Beautiful spring-like weather, lively pop-up performances of the Bavarian Brothers Band, recognition of an engaged and witty 99-year-old ski industry and mountain troop veteran, and a panel discussion on the contributions of Harvey Dow Gibson to the town of Conway marked the successful Hannes Schneider Meister Cup last weekend in North Conway, NH.
New England Ski Museum president Bo Adams opened the 18th annual Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race on Friday evening March 7 with the announcement that two New Hampshire non-profits focused on reinvigorating two distinctive historic skiing venues will be recipients of Cal Conniff grants from the ski museum. The grants are funded through a portion of the proceeds of the Hannes Schneider race weekend.
- Nelson Bennett, center, with Cal Conniff, left, and Bo Adams
The Gunstock Mountain Historic Preservation Society will receive $1,000 to support their efforts to bring back to life the unique and historic complex consisting of four ski jumps in Gilford, NH. When complete, young ski jumpers will be able to progress from the 10 meter jump, through 20 and 40 meter jumps to the 70 meter jump, all at one location.
Mt. Eustis Ski Hill, Littleton, NH will receive $2,000 to go toward their goal of re-opening the Mt. Eustis Ski Hill in Littleton as a fully functional ski slope. Mt. Eustis operated as a local rope tow area from 1939 into the 1970s, and the current non-profit organization hopes to reinvigorate the area with rope tow, lighting, and base lodge by the winter of 2015.
Two of the three Bavarian Brothers and their alpenhorn
The Saturday opening ceremony featured the grandsons and great-grandsons of Hannes Schneider some 75 years after his arrival at Mount Cranmore in February 1939. Joining the Schneider family on the specially constructed snow stage was Nelson Bennett, originally from Lancaster, NH and a longtime ski area manager at Sun Valley and White Pass, WA. NH House of Representatives member Gene Chandler led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance as a color guard from the US Army NH Recruiting Company planted the national colors.
Skiers in age classes from 9 & under to 90 & over competed on a dual slalom course on gentle terrain, with keen competition at the highest levels and fun runs in sunny weather for most other racers. The first place team was from Mount Cranmore, with WMWV taking second place. Alec Tarberry and Kelli MacDonald were fastest man and woman respectively, while 10th Mountain Division veteran Dick Calvert was the oldest skier and winner of the 90 and over class. Full results can be seen on the ski museum’s webpage.
Dick Calvert, winner of the 90 and over age class
Adding to the excitement of the race itself were all the activities that have grown up around the Schneider race over the years, including a well-stocked silent auction, an ice-carving demonstration, a stage show of vintage ski clothing, and the roving, crowd-pleasing Bavarian Brothers, who came out of retirement one year ago because they missed the hometown atmosphere of the Hannes Schneider Race.
The Reed and Karnopp families at the vintage stage show
On Sunday morning a breakfast and ski history panel discussion took place at the Eastern Slope Inn. This was titled the first Harvey Dow Gibson memorial lecture in honor of Cranmore’s founder. Panelists E. John B. Allen of the ski museum, Tom Eastman of the Conway Daily Sun, Bob Cottrell of the Conway Public Library, and Mark Butterfield of the Gibson/Woodbury Foundation discussed the life of Gibson, whose remarkable ascent from the son of the North Conway stationmaster to one of the leading American bankers of his generation is still not fully documented. It was Gibson’s financial prowess that made possible his development of Mount Cranmore and his successful intervention with Nazi Germany that brought Hannes Schneider to North Conway in 1939, achievements that still resonate socially and economically in the North Conway region today.
Sponsors of the 18th Annual Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race are Cranmore Mountain Resort, the Gibson/Woodbury Charitable Foundation, the Schneider Family, the Connie Davis Watson Foundation, Newcastle Brown Ale, Eastern Slope Inn, Eastern Mountain Sports, Magic 104 FM, 93.5 WMWV, Valley Originals, WPKQ 103.7, the Conway Daily Sun, Outside Television and Hill’s RV.