“World’s Largest Ski Pole” Back In Place

What’s affectionately known as “The World’s Largest Ski Pole” has been reinstalled following its latest refurbishment in the New Hampshire ski town of North Conway.

The 70 year old pole, which measures 18 feet, 9 inches (5.7 metres) high, was created next to the Carroll Reed Ski Shop which opened in 1938 and quickly gained a reputation for its high quality goods and services.

The sign, located at what’s now a new eating and drinking development called Norcross Place, has been restored by Berry Companies with the help of local historians. Carroll Reed's name has been replaced by the new business.

The pole itself was originally created in the mid-1950s and was last restored in 2019 after it was blown over during a severe storm in the region.

Carroll Reed, the original shop’s owner and the man responsible for the pole's creation, was a pioneer of winter sports in the Mt. Washington Valley and New England, also running the area’s first ski school at the local Cranmore ski area.

That school was later run by the legendary Hannes Schneider, the man from the Arlberg credited with developing the downhill skiing technique we still use today, when he arrived in Cranmore from Austria in 1939, fleeing the Nazi regime.

The restored pole and basket of the pole are still the original from the ski shop but a new base and “shield” have had to be created, staying true to the original thanks to careful study of historic photos.