DALLAS PLANTATION – A new digital slide show to be presented at Saddleback Ski Area on Saturday will feature 140 years of skiing in Maine.

“Maine’s skiing history goes back farther than any other New England state,” according to a news release issued by the Farmington-based Ski Museum of Maine “A Mainer wrote America’s first book on skiing. A Maine company built the world’s tallest ski jump and the first chairlift in the East. “

Two Maine manufacturers were leading producers of skis in the mid-20th century, according to Scott Andrews, a Portland-based ski journalist and the museum’s director.

The state can also boast that two dozen Maine skiers have competed or coached at the Olympics and the state has hosted five ski, snowboard and biathlon competitions at the World Championship and World Cup level.

The above are a few facets of a narrated digital slideshow recently produced by the museum titled “Down-Mountain and Cross-Country: 140 Years of Skiing in Maine.” The show includes about 130 photos, some more than 100 years old, will be presented at Saddleback on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Andrews will narrate the show. He assembled the photos and performed much of the research.

“Skiing has been part of the Maine way of life since the late 1800s, offering recreation and competition to both residents and visitors,” Andrews said in a prepared statement. “The museum’s objective is to feed the passion of Maine skiers and to illustrate the significance of our sport to our state’s lifestyle and economy.”