye the kids "turns and form" increased noticeably, observed Renaud.  The close proximity to the school also allowed the young skiers to attend  a full day of classes and still get a good hour of training each Monday and Wednesday after school. Dick Farrell, who has a lengthy history working with ski programs in Vermont is excited about the possibility of moving some middle school youth into the program in the future. The competition had better beware, our Spartan Alpine Ski Team is on the move!

The ski club is planning an Eggs Benedict Breakfast get-together at St. Paul's Parrish Hall on Saturday, February 27th to celebrate it's continued success and good food!  Chef Dan Recor of Whitefield will be contributing his considerable talents to this endeavor. Breakfast will be served between 10-11 a.m. with an informal meeting to follow.  While the requested donation will be $10 for adults and $5 for children this will be an opportunity for supporters to make an annual donation and/or purchase one of the club's iconic T Shirts.

The rope tow will no longer be open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-4:30.  However, It is expected the tow will be running Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 1-4 for vacationing school students who want to ski or ride. In the event the rope tow is open Parker's Jewelry will fly the traditional club flag and interested parties may also call Lucy Wyman at 788-3688 to confirm this time and date.

Last Sunday a few local skiers had the luck of being featured in the New York Times travel section. They were shown skiing right here at Mount P. It seems to be the easiest way to get famous around here lately. If you'd like to see the article and photograph, here is the link: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/travel/07explorer.html?emc=eta1

We were also noted in the Portland Press Herald's outdoor blog. It is a short entry, but many photos. Here is the link: http://maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/photoalbum.html?id=11159

Hope to see you skiing this weekend!

Ski season is here again at Mt P! A group of willing (or at least able) folks hoisted the yurt a few days ago. The snow is fantastic and the new groomer is all tuned up to deal with it. Get your gear ready and come on out next weekend!

Well, we have reached the point in our season where openings will be sporadic at best. Bill Ghelli checked conditions this morning at the hill and found the lift track high and dry. There is officially too much grass showing through for a shovelling to fix. So we will be closed today and most likely tomorrow.

However, the good news is that the base on the ski runs still looks good. So if we receive a good snow storm soon it should fill in the lift track and let us open again. So if we receive some snow in the next few weeks, check back here to see if we are opening.

Also, we will be posting information about building a new warming hut before long. So don't forget to check in with us even when the snow is gone. (We will also try to get some information in the local newspapers when we get moving on the hut.)

If any of you were reading the Boston Globe yesterday, you may have recognized a few faces and places on the front page. They featured Mount Prospect with an article—full color pictures and everything. Below is a scan of yesterday's issue. (We went out and bought a few copies late last night after we found out about it.)

Yes, that is Mt P front and center with Miles Wharton on the rope tow. And below is a pretty cool shot of Bill Ghelli running the rope. Here is a link to the article on the Boston Globe's website: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/03/14/little_hill_thrills/

See you all at Prospect later today!

Due to the rains last night we are keeping the mountain closed today in an effort to preserve the base. Hopefully there will be some precipitation of a fluffier kind this coming week!

But yesterday at the hill was a beautiful, sunny, corn-snow day. There were some regulars and some new faces on the hill. Remember to spread the word about using insulated leather work gloves on the tow...they work great!

Here is a start to the Mt Prospect memories we have to share. Bob Arsenault of Berlin dates his first memory of Prospect to 1947 when the Berlin High School Ski Team won the state Schoolboy Championships. Bob and his teammates put on a slalom skiing demonstration at the Lancaster ski slope. Bob was state jumping champion that year. He now resides in Lancaster.

Great to start hearing some stories!

This week is vacation week, so we are getting organized to be open on Wednesday from 1-4pm. And what a great start to a winter break with all this snow! If you come up on Wednesday from Lancaster, look for our flag in front of Parkers. It was flying on Sunday when we drove by on our way to the hill, so we stopped and took a photo: