
The Mountain Meisters Race League, which holds its weekly races at Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway, N.H., is the longest and largest-running community ski race league in the United States.
More than 30 teams and 300-400 racers participate each Wednesday throughout the winter schedule, building points throughout the season. This past winter was the league’s 51st.
As the resort likes to note, being a Meister is being a local. It is a badge of honor for residents of Mount Washington Valley to be part of the ski racing community at Cranmore each week.
To celebrate its heritage, Cranmore has released a short film about the Mountain Meisters, chronicling the history of the program from its beginnings in the early ‘70s to present day. According to the Conway Daily Sun, the race was originally called the “Local Yokel” when it was started by then-Cranmore general manager Herbert Schneider and director of skiing Steve Sherlock. When Sherlock left the mountain, he took the Local Yokel name with him. For the past 40 years, the program has been celebrated as Cranmore Mountain Meisters.