March 7-9, 2025
28th Annual Hannes Schneider Meister Cup
at Cranmore Mountain Resort
2024 SCHNEIDER RACE
2025 SCHNEIDER RACE
On March 7-9, 2025, we celebrate the 28th Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race, honoring the life of the renowned Austrian skimeister whose pioneering ski teaching brought excitement and prosperity to North Conway, NH and St. Anton, Austria and the world of skiing at large.
Hannes Schneider was a mountain soldier on the alpine front in World War I, and his son Herbert and several of his instructors served in the 10th Mountain division in World War II. The race pays tribute to several generations of America’s mountain troops, and features the color guard and mountain instructors of the Army Mountain Warfare School of Jericho, Vermont.
The Meister Cup is more than a race—it is a spectator event with an Opening Ceremony with Color Guard, vintage ski fashion show, awards ceremony, the music of the Bavarian Brothers Band, and a Sunday morning screening of an award-winning ski history documentary film. Race it or watch it, the Meister Cup has something for everyone.
If you can turn around a few gates on intermediate terrain on alpine or telemark skis or a snowboard, you are invited to participate in the race…and win! The fastest male and female finishers in ten age groups take home unique awards, as do the fastest telemark, snowboard, and junior racers. Teams of five racers compete for the Meister Cup Trophy, with winners’ names engraved on the award which is on display in the New England Ski Museum.
Competition is intense at the highest level, but for most racers the event is a simple fun run down a gentle racecourse on a day of slopeside pageantry and social events. Past racers have ranged in age from 4 to 95.
The Carroll Reed Cup, awarded to the fastest team made up of racers from the ski resort industry, honors the ski business pioneer whose early Eastern Slope Ski School provided the basis for Hannes Schneider’s arrival in 1939.
Apart from the ski race, the Hannes Schneider Meister Cup features a full slate of weekend social activities including a welcome reception with dinner buffet and a live Bavarian band, the opening ceremony, a silent auction, the popular vintage skiwear show, the awards ceremony, and a ski history presentation. Whether you race it or watch it, the Meister Cup has something for everyone.
There are many ways to be involved! Come and be a racer, spectator, patron, or sponsor.
PLANNED FOR 2025:
* Race capped at 250 Racers
* Commemorative Race Bib
* Fashion Show “Across the Decades” – Get out the neon!
* Sunday Brunch
* Showing of Vintage Cranmore Ski Film: Watch the Schneiders and early Cranmore crew in all their glory- straight out of the Ski Museum archives
All Racers are welcome to ALL event activities including food (dinner, breakfast, bratwurst!), beverages, fashion show entry, silent auction, Sunday morning brunch, and film showing.
Racer Registration
$125/racer or $625/team (five persons) until March 1, then increase to $175/person. Max. 250 racers; first 200 registrations receive commemorative cloth bib courtesy of World Cup Supply. Online registration opening soon!
Paper Registration is also available. You may fill out and mail, email, or drop off in-person at any museum location.
Patron Registration
The Meister Cup is more than a ski race and more than a fundraiser for the Ski Museum. It is a community event celebrating the rich heritage of winter and skiing in New England and the Mount Washington Valley. Become a patron just as you would at a playhouse, opera, or with a sports team (season’s tickets are just that!), and help us support the continued celebration of ski history! All donation levels are welcome.
As a Meister Cup Patron you are welcome to all event activities including the Opening Ceremony, watching the torchlight parade and the race, a fashion show entry, the silent auction. Some patron levels include the Friday night dinner reception and ski tickets on Saturday!
Schedule
Friday 3-7-2025
- 4:00-7:00pm Registration in Main Lodge
- 6:00 Reception in Zip’s Pub with drinks and Bavarian Brother’s music
- 6:30 Buffet Dinner in Zip’s Pub
- 7:15 Welcome Ceremony
- 7:45 Torchlight Parade
- 9:00 pm Reception concludes
Saturday 3-8-2025
- 7:30am Registration and continental breakfast in Mt Washington Room of Main Base Lodge
- 9:00 Start of Opening Ceremony
- 10:00 Start of first run
- 10:00 Silent auction and museum shop in Mt Washington Room
- 11:30 Barbecue lunch on big patio (weather permitting)
- 12:45 Second run
- 3:00 Awards
- 3:30 Après Fashion Show and brats
- 6:30pm Day concludes
Sunday 3-9-2025
- 9:00am Brunch in Mt. Washington Room
- 9:30-11:00 Vintage film showing on Hannes Schneider and early Cranmore.