Okemo Mtn. Patch (Headdress Logo, Blue Border) — c. 1970s-80s

A vintage Okemo Mountain ski patch from Ludlow, Vermont, probably late 1970s or early 80s, featuring the headdress figure in full color over two white snow mounds on a light blue ground. Pointed shield, blue merrowed border, OKEMO MTN. in red across the top. The cleanest of the run.

Listed as a record of what the mountain printed, not as a thing to celebrate. Okemo takes its name from an Abenaki word, and the figure ran on its merchandise into the 1980s before being retired. It is here because removing it from the record does not remove it from the history.

Southern Vermont skiing in its middle years — after the town had built the hill and before the mountain changed hands and started getting serious about snowmaking, lodging and the drive time from Hartford.

Patches from a mountain's middle period are the hardest to date and the easiest to overlook. They are also the ones that show you what a place looked like when it had stopped being small and had not yet decided what it wanted to become.

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