Hiking Scotties Mountain in Rumford (Ski Area #5)

Scotties Rope Tow c. 1958

OK, so this hike is cheating. I stayed close to home–real close–climbed and searched around Scotties Mountain in Rumford. An abandoned 1950's ski area, Scotties is where my older siblings skied until 1960. Left in the woods next to the overgrown slopes are rusted wheels that guided the rope for the rope tow.

Bailey geared up for our archeological dig 

An overgrown Scotties in 2019

We also trekked into the woods to look for the remnants of The Suicide Ski Jump and the old high school jump. In the 1990s,  I used to take my high school English classes out on the slopes to conduct what I called a non-invasive archeological dig. Some of the projects: Kids used rope or twine to outline the route of the old ski tow. Others explored the jump sites and drew sketches of where they were. Others created tri-fold brochures for Scotties and still others made lift tickets, menus, and collections of ski equipment c. 1950s and 1960s. Finally, the kids interviewed natives who skied (e.g., Chummy Broomhall, Murial Arsenault) about the ski area and the history of skiing in the River Valley for a research paper they were to write. One pair of ski racers in my class created a video TV ad for Scotties using old 8mm footage from their parents. Inventive kids--fun projects from our school's backyard and our town's history.    

The Suicide c 1954

This has to be one of the original poles--
check out the lift picture up top--with the 
wheel for the rope. 

Our "hike."



I'm guessing this is the top anchor for the tow
since I found it on the top...










Note how the tree has grown around the wheel.

We even took The Rig, just in case.