In 1954 the Mt. Sunapee Area Ski club was organized as a social group to have skiers, mostly adults at the time to learn proficiency skills in skiing.  There were monthly pot luck dinners and sometimes there was music for dancing.  The kitchen in the North Peak Lodge was set up for the ski club to use.  This is where they held many of their events.  These members were mostly local and enjoyed getting together.  They wanted to learn better ski skills.  The group met during the summer ,having no snow, used straw to ski on.  The adults had so much fun, the children wanted to learn to ski – fast.  They began to practice and take lessons. 

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Ski School Instructors taught Ski Club volunteers to teach different levels so that more children could participate in ski lessons.  This was done at a VERY nominal fee.  As the program grew more, the Ski School took over the teaching and had about 500 local children on Saturday.  The Club began a race program – run by the club, coaches were hired and paid by the club.  Through the weekend learn to ski program we produced 3 Olympians, Holly and Debbie Flanders and Tad Langlois, a 3 time jumper.

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EVEREYONE volunteered – they helped renovate the North Peak building to include a kitchen so dinners could be prepared there by members.

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The mountain asked the Ski Club to host an Invitational weekend for ski groups from Conneticut, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maine.  Activities were planned for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  On Saturday there was a race a big race with a banquet that night, often attended by the governor.  The Invitational Weekend was hoped to bring more attention to Mt. Sunapee, an adveretising gimmick.

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A Swiss Olympian, Hedi Beeler Graf, coached the buddy Werner team for a number of years.  Her teams did very well, winning the State Championship several years.

We hosted the JII Olympics which were tons of work, but EVERYONE pitched in and it went very well.  We worked hard to save money to build a building for the Ski Club after the North Peak Lodge was torn down.  We envisioned it to be able to house members and be able to keep our equipment there, have dinners there, etc.

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When the mountain was leased we no longer had Saturday and Sunday learn to ski lessons.  No longer did MSASC run the races.  No longer id we have monthly dinners – membership changed.  Local people could not afford the new equipment or season pass.  Fewer people from the area continued to come to dinners due expense  being catered by the mountain.

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Looking over the plans of the mountain, we found the Ski Club Building site marked on the map, where the present Comp Center is now located.  The Ski Club gave a lot of money to partner with the mountain to help erect this building.  The reality had changed as needed to keep kids together and out of the Lodge.

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When we became a 501-c-3 group we strived to follow our mission statement – The Mt. Sunapee Area Ski Club is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1954.  Through volunteer efforts and fund raising, the Club supports a variety of winter programs for area youth.  We are about kids – working to promote the joy of skiing or boarding – a life long skill and activity.