Skiing Champ Bode Miller Buys the FarmFranconia, NH – Reigning World Skiing Champion Bode Miller, in a foundation set up by him, purchased the Ski Hearth Farm in Sugar Hill, NH. Turtle Ridge Farm, LLC is the name of the foundation and will be operated by members of his family and according to local press reports they will promote organic farming. The 630-acre farm was for decades owned by Sel & Paulie Hannah. The late Mr. Hannah developed many of the early trails at Cannon Mountain Ski Area, where Miller was a "mountain rat" in the 1980s. The Hannah’s oldest daughter, Joan Hannah, represented the United States in the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the giant slalom event at the 1962 World Championships.
Miller is the overall World Cup Champion, and will compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics next month.
The Ski Hearth Farm was listed and sold by Peabody & Smith Realty in Franconia, NH, member of the Board of Regents. The farm encompasses large acreage, a roomy farmhouse with apartment wing, 11 outbuilding and much more including a well-defined conservation easement to the Society for the Protection of NH Forests.