Back to the Lost Ski Areas Discussion....
May 14, 2004
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....I'll be coming down from VT to a wedding in Frederick MD. I understand from the other lost ski area post that there was a ski hill in Frederick? Anything left to see? Directions from Francis Scott Key Mall area?
Also, anyone know anything about College Mountain in Emmitsburg? Apparently the area was partially built, but never operated.
Hope to submit some info to NELSAP.org as they're starting to cover other states.
Thanks!
Hey Vermonter, what's the largest New England ski area to go belly up and never return? Also, did Mittersill ever come back to life next to Cannon?
Thanks.
re: Mittersill, it will supposidly be reopened as part of Cannon in the next few years.
Largest area that has gone belly up and never returned? Hmmm...Whaleback NH, Maple Valley, VT, King Ridge, NH come to mind.
The dead give away to visually locating the defunct Cherokee Ski Area is the power line and metal poles that cross the upper slope. The fact that high tension wires would cross over a ski lift was a major stumbling block to Cherokee getting approval to build slopes and delayed openning which did not help the economic situation.
The Colonel
Hey i was driving in the Linden, Virginia area recently and was looking around for the old Ski Cherokee hill, but didnt see it. Can anyone point me to the location?
To the Vermonter. You're thinking of the The Braddock Inn (Braddock Mtn.), Braddock Heights, MD Alt. 40 out of Frederick west.
I was wandering in the woods next to the restaurant after dinner. and whoa...look up in the trees, there was a cable, some rotting chairs on the ground, and a '65 pickup that appeared to have powered it or a rope tow (?). REAL eerie!!!
Now that's what I remember, but it was a wine-tasting dinner!
Hi Jim, Alpine Lake was/is in Terra Alta WV, maybe 30 minutes west of Oakland MD. Ain't never been there, they tell me its nice.
I am really tempted to put together a ski site that contains lost/ghost resorts in the mid-atlantic area. If others could get me info, pictures, etc I'd gladly do it.
Maybe someone could organize an excursion to Tory Mountain; my idea of hiking is taking a cooler out in the yard, so that leaves me out as to organizing. I'd love to go up there though to look for the statue of Andy.
Between an old 1991 Eastern Ski Map I have and info in this link {http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=topic2596}, which branched from the NELSAP (New England Lost Ski Areas Project) website, I've got a few statistics about larger closed ski areas in New England.
Data is approximate, hard to get definitive facts about closed areas (or even open ones sometimes).
LOST:
Mittersill NH near Cannon Mtn: 1400 feet (or 1500) vertical drop, 24 trails? Rumored to be reopening in the next year or two.
Brodie Mtn MA: 1250' (or 1350) vertical, 24 trls, apparently just closed shop a couple years ago
Mt. Whittier, NH near Waterville Valley: 1200' vertical
Whaleback NH: 700' vertical, 13 trls
Big Tupper NY near Whiteface: 1152' vertical, 24 trls
Alive but struggling:
Crotched Mtn NH (southern): just reopened this past season after long closure, 1000' vertical, 30 trls
Magic Mtn VT: reopened a few years ago after closure in 1990's, 1650' (or 1700) vertical
I'm sure I'm missing lots of other notable closures. Don't believe any mid-Atlantic closures (list below) discussed on earlier DCSki thread rival those in size.
-Cabin Mt in Canaan Valley area of WV (1970?)
-Rappahannock Ski area near Washington, VA (aka Skyland-Skyline, Big Devil) (1972)
-Cherokee at Linden, VA (1992)
-Braddock Heights, MD near Whitetail (1985)
-Afton Mtn, VA near Wintergreen (1975?)
-Alpine Lake, WV near Winterplace? (1980?)
-"ski area in Shenandoah Valley near a caverns" VA (1970?)
If anyone goes to Tory... *please* take pictures.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004 02:58 PM GMT
Montage Mountain Ski Area (PA) For Sale
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania -- Lackawanna County majority commissioners made it official on Monday -- the county-owned ski area is for sale. Prospective buyers have until June 4th to submit bids for the property. FULL STORY
Another "almost-was" ski area, College Mountain, would have been built just west of Emmitsburg, MD, not far from Liberty. As I recall, the owners of Liberty proposed a sister resort on this north facing mountain with 800'+ vertical in the mid-1980's. They couldn't get approval for skiing, so they got a logging permit and cleared several trails in hopes of one day getting the ski plans approved. That wasn't to be, but you can still faintly see the trails on Terra server. Look 1 1/2 miles west-southwest of the center of Emmitsburg on this link:
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=13&x=186&y=2747&z=18&w=1Somewhere I still have a promotional pen advertising College Mountain. I thnk it's with my Tory brochures!