The Most Important Ski Area in America

[guitar73]

so this month powder mag had a very interesting article about local ski hills; the how and why these little bumps are the future of the ski industry. the article focused on mt abenaki, nh and magic mtn, vt.

 

as I was reading through the article I kept feeling that I somehow missed out on the whole "local ski hill" thing.  maybe it's a PA thing, but when I grew up the in the pokes there were no local ski hills around (local ski hill meaning a rope tow, a few trails, dirt cheap lift tix).  the only way I was able to get into skiing was through my high school ski club.  while the ski club made it more affordable, skiing (for me) was expensive, especially when compared to the local ski hill that exists in "true ski country".  also, skiing for me was at time (and still is) a special trip that happened only 6 times a season (obviously I get out more than that now)....but the idea of having a ski hill, just a couple miles down the road, someplace that's affordable so that one can spend many week nites  skiing...that idea just sounds very compelling and inspiring to me.  and I wonder how I would view the sport differently had I grown up with a local ski hill. 

 

thoughts?

 

 

[poconoceancity]

Split rock was my local hill. I wish it was still open. Eagle rock is most comparable to that.

[guitar73]

for the purposes of this article, all of the places just mentioned would not be considered local ski hills b/c of size, number and types of lifts, and cost of lift tix.  magic mtn was included in the article as an example b/c of the whole community-based efforts to keep the slopes open. 

 

the closest thing I can recall was at beech mtn lakes (just north of Hazleton).  they had one lift and two trails, no snowmaking.  we used to go sledding there when I was little.  the mgmt closed up that hill before I hit high school.

Edited October 7, 2014 by guitar73

[trackbiker]

Spring Mountain was it for me. Parents could drop me off and pick me up at the end of the day or night before I could drive. In college I could ski there for $5.00 on Friday nights on my Drexel I.D. Sometimes went to Doe Mountain.

[mbike-ski]

Ski Mountain at Pine Hill (nelsap, now a trump golf course) was it for me, I think Tuesday night ski club tix were $7. We had school trips to the big mountains in the poconos - big boulder and jack frost! lol

[Schif]

I do know that the majority of the people I skied with in middle school and high school are no longer skiers. Some of them put most of their money into homes and their families and don't have the money. Some who are now mid 30s still owe college loans but most are just pretty inactive and take their vacations to places like Disney world.

 

I've seen this trend too. I used to have a pretty large pool of friends to call up to go to the mountain, or in the summer to go golfing. Both of those groups have dwindled to maybe one or two. 

[Johnny Law]

Did anyone have ski club in jr and high school ?

 

A dude a couple years older than me conned his mom into creating a ski club in the Exeter school district that was probably the closest thing we had to a town hill. A town hill is a state of mind rather than a place, a community thats connected by skiing.

 

His mom was weird, she fed all the raccoons behind her house and had two separate rabies scares but it actually worked out because she was a terrible club leader so everyone just did what they wanted. Every trip more than a couple kids broke something and one kid went four consecutive years breaking his collar bone on the first night.

 

We started at Doe and them moved on to Blue during highschool, it was essentially the same kids the entire time and sometime in highschool he convinced his mom to do a VT trip. We got loaded on super cheap Vodka which is awesome when your 15 and the second year I hooked up with this insane but super slutty chick from Central Catholic. I got her on the upswing when she was just discovering that she was a whore so crabs averted.

 

After the two years of complete mayhem the club VT trip was abandoned due the actions of myself and others yet those trips are some of my favorite memories from that time in life. Young, dumb and untouchable, we did endless retard teenage boy shit with zero consequences.

 

The blue crew has kinda a town hill thing going on except were too spread out, though the core if you will all lives pretty close.

 

Town hill kinda doesn't work in PA because alot of the time if your that serious about skiing you move.

[trackbiker]

Here's a link to great film about community ski areas in case you haven't seen it.

United We Ski  http://www.t-barfilms.com/projects

Can't beat it for only $10.00

[moe ghoul]

OT: I occasionally watch RetroTV early in the morning and this morning there was an infomercial for SilverStar Ski resort in Canada. it's the first time I saw an infomercial like that and it's strange that it was on the RetroTV channel.

Edited October 7, 2014 by moe ghoul

[Ride Delaware ?]

Whatever happened to the Split Rock lift? I remember I went there my Sophomore year of high school and they had operated the season before, but not that season, and they didn't know what the future of the equipment was going to be.

[RidgeRacer]

Well when kids are young and their parents are paying its a different story...look at ThinkSnow Greg he didn't want to spend $30 on gas to blue but goes to eagles games which cost way more.

Good point.

 

When you get older and have kids it's about priorities. Most of us have big boy or big girl jobs then when we get home we have to take care of our kids which is another full time job leaving us to pick and choose which hobbies to partake in since time /money is limited. For some that may be Eagles games. For others like me it's skiing. I mean how many people on this board have kids? I would say a good 8 or 9 out of the 12 of us who post. ;-)

 

Regarding local hills, I have the good fortune of living in a county with three ski areas. My home or local hill was jfbb but is now blue. When I can pull over on my commute home from work and ski 1100 vertical feet for an hour or two then continue on my ride home, it doesn't get any more local ski hilly than that. I bitch about being stuck here sometimes but in reality I'm pretty fortunate.

