A genuine piece of American ski history has finally received the official designation it deserves. The Nansen Ski Jump in New Hampshire has become the newest member on the National Register of Historical Places. Opened in 1938 the ski jump has been a training ground for winter Olympians for generations until it was closed in 1988. A resortation project began in 2015 and is still in process. Make sure to stop by if your in the neighborhood and soak up some ski history:
The Nansen Ski Jump was constructed in 1936-38 by the city of Berlin and the National Youth Administration in cooperation with the Nansen Ski Club. The jump is located just north of the Berlin city line, across from the Nansen Wayside Park. The ski jump has a 171 foot steel frame tower and supports a 310 foot runway.
For almost fifty years this was the largest ski jump in the eastern United States and the foremost jump in the country. Nansen Ski Jump was the site of major championship ski jumping competitions for many decades. In 1938, the first Olympic trials were held at the Nansen Ski Jump and Milan hosted the United States Ski Jumping National Championships in 1940, ‘57, ‘65, ‘72.
The jump was closed in 1988 and over the years this site became overgrown and dilapidated. In November 2011, a historical marker was placed to commemorate this ski jump and now an effort is underway to bring life back to this piece of New Hampshire’s ski jumping history.
The Nansen Ski Jump Restoration Project is currently underway with a goal of restoring the site so visitors can view it as it once was. It started with brush clearing work in 2015 and since then much of the area surrounding the jump and landing area has been cleared in order to restore the landscape. In the summer of 2016 a crew started to rebuild the hillside staircase leading up to the jump and work was done to expose the terraced seating area below the landing. The process of re-decking the jump began in December 2016 and will be completed in January. For project updates visit our Nansen Ski Jump Restoration Project webpage.
