Poster

Object Name:

Poster

Object ID:

2026.008.01

Creator:

Maurer, Sascha (1897-1961) -- Artist

Place of Origin:

North Conway, NH

Date:

1940-1949

Description:

Poster. Ski poster by Sascha Maurer (1897-1961), "Hannes Schneider Ski School, North Conway, New Hampshire," lithograph on paper, c. 1940s.

Material:

paper
ink

Dimensions:

H-24 W-17.375 inches

Provenance:

Hannes Schneider (1890-1955) was born in Austria and began teaching skiing in 1907. He became a celebrated instructor at the resort of St. Anton am Arlberg, with a number of his assistants coming to the United States in the 1930s to teach his "Arlberg technique." Carroll Reed opened the Eastern Slope Ski School in North Conway in December 1936 as the first American branch of Schneider's ski school, with Schneider protégé Benno Rybizka leading the instructors. Rybizka authored The Hannes Schneider Ski Technique in 1938. That same year Nazis arrested and imprisoned Schneider for his political opposition, but intense lobbying from the United States, especially by New York banker Harvey Gibson, got him released. Schneider arrived in North Conway with his family on February 11, 1939 at the invitation of Gibson. A North Conway native, Gibson owned the Eastern Slope Inn and contracted with Schneider to re-establish his ski school there. At the same time Gibson was one of the developers of Cranmore Mountain as a ski resort, with the novel Skimobile opening in 1938 to ferry skiers up the mountain. In February Schneider was quickly elected president of the Eastern Slope Ski School and it was renamed after him. Schneider operated his iconic school until his death in 1955.

Credit Line:

Gift of William W. Upton

People:

Schneider, Johann "Hannes" (1890-1955), Maurer, Sascha (1897-1961)

Subjects:

Ski, Ski lifts, Skiers, Skiing