Murdered by a llama, reborn as a Loon…Loon Mountain Resort! Enormous props to the venerable Skiing History magazine for running my sory on New Hampshire’s Sherman Adams. Here is the link.
From the story: “The logging industry, previously the beating heart of the state’s economy, was suffocating under the combined stresses of new regulations and modern technology, likely never to fully return to the prominence it previously enjoyed. But Adams saw the opportunity to pivot to recreation, tourism and conservation. His wife made the logical connection, saying “There must be a place to ski up in those woods somewhere. What are you going to do about it?” In fact, skiing was in the early phase of what became its boom years.
No one knew the back side of the White Mountains better than Sherman Adams. After apparently passing on getting involved with Sawyer River Skiway, he settled on Loon Mountain. Adams was soon back in his old routine as walking boss, zooming through the trees mapping ski runs on Loon Mountain, overseeing construction and even dynamiting stumps. After a dynamite blast pelted him with trunk debris, he worked in a neck brace for several weeks. Construction was in full swing by 1965, and Loon opened in December 1966.”
