Bedford may not seem like the kind of town that would have a ski mountain, but between the 1930s and mid-1970s, Bedford and Amherst were host to a small, but profitable, ski hill. On the Bedford-Amherst line, a large field sits on Route 101. Across the street from the sledding hill and from Twin Brook Road, the Amherst-Bedford ski area once operated.

The field is all that remains of the now mostly forested hill. The base of the former ski hill still is visible on the right of Route 101, if heading toward Amherst. Before the ski hill opened, the area was land for grazing dairy cows.

The idea of having a ski hill on the family farm came from a well-known skier who lived in the area at the time. He said the field would make a great ski area. His comment became reality when, in the mid-1930s, the ski area was opened. The farm’s owner, Orson Bragdon Sr., decided that since he couldn’t do much with his fields in the winter, it would be a great idea to open a ski hill. The Bragdon family managed this ski area, which sat on their family farm.

When the ski hill was first created, the Bragdons had a rope tow that ran on a Model A car engine. The story is that the family went into Amherst village and purchased a Model A Ford for $25. They drove it back to the farm and up the hill. They parked it at the top of the hill and removed all but the engine. That same engine hauled a 1,200-foot rope from the late ’30s until the early ’70s. A small shack was built at the top of the hill to run the operation, and a small shack was built at the bottom to sell tickets and homemade snacks.

The ski hill was run by the whole family, including the family’s six children. One of the Bragdon children even met her future husband when selling tickets to him.

The hill became a popular place for locals and people from far away to come and ski. The ski hill was very successful as word spread of this hidden gem. It became so popular that in the 1940s, the Bragdons made a new trail with a ski jump. As more people came, the family decided to expand their hours, so night lights eventually were installed on the mountain. Several schools, including Derryfield and Milford high schools, used it to train. Derryfield even used it for some ski meets. There was no ski patrol, and there is only record of one injury. An injured skier was driven in the back of the owner’s pickup truck all the way to a hospital in Manchester. The doctors said the patient suffered more injuries from the ride to the hospital than from the original accident.

The mountain was very popular and competed with other ski areas, such as Crotched Mountain and a local hill in Milford. In the summer, the land still was used for grazing dairy cows. Every couple years, the Bragdons would take all the rocks out of the hill by hand and roll them to the base. Although the mountain was not very tall, it was steep. This is why people came to it. Slowly, fewer people came to the mountain as other mountains opened. Eventually, the mountain closed due to larger mountains that were relatively easy to get to.

The ski mountain lasted until the ’70s. For many years, it was used as a sledding hill. It also was used for hang gliding. Eventually, people stopped using the hill for any purpose. The majority of the mountain became forest again. Today, the whole property is owned by the town of Amherst as conservation land. The trails still are visible when viewed from a satellite image.

To learn more, visit www.nelsap.org/nh/bragdon.html.

Antonio Pastor is a seventh-grade student at Ross A. Lurgio Middle School in Bedford. His column, which examines the history of former New Hampshire recreation destinations, runs the fourth week of the month.