[guitar73]

Town hill kinda doesn't work in PA because alot of the time if your that serious about skiing you move.

 

truth.

 

I suppose our southern climate doesn't help that much either. also, most of us live in a fairly urban setting (when compared to the north country)...so there are lots of choices for what to do during the winter months for those who do not ski. 

 

a lot of the PA hills are trying to market themselves as destination resorts (and charge accordingly) as opposed to local ski hill (except maybe places like eagle rock, spring mtn, etc.)....so I def wouldn't consider bear creek, jfbb, et al as local ski hill...even if those were in my back yard. 

 

JL I think hit it on the head (at least for me): community, it's all about community.  so, maybe PASR is my "local ski hill"...lol.

[trackbiker]

Whatever happened to the Split Rock lift? I remember I went there my Sophomore year of high school and they had operated the season before, but not that season, and they didn't know what the future of the equipment was going to be.

It was sold to Mt. Peter, NY. It had the double-double towers but only  one double on one side was ever installed.

[poconoceancity]

I think most people who ski their whole life and then quit the second they have kids do so because of the pain in the ass it is. I've been putting in a shit load of time on the hill getting my girls to love the sport that I grew up loving. It's not fun most of the time and we spend more on ski season then the average American makes in 6 months. In the end it will totally be worth it or so I'm told.

[moe ghoul]

I can't see how you can have small local hills without snow making on this side of the state. Maybe up around Erie or Pittsburgh, but not in the Pokes.

[Justo8484]

Mt mik is my local hill

[toast21602]

Mt mik is my local hill

 

Lies. You're not a member there. Members only.

[guitar73]

Lies. You're not a member there. Members only.

 

you add any snowmaking yet? 

[RootDKJ]

Mt mik is my local hill

#MountMik, get it right 8484. See my profile if you're still confused.

[RootDKJ]

Does it really fucking matter. Why not Toast Hill!!!!

Yes, it fucking matters.

[skifreak]

Apple Hill in Orefield used to be a nice small local hill...or so I'm told. It closed before I was born.

[toast21602]

Apple Hill in Orefield used to be a nice small local hill...or so I'm told. It closed before I was born.

Heard the same. Wasn't it Apply Valley? Not that it matters... My dad went there a few times but learned to ski in the Navy at some playboy ski hill in Michigan maybe?

[rjspeerjr]

I grew up near two small ski areas in the Lehigh Valley, does anybody remember Apple HIll, in Foglesville, and Big Valley/Hahn Mountain, in Lenhartsville? I think they both went bust a long time ago. These places cost around $10 for a night of skiing in the 70's- still expensive when you consider that a day pass at Stowe was around $35. I skied at night at the tiny places, ans sometimes during the weekday, so I could get home at the same time I usually got hoe from school, then skied at CB on the weekends. CB was crowded even back then, but the more challenging runs there made the additional cost and drive time worth it. Still, the ice, and rocks on the Rocket at CB were nothing compared to the majesty of Northern Vermont!

 

EVERYTHING is more expensive now, and almost everybody I know has had to move from place to place to service their career. We don't always have the option of living in ski country, and we can't force our kids to ski if they don't like the cold or the pain of falling, etc. (I think you have to be a bit of a masochistic thrill seeker to learn to ski.), so we begin to develop other habits. That's what I did. I moved down south and never considered southern skiing, until a guy I worked with kept on nagging me to go with him to Wintergreen, Va. I was surprised to see so much snow on the slopes! I put the skis on and after the first ten yards of gliding I felt like I was back home again! No skiing for 25 years- What was I thinking? My skiing addiction had been rekindled, and that weekend I bought some some equipment and began getting out there as much as I could, skiing for free as a Ski Bus Captain.

 

Anyway, I moved back to Pennsylvania, and I'm ready to put more time on the slopes. Not sure how I'm going to be able to afford it though. It's not so easy to fool the left attendants these days, and sneak on the lift line like I used to when I was in HS. I thought of running some ski bus trips, but that market's not so great where I live in Lewisburg. Maybe I'll have to join the Ski Patrol some place.

 

I'm ready for somne advice...I'm wondering where I should consider my home Ski area, living where I live. I don't think Jack Frost is worth the money for the ticket, nor is Camelback. There's Sawmill an hour away. Cheap but nothing advanced, except for the park, and I'm pretty old for trick skiing. Do they have moguls/decent snow? There's Denton 2 hours away. Cheap, and I hear it's pretty decent for 600 ft vertical. Then there's Elk, 2 hours, but significantly more expensive than Denton, and Blue, which is supposed to be really nice, but crowded on weekends. And then there's the carpooling thing. I hope there are some avid skiers in the Lewisburg area who want to carpool, 'cause it just ain't the same when you're alone.

[toast21602]

TTC6

[GSSucks]

Lies. You're not a member there. Members only.

 

Thanks for the reminder, I have to send in my membership renewal