Spectators at Cathedral Ledge ski jumping, part of the 1922 White Mountains Winter Carnival. Photo courtesy Conway Public Library Henney History Room.

Yesteryear

Winter Fun at the First White Mountains Winter Carnival

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

If you lived in NH’s White Mountains in the winter of 1922, you were likely weary of war and illness. Not long before, World War I and a pandemic that swept the globe took a toll on people everywhere. The Conway area felt the effects of the war and the pandemic as well and in the succeeding years, everyone was making attempts to move on with life.

During the winter of 1922, what was there to do to fill the long winter days? According to a February 1922 issue of The Reporter, the newspaper for the Conway area, you could attend a “photoplay attraction” at the Masonic Hall in North Conway where Hoot Gibson and Molly Malone starred in the movie “Red Courage”. You could also take in Bert Lytell in “The Idle Rich”, a satire. There were church services and Grange meetings and Ladies Aid gatherings, but the big entertainment was the first event of its kind in the town: the White Mountains Winter Carnival.

The carnival got a lot of attention in The Reporter; in fact, it took up the entire front page in the February 2, 1922 edition. A headline read that the event had “Thrilling Ski Jumping, Good Horse Racing, Hockey Games, Wonderful Skating and Other Exciting Sports”. 

People were hungry for some fun – even if temperatures were likely chilly – and crowds started to arrive on Wednesday of the previous week. By Sunday, all available lodgings in the Conway area were full. “The people came to enjoy themselves,” the article told readers. Some brought personal winter sporting equipment and others bought skates and other gear when they arrived in town. 

Spectators at Cathedral Ledge ski jumping, part of the 1922 White Mountains Winter Carnival. Photo courtesy Conway Public Library Henney History Room.

The first annual carnival began on Thursday, January 26, 1922 and activities were plentiful. Visitors could take a snowshoe hike, go for a fun ride on the toboggan chutes, or climb the many area mountains. A skating rink and a ski jump were busy for the duration of the carnival. 

In the area, sled dog master extraordinaire, Arthur Walden of Tamworth, made an appearance accompanied by his famed sled dog team. The crowds loved Walden and the dogs and appreciated that the team made an appearance each day. 

By Tuesday, the sporting events were well underway, including over 500 people who came to see the new ski jump at Cathedral Ledge. A Canadian ski jump champion and members of the Nansen Ski Club tried out the jump. The ski jump was built at the bottom of Cathedral Ledge off West Side Road in Conway to be used for the first winter carnival. Old photos show spectators aplenty for the thrilling jump portion of the weekend carnival events.

Elsewhere the main street was converted into a trotting park for horse racing and the sidewalks were lined with spectators. The races were a thrilling few hours of entertainment for those who had been house bound from winter weather.

The big day for the winter carnival was Friday, and the presenters and volunteers pulled out all the stops to create a lot of fun for everyone. Trains brought carnival goers from Bartlett, Glen and Jackson and others arrived from south of the Conway area. An amazing 2,000 people, according to The Reporter, were at Cathedral Ledge to see the ski jumping. Some competitors made perfect jumps and some did not, but it was an event people talked about long after.  

In an effort to promote further outdoor events, men from Washington, DC were on hand with representatives from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. They were there to take “moving pictures” of the sporting events to promote and further an interest in winter outdoor activities in the White Mountain National Forest. 

This was a time when some people still used horses for transportation, although automobiles were becoming more widespread. To see horses in town was not uncommon. What was unusual was seeing the horses racing through the town at high speeds. According to The Reporter, the crowds were heavy to watch the skijoring races at the winter carnival. Skijoring is a sport wherein horses pull skiers at a high speed and in Conway, it was a big draw at the carnival.

Ice skating was extremely popular in the 1800s and into the 1900s and brought a lot of inexpensive fun to families. Many villages, as well as cities, had skating ponds where everyone went for skating and socializing in the winter. The Winter Carnival in North Conway offered a place where everyone could skate and also watch the skating races. The men’s relay race with four men per team was popular during the Carnival with each man skating 335 yards for a timed race. At the ice skating area, hockey games also were held between Portland High and Deering High Schools. Portland won and was challenged by a group of local pick-up teens, offering a lot of competitive action for spectators.

Also on the ice, according to a 1922 front page story in The Reporter, “an audience was not lacking to witness some of the most wonderful skating performed by Mr. and Mrs. Nat Niles and Theresa Weld, all of Boston. Mr. Niles represented the United States at the Olympic games at Antwerp, and Theresa Weld is the champion woman skater in this country. They not only performed in the morning but also for an hour in the afternoon.”

If you were visiting or lived in the Conway area, you could see competitions at the toboggan chutes at Russell Cottages. Guests from all the hotels in the area were joined by Arthur Walden and his famed sled dog team as they watched the toboggan performers.

The big social portion of the Winter Carnival – and the closing event for the weekend – was a masquerade ball on Saturday evening. The ball took place at the ice rink with the start of the event reserved for masqueraded attendees. Unmasked attendees got to guess who was behind the masks and prizes were awarded for the three top costumes. At that time, everyone was allowed on the rink to enjoy a final evening of ice skating. 

Plans were underway for a second carnival and in the winter of 1923, the event was again well attended with ski jumping, ice skating and more. 

 (Thanks to Bob Cottrell and Conway Public Library for assistance with this article.)