King Ridge, Black Roundel — c. 1960s

A vintage King Ridge ski patch, estimated to date from the 1960s, featuring a red skier sweeping across the base of a yellow crown in one long arc. KING RIDGE arched in yellow over a round black field. The yellow thread is thick enough to stand up off the cloth, and the skier is moving fast enough to leave a wake.

In 1972 King Ridge installed the first triple chairlift in New Hampshire. Three to a chair meant a small hill off I-89 could move a weekend crowd, and King Ridge had one. By about 1970 it was taking weekend reservations because too many people were showing up.

Snow was the problem. There was no snowmaking until an experimental system in 1981–82, and a run of thin winters piled up the debt. Ski areas without snowmaking were betting on the sky, and the sky didn't always pay.

This patch is from before any of that, when the only thing anyone had to worry about was the line.

Embroidered on twill, merrowed edge.Photos are the condition report.