Settled in 1765, by 1788 Woodstock was the county seat of Windsor County. The first inn, Richardson's Tavern, was built in 1792 on the current site of the Woodstock Inn and Resort. Woodstock grew into a summer destination in the 1830s when rail travel made it possible for travelers to come from New York. In 1892, Arthur Wilde (photo right) founded the Woodstock Inn to serve the tourism/recreation industry. Beginning in 1910, he operated a winter sports center at Woodstock Country Club and in 1912 added a jumping to the offerings, which included a toboggan run, sledding, snowshoeing, and skiing facilities.

Woodstock village has an elevation of 700 feet with hills rising to 2000 feet. With good terrain, an influx of people and more amenities, it is not surprising that ski enthusiasts pushed for more. Douglas Burden, Tom Gammack, and Barlie Henry each gave $75 to finance Bob and Betty Royce, owners of the White Cupboard Inn, building a rope tow. David Dodd of Newbury VT helps by getting the wheels, Model T and Montgomery Ward tractor. The Royces built the tow for $500 and leased the land on Clint Gilbert's farm for $10. It opened on January 23, 1934. The Royces brought Fritz Steuri to instruct and later hired Bob Bourdon, the first rider of their tow, and Don Eaton to run a ski school.

Bunny Bertram worked at the White Cupboard Ski Way in1934. In 1935, in The Ski Bulletin he wrote of the tow: "Our present rig, consisting of a10hp three phase motor and a countershaft with a large pulley for reduction and a smaller pulley for the drive, all mounted on a truck chassis, worked very well this past winter but it is still open for improvement. The hill is 1050 feet long with a vertical drop of 325 feet. The steepest grade is 46 degrees. The rope is 2100 feet long 7/8 diameter. It should be larger. It travels 9 mph. Many days it went over 81 miles."

To improve it, he suggested running the lift with electric power. He took his idea for an electric tow to Mrs. Harvey Fisk, a New York refugee from the Depression and supporter of winter sports, and together they opened the Gully Ski Tow, complete with a lodge designed by architect Amory Williams, for the 1935 winter.

In 1937, Bertram opened Suicide Six on the other side of the hill from the Gully. At this point, Woodstock was a hub for New England skiing. Seven tows were in operation in January 1937 and James W. Littlejohn, Woodstock's winter sports program director, had plans to promote week-long visits. With professional Austrian ski instructor Sig Buckmayr in town and a variety of ski areas, Woodstock appealed to the growing number of skiers.

While working with Mrs. Fisk on the Gully, Bunny Bertram bought 30 acres of Perry's Pasture on the other side of the hill for $3 an acre. He spent $500 for the rest, and he made up cost by selling lumber.

Bertram set up a rope tow and opened for the 1937 season.

A strong relationship with Dartmouth College strengthened Suicide Six's reputation for racing. Under Bertram's initiative, Woodstock was marketing itself with Lebanon, NH, White River Junction, Orford, and Lyme in 1937. Dartmouth skiers came to train at Suicide Six in the 1940s and 1950s until the Dartmouth Skiway was built.

With the conclusion of World War II and a return of prosperity to Americans, skiing's popularity soared. Bertram responded to the growing numbers by installing the first poma lift in North America. POMA, a French company owned by Jean Pomagalski, was introduced to Bertram by a French ski instructor employed at Suicide Six. Bertram officially broke ground on November 5, 1953.

Bertram also had to create a parking lot to accommodate construction on the lift and also more skiers. He funded the project by selling bonds to friends. Up until this point, Bertram had maintained the mountain with relatively low overhead. There was no grooming equipment - he borrowed a Tucker Sno Cat from Pico or he gave free passes to anyone who helped boot pack the trail. After a few lean snow years and debt from the poma, Bertram needed to make a hard decision.

In 1933 Laurance Rockefeller married a local Woodstock girl Mary Billings French. His fondness for the town grew, and he responded to a need to support it when Bertram ran into trouble after overextending himself with the installation of the new Poma. In 1961, Rockefeller purchased Suicide Six. Rockefeller owned a series of destination resorts called RockResorts, and Woodstock fit with his portfolio. He purchased the Woodstock Inn in 1967, and already owned the golf course when he purchased Suicide Six. He hired Claude Gaudin, a French mountaineer working in Canada, as the Mountain Manager.

At this point, the ownership and maintenance of Suicide Six and Mt. Tom came under one entity, and capital improvements made. In 1966, the company invested in trail expansion at both areas. In 1970, the Woodstock Ski Touring Center opened. By 1977/78, Woodstock in has 45 miles of trails under the direction of John Wiggin who is a member of Eastern Professional Ski Touring Instructors and graduate of the Yale School of Forestry.

In 1978, RockResorts funded a $1 million expansion at Suicide Six - new base lodge, a new 1650 foot double chair to replace the poma and to increase capacity to 3000 skiers/hour, more snowmaking, refurbished parking lot, expansion to 17 trails, and expanded touring. This expansion made Suicide Six a more family friendly mountain with more intermediate trails and a learner's area. As a result, the Resort closed Mt. Tom and focused its energy on Suicide Six.

The size and shape of Suicide Six have not changed much, but the lift prices have. Bunny Bertram sold rides up the rope tow for 25 cents. In 1972, prior to the renovations, a single ride cost 75 cents and an all day ticket $4.75. In 1982, an adult lift ticket was $12.75. Today a weekend full day adult ticket is $55, still a bargain!