Thanks to new information
from the Fryeburg, ME Historical Society, we now have the complete story
of this historical Maine ski area. Diane Jones and Ted Nixon provided the
following information from the historical society.
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The ski tow was built at Jockey Cap in 1936, and was the first rope tow in the state. Ten young business men in Fryeburg got together and formed a corporation, with each member putting in $25.00, so at a cost of $250.00, plus contributions of considerable labor from the corporation members and many of the townsmen, the Ski Tow, under the direction of Henry McIntire, was built. |
| In those days snow trains ran from Portland to Fryeburg and some of the young owners would go to Portland returning on the snow train busily handing out leaflets advertising the "Jockey Cap Rope Tow." Local farmers often met the trains and transported the skiers from the railroad station to the slope in their hayracks. |
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An instructor from
Plymouth, NH was hired and one afternoon a week a ski school was held.
To the right of the ski tow a toboggan chute was built and chute racing
became a popular sport. In this National Geographic picture, note the tow
and toboggan slope.
Skiing on Jockey Cap,
the land then owned by Miss Harriet Pike and Clayton Pike, flourished until
1938 when Harvey Gibson came to N. Conway, NH, and the Cranmore Mountain
Skimobile was built.
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| Subsquently the Jockey Cap Rope Tow was sold to Cornish, Maine and each member of the corporation received $17.00 back on their investment (NELSAP note...currently have no data on an area in Cornish. Will continue to research) |
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Here's one listing from a guidebook, likely a year after it closed.
1939
(Skier's
Guide to New England)
Open slope
1/4 mile long
300 feet wide, vertical
300 feet, slope of 24 degrees
Top intermediates,
bottom, novice
Ski tow
The tow actually had
a vertical of 100 feet, and was 500 feet long