NY Times Article: Old abandoned ski area

There's a nice article in todays New York Times: Forgotten trails and Frozen Lifts of Winters Past

It's a nostalgic piece about the hundreds of small local ski areas that were all over the New England landscape and which disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s as the sport became more upscale, and ski resorts became a mega-industry.

It bought back my own memories of the single hill with the rope tow at the local golf course in Wollaston in the 1950s, and the ski area at Big Blue Hill where my father designed the machinery for the lift.

Take a look - and reminisce ...

Thank you, PB, for the link.

I do not ski, but am very aware that our past is a precious part of our present and future.

New England Lost Ski Areas Project is a really great resource. I use it regularly. There are a whopping 4 ski hills within my 15 minutes of my house and that doesn't even count the big landfill.

If you haven't been on it and you like skiing, you should stop what you're doing and check it out.

thanks for the article, PB.
spencer

Gone but not forgotten

If you grew up skiing in New Hampshire, at least a few of the lost ski areas cast a shadow over your teen years... one of my first crushes was the daughter of friends of my parents. Her Dad worked at King Ridge , the 'upside down' ski area just off 89 in New London. One storied morning, she and he picked me up in his Ford Lariat pickup and we got to ski together for an indescribably delightful and completely innocent day of snow and sun.

Somewhere at my Dad's house are the brand-new beige bell-bottom Levi's cords that I ripped from knee to crotch during an ill-fated attempt at night-skiing through the icy bumps at Highlands in Tilton -- which I drive by virtually every day now. Let the record show that neither the Levi's nor the hacking attempt at bump skiing rendered me cool in the eyes of my peers. One of these days I will get there for the mountain biking park... maybe that will do the trick?

Economics have cooled a whole lot of small ski areas over the past two decades, and I personally feel the poorer for it.

A recent casualty in NY is Hickory Hill in Warrensburg. NO snowmaking, no chairlifts, no grooming. Just a steep little bumpy mountain with a tiny lodge with a cool fire pit where everyone just roasted hot dogs on sticks. 4hours skiiing there was like 8hours anywhere else - you skied up on the Poma lift and down on the bumps. Both were a challenge.

Papa Bear said:

It bought back my own memories of the single hill with the rope tow at the local golf course in Wollaston in the 1950s, and the ski area at Big Blue Hill where my father designed the machinery for the lift.

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I don't remember the rope tow at Wollaston Golf Course, but in the early-mid '60s, it was the top destination in the South Shore for tobogganing (which had a vogue in the '60s, when the aluminum ones came in). Best of all was the long slope running north from the "summit," parallel to the SE Expressway, although it ended in dangerous bunkers with trees.

The Blue Hills Ski Area has been touch-and-go, but is alive and well at present. Their budget has always been an issue, so they may still be running your father's machinery.

Glad to see the NY Times article mention the nearby Mt. Whittier area in Ossipee, NH, which is fun to explore. A good friend skied there in the '70s as a member of the race team of Nasson College in Maine - also defunct. NELSAP is terrific - checking some of those places out makes for a great list - those that haven't been developed (and there are still quite a few in northern NE).

Amicus said:

I don't remember the rope tow at Wollaston Golf Course, but in the early-mid '60s, it was the top destination in the South Shore for tobogganing (which had a vogue in the '60s, when the aluminum ones came in). Best of all was the long slope running north from the "summit," parallel to the SE Expressway, although it ended in dangerous bunkers with trees.

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Oops, I should have said the golf course IN Wollaston. It was the Stony Brae Golf Course and the "summit" was the near water tower at the top of Forbes Hill. The "other" golf course (on the Milton line near the Neponset River in Montclair) was named the "Wollaston Golf Course".

See Old Map. "My" golf course is in the lower right of the frame.

Anyway, the ski hill came down roughly parallel to Summit Ave to South Central Ave. There was sledding (I had a "Flexible Flyer") and tobogganing (we had a wooden one) all over the place in every other direction.

And to think that such a small neighborhood are had TWO golf courses. I assume the one in Montclair is under housing long since.

It's nice to know someone else on VFTT has heard of Wollaston.

EDIT I just found the ski area at my golf course on that web site: Heavenly Hill. The name "Heavenly Hill" is obviously a marketing invention, unknown to local residents. They name the Golf Course "Furnace Brook Golf Course". It was alternately called "Stony Brae" and "Forbes Hill" Golf Course.

also on Long Island

Near where I grew up on Long Island there used to be a ski hill with tow rope in Bethpage State Park (mostly known for its golf courses). Its on the NY link from the Lost Ski Areas page.

As kids we used to use the golf course hills for sledding, I wonder if its still allowed. Unfortunately, I didn't try skis until I was in my late 20s and had moved off of the island.

NELSAP is a great project. I've been contributing for almost a decade - there's a heck of a lot of good stuff on there (including some off the beaten path hiking information). I don't think they mentioned it in the article, but there is a White Mountains ski history book in progress...hiked up Whittier (Nickerson Mountain) yesterday getting some photos of the abandoned gondola.

There is a book that tells about the lost ski hills in NJ. It is hard to beilve there were so many around. It is neat to revisite these places and see whats left.

As kids we used to use the golf course hills for sledding, I wonder if its still allowed.

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Yes it is, though after a snowstorm, they will restrict the hills to x-c skiing sometimes.

Another article today in the Globe: Melted away. Much emphasis on ski areas in Massachusetts. Good read!!