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Category Archives: Lifestyle
Cover Girl: Gretchen Fraser
Glorious Gretchen Fraser, America’s first Olympic medalist in alpine skiing, basking in the sun at her beloved Sun Valley c. 1948. Photographer unknown.
It’s here! I have eagerly been waiting for the new edition of SNOW magazine and it arrived today – perfect timing for a fun weekend read of fashion and ski stoke. Check it out!
Posted in Fashion, Lifestyle, Shopping, Ski, Ski Racing, Vintage Ski Racing, Vintage Style
Tagged Gretchen Fraser, Idaho, Sun Valley
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Ski Art: Vintage Travel Brochures
Posted in Art & Graphics, Lifestyle, Ski, Ski Areas, Travel, Treasure Hunting
Tagged Austria, Bad Hofgastein, Bavaria, Canada, Cervinia, Davos, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Italy, Quebec, Switzerland, Vintage Brochure
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Back to School!
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Vintage photos of school children found in Innsbruck, Austria.
This is the week when summer ends, just a little bit too soon, regardless of calendar and weather — local schools are back in session. I have stacks of summer alpine images waiting to be shared and will try my best to work in a few more seasonal posts before it is undeniably autumn.
Posted in Lifestyle, Vintage Style
Tagged Austria, Innsbruck, Tirol, Tracht, Tyrol, Vintage Photo
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Ski Bunny: Playboy, 1958
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Atop Aspen Mountain a merry group of skiers demonstrate, among other things, that wine is a fine accompaniment to the winey air, that relaxing can be as much fun as schussing, that skiing isn’t a lonely sport, and that nothing tops ski garb for colorful variety and originality.
Fun and Fashion on Skis – Article by Fred Iselin and A.C. Spectorsky, photos by Don Bronstein.
Posted in Art & Graphics, Fashion, Lifestyle, Ski, Vintage Style
Tagged Apres, Aspen, Colorado, Vintage Magazine Cover, Vintage Photo
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Vintage Vermont: Green Mountain Summer
Music in the Meadow summer concert, Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe. Photo: Andrew Gergely
Lake Willoughby, Westmore. Photo: Harry Wendell Richardson
Camp Winape for Boys, East Charleston.
Camp Skyland on Lake Champlain.
Camp Skyland, South Hero, Champlain Islands.
Lochearn Camp for Girls, Fairlee/ Thetford.
Lake Elmore Bathing Beach. Photo: Harry Wendell Richardson
Summer Vacation!
Nothing big nor far nor out of the ordinary, but I am very happy to be getting out of town for a few days. In a summer of staying home by choice – a glorified long weekend away with family, friends and the outdoors is feeling welcomed, substantial and exhilarating. Hopefully, I can make time to post summertime inspiration from the mountains of northern New England. . .
Posted in Art & Graphics, Lifestyle, Other Mountain Sports
Tagged Racey Helps, Vintage Postcard
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Summer Cycling: Let’s Go!
To escape from the humdrum daily round, to enjoy the beauties of nature and the open air, to roam far away across the frontiers. . . That is the dream of young and old! A dream which can come true for everyone, however, even without a well-filled purse and plenty of time to spare. No matter how short your vacation may be, you can have a wonderful trip by using the finest of all vehicles for tourist travel: the bicycle.
Vintage travel brochure from the Netherlands National Tourist Office. (Thank you to my husband for treasure hunting this gem!)
Posted in Art & Graphics, Bike, Lifestyle, Travel, Treasure Hunting, Vintage Style
Tagged Vintage Brochure
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Summer Skiing: Mount Hood
Is anyone headed to Mt. Hood in Oregon, the Southern Hemisphere or another destination for summer skiing?
Posted in Lifestyle, Ski, Ski Areas, Ski Racing, Snow Machines, Travel, Vintage Style
Tagged Mount Hood, Oregon, Summer Skiing, Timberline Lodge, Tucker Sno-Cat, Vintage Postcard
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Powder Ridge: The Festival That Never Was
Among other things, I am amused to learn that the ski lodge roof was intended to serve as the concert stage!
A very different use of a Hall double chairlift. Photo by Leonard Freed.
Festival View. Photo by Leonard Freed.
Life at Powder Ridge. Photo by Leonard Freed.
Campsite at the Powder Ridge Rock Festival. Photo by Leonard Freed.
POWDER HILL SKI AREA Middlefield, Connecticut – Home of Early Bird Skiing. 3 Chair Lifts, 2 T-Bars, Tows, Ski School, Night Skiing, Snow Making, Steak House and Cocktail Lounge. Overnight Lodging. Pre-1970 postcard, photo by Clifford Scofield.
A couple weeks ago at Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market, I came across this reproduction concert poster for the ill-fated 1970 music festival at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, Connecticut. I was surprised and delighted with the find and also thought it would make for a varied yet quick blog post. Well, I was wrong about the quick part – I am totally lost in what was intended to be cursory research of this event.
Growing up just a couple towns away from Powder Ridge, the festival has always been a bit of local lore but I never stopped to find out the specifics. To me, it was primarily of interest because of the ski area venue. I am very late to realize, nearly 44 years after the fact, that this disaster of a festival was national news.
The short version – in the wake of Woodstock, the three days of music at Powder Ridge was poised to be the next big festival — a roster of top billed acts helped sell 100,000 $20 tickets — just days before the start of the festival, the concerned residents of tiny Middlefield fought for a court injunction to stop the festival — headlining acts never arrived (save for one, Melanie Safka) but thousands of fans did despite attempts by the state police and town to turn away attendees — the most common estimate seems to be that 30,000 people came, camped and essentially drugged away the music-less days at Powder Ridge – drug use was rampant and not the happy, peaceable marijuana high of Woodstock but a more angry and dangerous version with unprecedented numbers of bad trips (~ 50 people an hour) thanks to free-flowing tainted hallucinogens – lack of food, utilities and bathroom facilities added to the chaos.
A simple Internet search reveals no shortage of articles, accounts, photos and video of the Powder Ridge Festival. I am captivated by the photos by Leonard Freed, an esteemed photojournalist who spent most of his career documenting civil rights and social issues. Adding a wonderful layer to his stunning images and talent is that his wife, Brigitte, was his photo developer – an art itself. I love the practical and romantic dynamics of creative spouse partnerships – go team! (Click here for a lovely NYT article about the couple.) In keeping with the ski theme of this blog, I have selected photos featuring chairlifts – but please follow these links to see a wider presentation of Freed’s extraordinary portfolio and documentation of this event which now resides at The Davison Art Center at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, only a few miles away from the festival site.
As for Powder Ridge, the ski area shut down in 2007 but is currently in the process of rebuilding and resuming operations to become a year-round mountain park and resort.
If any readers attended this festival or have anecdotes, please write in as a comment to share!
Posted in Art & Graphics, Lifestyle, Ski Areas, Treasure Hunting
Tagged Connecticut, Mountain Music, Powder Ridge
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