Mt.Rudolph

According to information provided by Dick and Christina Rudolph, Benny Schlichting and Ron "Bud" Guyette Mt. Rudolph was located on Spring St. in Spofford, NH. It operated from the early 60's to around 1973. The area was built and operated by the Spofford, NH Boy Scouts troop 286. At the time of construction Ken Wiggin was their Scout Master. The assistant scout master was Charles Rudolph. He has a piece of property off of Spring St. that he leased to the troop for $1 per year.

The area had a 600 foot tow which was constructed using a 1953 Chevy Truck which was donated, telephone poles and tire rims. Ron "Bud" Guyette worked for Loyal Electric at the time and had done some of the original electrical work for Mt. Snow. He put in a safety gate and wired it right to the truck. A few years later it was replaced with a 1946 Chevy Pick-up because the first truck had mechanical problems. There were 3 trails at the area. They charges $.50 for scouts to ski and $1.00 for others to cover the $100 annual cost of their liability insurance and pay for the gas to run the tow. They had a simple warming hut which that the Boy Scout troop built and owned. It was built on slats so it was not considered a permanent structure.

The area did not have snow making or a ski patrol and offered no formal lessons programs. They did not sell food or beverages in their warming hut. A lot of local children skied there and it was usually rather busy. During the years it was open it was said to have been one of, if not the only ski area run by a Boy Scout Troop. Several of the boys involved with the area constructed a scale model of the area for a Boy Scout rally they attended in Manchester, NH.

In the early 70's when several larger areas had law suits brought against them the liability insurance jumped from $100 a year to nearly $5000. The troop could not afford to pay the liability insurance so they closed.

A view of the area today, not much to see.

After the area closed the warming hut was moved deeper into the woods and the area was turned into an gravel pit. In recent years the hut has been removed from the property. Several of the telephone poles with tire rims are still in the woods and the truck is said to still be at the top of the tow line. The area has grown in considerably and from the road there is little visible evidence of the ski area.

Laurie P. got permission to enter the property and was able to take the following pictures: