NORTH CONWAY — A ski industry legend and important community figure has died at the age of 92.

Herbert Schneider, who arrived with his family from Austria as a 15-year-old in 1939, has left his beloved slopes and trails after a lifetime of devotion to skiing and his community in the Eastern Slopes Region of the White Mountains.

His father, Hannes Schneider, brought skiing and teaching skills to the region when North Conway native and New York City financier Harvey Gibson arranged his escape to the United States, and was a founding father of the modern ski industry. A bronze statue of the elder Schneider sits in front of the base lodge at Cranmore Mountain Resort.

Schneider is credited with carrying on his father's legacy.

“He was always very helpful to any of the ski historians,” Jeffrey Leich, director of the New England Ski Museum said. Herbert, he added, served in World War II with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy, and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Leich said Schneider was not only a link to his father and the history of skiing, but was a man of accomplishment in his own right, particularly as a resident of North Conway.

“Herbert could have gone anywhere in the country,” he noted. Instead, he ran Cranmore and was a major employer in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

He had the vision, Leich continued, to put in snowmaking equipment before most other ski areas had. Schneider, Leich said, was one of the owners of Cranmore from about 1963 to 1984.

He was well-known and liked in the ski industry, and was active in the Professional Ski Instructors of America and ski resort trade association.

“Cranmore was a big economic engine,” Leich said. But it was more than that to Schneider. “He ran it with heart.”

Schneider was also active in community affairs, and for years was a familiar voice on the North Conway Rotary's annual radio auction, his Austrian heritage still apparent in his words.

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Sara Young-Knox may be reached at syoungknox@newstote.com.