By Tom Eastman, Conway Daily Sun Feb. 2, 2010
JACKSON — It was a sellout dancing crowd at Black Mountain’s base lodge Saturday night for the venerable resort’s 75th birthday gala, as the Valley’s Swingtones Big Band played a smooth series of sets that got everyone “In the Mood,” Glenn Miller Orchestra style.
The day’s events included skiing at Black, a dinner, torchlight parade, birthday cake and address by ski historian Ian Scully, who presented a brief overview of Black’s history. Scully is creator of the ski documentary, “Austria’s Influence on American Skiing.” Also featured at Black was the annual N.H. Sanctioned Snow Sculpting.
This year’s 2010 “People’s Choice” was awarded to Greg Grady andStephen Torpazio. First Place was awarded to Jonathan Pullan, StephenPullan and Jay Tremblay, who will be representing New Hampshire at the Nationals in Lake Geneva Wisconsin in 2011. The Pullan brothers — who hail from East Conway — have also won in the past.
TheInvitational first-place winner was awarded to Bryny Urquhart andMolly Urquhart of Maine.
Sunny, affordable and historic, Black Mountain has been a New England tradition since 1935 and, as the marketing director puts it, “continues to walk the very fine line of today and yesterday.” Back when it started, Black was known as Moody’s, as farmer Edwin Moody had his farmhouse which took in some lodgers and a hill behind the house. In 1935, he and local inventor George Morton and Phil Robertson of the local electric company at Goodrich Falls hydro-electric dam put up a tow, and soon skiers were flocking to the place. “Phil [Robertson] needed a day time power customer because they were dealing with hyrdo-electric — that’s part of the story behind the lift at Moody’s. They could not turn off the river, obviously, and it made sense to try and develop a big customer during the day that would counteract the draw they needed for the nighttime when everyone would be turning on their electric lights,” notes Jeff Leich of the New England Ski Museum, who was among the ski luminaries who attended Saturday’s gala.