Amos Winter skis the snowfields on Sugarloaf around 1952. (ski Museum of Maine photo) KINGFIELD — The Ski Museum of Maine will offer a free “Fireside Chat” on this state’s rich skiing heritage Wednesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. at the Herbert Hotel.

This 50-minute digital slideshow is produced and presented by Ski Museum of Maine, which is also located in Kingfield. It is titled, “Down-Mountain and Cross-Country: 140 Years of Skiing in Maine,” and is one of a series of digital slideshows.

Approximately 130 photos and other graphic images, some more than a century old, were converted to digital slides for the “Fireside Chat.” The narrator will be Scott Andrews, a Portland-based ski journalist and museum director who assembled the photos and performed much of the research. Andrews has been a snow sports journalist for 23 years and is a writer for several magazines, including “Skiing Heritage.”

“Skiing has been part of the Maine way of life since the late 1800s, offering recreation and competition to both residents and visitors,” says Andrews. “Our 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.”

Fireside Chats are traveling outreach programs of the Ski Museum of Maine, a nonprofit organization located on Main Street in Kingfield. There is no charge for the program, but donations are gratefully accepted.

“Down-Mountain and Cross-Country: 140 Years of Skiing in Maine” is sponsored by the Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Club and the Ski Maine Association.

Another Chat in the series, titled “Made in Maine,” will be shown on April 8 in Wilton.

For more information, call the Ski Museum of Maine at 491-5481.