The New England Ski Museum in Franconia Notch State Park
Founded in 1977 in Franconia and expanded to North Conway in 2018, the Ski Museum documents the history of skiing and snowboarding in New England and beyond. Highlighting both permanent and rotating content, exhibits range from Olympic memorabilia to design elements in ski culture.
Executive Director Andrea Masters, who stepped into the role in 2024, said the Ski Museum is enthusiastic about joining the Trail. “We’re very excited,” she said. “This is why we all live and work in New Hampshire—we like rural life and smaller communities.”
Noting that the majority of museums on the Trail are “smaller,” she said their membership is “a chance to stick together.” “We can pool our resources—intellectual and financial—for joint outreach,” she added.
Regarding what people can expect at the Ski Museum, Masters cited new exhibits, one of which just opened in Franconia that focuses on the rapid growth of ski resorts in the 1950s and ’60s. A corresponding exhibit in North Conway—opening in July—will feature the evolution of ski area logos.
“We also have a current exhibit in North Conway on Slim Aarons, who was a very famous photographer in Hollywood,” she explained. “He also did photography ski photos and winter shots, so we are exhibiting those at the moment.”
In looking to the future, Masters expressed enthusiasm, citing a new website in development and a long-term goal to digitize their collection. Featuring more than 3,000 books, 3,468 reels of ski film, thousands of photographs and posters, and historic scrapbooks, the collection also includes personal memorabilia from the 1936 U.S. women’s Olympic ski team.
“We want to make our collection accessible to people everywhere,” she added. “It’s a multi-million-dollar project, but we believe it’s worth it.”
To learn more about the Ski Museum, visit skimuseum.org.
Member institutions on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail are located in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, White Mountain Region, Merrimack Valley, and Seacoast.