Letter from Al Abbotts
Al Abbotts, a skier who joined the Trenton Ski Club during the 1953-54 season
and served as Club President during the 1957-58 season, wrote to the Prez
about his recollections of early Club history. His and his wife Joan’s memories
offer a glimpse into what makes this Club so special.I want to thank Al for taking the time to write and offer him a standing
invitation to attend meetings and continue to share his recollections with us.
He now is on the email distribution list and I will send him this season’s
booklet.If it’s true that “past is prologue,”
then the Club and the people who make it
special today have a wonderful future.Al’s letter is included in this email so all members can enjoy the Club’s
successes in those early years.Signed: Jim Huchfeldt
Letter from Al Abbotts:
Letter Dated: January 4, 2012
Jim:
The recent Trenton Times article about the Trenton Ski Club kindled many
memories for us. My wife, Joan (nee Reinheimer) and identical-twin sister Jean
Brown (deceased) were Charter Members who attended the 1952 meeting at the
Firehouse. During that season, she recalls groups going to various ski areas such
as Split Rock in the Poconos. At a later meeting it was felt Club business could
be better addressed if more stimulating beverages were available.The following year the Club met at Bash’s Bar (now defunct?) on South Broad
Street in Trenton in an upstairs room. I joined in late 1953 or early 1954 following
an Army stint concluded with a year of combat in Korea as an artillery officer.
A buddy asked me if I wanted to go to a Ski Club meeting. I said, “What’s there’?”
He replied, “Girls.” We went and I stayed. Joan and I met and married in 1956. A
girl followed in 1959, and a boy in 1965. We were a skiing family. The Club moved
to the Bromley Inn in Hamilton Township. Fun, and work, too, running the Club.A Times article correction: The Club itself did not participate in the Pico Peak T-bar
construction. Rather, the John A. Roebling Company did it with supervision by Club
member and later President, Craig Meade, a Roebling engineer.More corrections: In the Club web listing of Past Presidents, change Ditmis to
Ditmars, Blandenbush to Blankenbush and check your current name (no d).The New Hope rope tow was a passing fancy, but Belle Mountain was a Club
project where I was involved in negotiations with Mercer County officials, Dick
Coffee, mainly. I made a scale model of the mountain (hill?) and drew up the plans
and specifications. The rope tow was moved to the site and installed by Club
members following a rock-picking Sunday afternoon party.Belle Mountain was later improved by the County following recommendations by
a County Ski Advisory Committee. I was a charter member. The chairlift,
snowmaking, and other amenities were added. For a while, Belle did pretty well and
lots of people got the ski bug there, but it was plagued by a “Banana Belt” location.
Even with County budget fund shuffling it could not sustain itself and was closed.About five or six Club members, including sister-in-law Jean and myself, formed the
Belle Mountain Ski Patrol. We worked hard at passing all the first aid requirements
and the grueling hill tests with rescue toboggans at Highmount Ski Area (now closed?),
near Belleayre. We patrolled Belle Mountain on a regular basis and some of us got free
lift tickets to patrol other slopes. Sometimes I trace my long-standing back problems
to my Highmount toboggan struggles.The Club elected me President for the 1957-8 season. I was the first, and grateful,
recipient of the Alfred L. Schmid Memorial Award. Al, a superb athlete, Club member
and friend, was killed in an avalanche while skiing the Swiss Alps. I am glad to see the
Award is still being made to the Club’s “Most Valuable Member.”One year the Club rented a house in Manchester, Vermont, for the ski season. We had
fun at nearby Bromley and Stratton, but it required a lot of work—booking beds,
cleanup, collecting fees, etc. The lease was not renewed.There were many Club trips all over New England. Belleayre in the Catskills was
popular because it was close (Interstate highway’s were being constructed). Early on,
the owner and developer of Mount Snow (his first name was Walter, but I can’t spell
his last name) visited the Club and was enthusiastic.
He built his first chairlifts on a conveyor-belt principle using chain links
--they leaked oil all over us as we rode up.
Later he converted to wire rope. We had weekend Club bus trips there.Ski-area operators spoke at Club meetings. A favorite was Real Charette,
the Head Instructor at Grey Rocks near Mont Tremblant in Canada’s Laurentians. I “really”
learned to ski there; the instruction was tough and tops. John Jay thrilled us with his
films of ski daring-do several times.The Trenton Times asked me to write articles about the Club’s activities. I called it
“Ski Tips” and it ran for several years. Joan and I traveled on weekends (Mom
babysat) to New England areas scrounging up copy,
sometimes getting lift-tickets and other freebies.
After the kids were able to walk, we took them with us. We skied
many mountains in the East, with Stratton and Stowe among the favorites during
winter school vacations. Val d’Isere in France and Zermatt in Switzerland,
along with Jackson Hole and Aspen were other family early-spring destinations.Altogether, at the Club, Joan and I had fun, even doing such things as picking rocks
at Belle. We met wonderful people, long-lasting friendships, super parties, saw lots of
the U.S. and world, went downhill for hundreds of miles and, sadly, got lumps to show
for it—Joan a broken leg, a broken collarbone and bad back for me. The good
memories persist.Lots of luck on the Club 60th anniversary and in all its future endeavors.
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