Second of a series of excerpts from Gerry Miller’s book “Crotched Mountain Ski Area in Francestown, New Hampshire,” a history/biography about the original Crotched Mountain Ski Area in Francestown, developed by William C. (Bill) MacAdam and syndicate. Miller grew up in Francestown. Much of the material for the book was from the Monadnock Ledger or Peterborough Transcript.

Peterborough Transcript, March 22, 1962

If the crystal ball into which William C. MacAdam is peering remains unclouded, the northeast slope of Crotched Mountain in Francestown, including much of the former Hob & Nob Farm property, will become the largest ski area in the Monadnock Region before snow flies next winter.

Bill MacAdam and his team considered all the variables, including snow days. Before construction began he shared, “Sno-Engineering, the firm that made the survey for Crotched Mt., says that this area averages 105 days of sufficiently low temperatures to make snow, either natural or artificial. Without the snow making machinery, our season might average about 60 days. With the machinery we can increase that period to 95 days.”

In fact, construction did begin, starting with reworking the road access and clearing trails. But delivery of lifts was delayed and the ski area would not be ready for winter 1963.

In June 1962, Bill MacAdam told the Peterborough Transcript, “We’re very disappointed that we have to postpone operations a year. However, we are definitely going ahead. Don’t listen to any rumors we’ve gone broke. We haven’t. We just have to hold off a year.”

Sonny Hardwick and others continued clearing and building trails through the summer and fall of 1962 and on. Three bulldozers, a John Deere 1010 Crawler, a DC-6 and a DC-7 Caterpillar did all the clearing and grading.

As Ethel MacStubbs, Bill McAdam’s daughter tells it, “1963 was the summer of no boys of a certain age in town, and after a while, the girls decided that maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Summer turned into fall, then winter, and construction continued on.

Construction of the access road, parking lot, lifts, lodge and the pond began in earnest with the influx of capital from shares sold to lifetime pass holders and a guarantee of 50 percent of a $400,000 mortgage loan from the state’s $10 million recreation development fund.

By the time the first snow fell, construction on the lodge and lift huts was still underway and continued well into the spring of 1964. The mountain did open for its first season on January 1, 1964, even though facilities were limited.

Carl “Sonny” Hardwick (1933-2017)

Sonny was the only person who was part of the Francestown ski area from beginning to end. He helped clear the land in the early 1960s, helped build the trails and lifts and worked as a lift attendant among other jobs. And after the ski area closed in 1990, Sonny and his crew tore down the once beautiful ski lodge.

Sonny Hardwick grew up on the Hob & Nob Farm with his dad, Harry Hardwick. Hob & Nob Farm was owned by Sidney Wilmot Winslow Jr., of Brookline, Mass. He was chairman of the board of the Boston Herald-Traveler Corp. and former president and board chairman of the United Shoe Machinery Corp. Hob & Nob Farm, consisting of over 1,000, acres was another one of his ventures that allowed he and his family to escape to the country summers.

Harry Hardwick was his farm manager, taking care of a multitude of prize animals and production of milk and wool through a special breed of cows and sheep introduced by the Winslow’s. The farm also had specialty goats, horses, and different types of fowl, managed by Harry.

Over time, pieces of what used to be the Winslow property became owned by the Hardwick family. One could say that they, more than any other family, populated the base of Crotched Mountain. Sonny became a key instrument for Crotched Mountain Ski Area in the development, construction, as a lift attendant, and year round maintenance manager responsible for all the physical aspects of the facilities and property throughout its lifetime. Along with others, Sonny designed and built many of the grooming utensils.

As Ethel (MacAdams) MacStubbs relates it, “I sat with her (Dot) and Sonny a few years back and heard when Dad brought the maps up and laid them out on top of the well to show Sonny what he wanted to do with the mountain they were looking at and asked if he would be his right hand man and Sonny said, ‘Sure.’ When he told the story, his droll ‘sure’ had a definitive resonance.”

Hardworking he was, rising early and staying late. Sonny didn’t wear a watch. To call him in for lunch, his wife hung a white bedsheet out on the clothesline which he could see from any trail. That was the signal to shut down the mower, climb down and go home for lunch.