State skiing is detailed in new book.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Shaun SUTNER

COLUMN: SNOW SPORTS

Cal Conniff is a living repository of the history of Massachusetts skiing.

Now he has put all his knowledge and archival expertise into a marvelous book of photographs and text that chronicles the early, pioneering days of Bay State ski areas.

Co-authored with E. John B. Allen, an academic historian in New Hampshire, "Skiing in Massachusetts" was published in November by South Carolina-based Arcardia Publishing.

At $19.99, the book is available at bookstores, ski areas, online booksellers or from www.arcadiapublishing.com. Conniff and Allen are donating all royalties to the New England Ski Museum in Franconia, N.H., of which Conniff is a director.

The 127-page volume is a handsome compendium of period black-and-white photos, posters and newspaper ads - with accompanying witty and informative captions. It serves as a sort of pop culture guide to the style, equipment and business of the sport.

The book documents the progression of skiing here in the early 20th century from the pre-rope tow era of wooded trails and golf courses to the modern age of advanced lifts, snowmaking and comfortable base lodges.

One photo, of Mary Robbins, the 1932 Snow Queen of the Pittsfield Winter Carnival, shows the smiling queen in her matching fuzzy white earmuffs and gloves.

The caption reads: "Look carefully at her skis. These have steel edges attached with screws. Carnival Queens and Snow Train Queens were typical 1930s entertainment. Democratic and Republican America loved its make-believe royalty."

For Conniff, 77, of Longmeadow, researching the book took three years of sleuth-like sifting through materials at museums, historical societies, and the clip "morgues" of local hill town newspapers in Western Massachusetts.

"What prompted me to do this project is that Massachusetts had a very significant role in the history of skiing, a leading role," said Conniff, who managed the former Mt. Tom ski area in Holyoke for 14 years. "It's a fun book to read. It dramatically shows the early days of the sport."

Conniff looks at Clarence "Clare" Bousquet, a former mink farmer and pilot who in 1932 founded the Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, as the father of Massachusetts skiing. The area is still going strong, by the way.

"Bousquet was like Vail, Aspen and Sun Valley all wrapped into one, because those other ski areas didn't exist," Conniff said. "The Berkshire hills were the big attraction."

Conniff, who was born and brought up...