Lost Ski Area: Tour of Blue Marsh Ski Area, formerly North Heidelberg Ski Club

[EdBacon]

Hey all,

I've recently started a project to document and tour as many local lost ski areas as I can. I've always been fascinated by, and love learning about local ski history, so its been a fun past time and I like the idea of preserving something of these areas which may not be with us much longer.

If anyone has any memories to share, or info feel free to drop me a message. And corrections are welcome as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvDb_u205GU&t=1s

[theprogram4]

Hell yea!  i was literally looking at blue marsh a few days ago.  my second day of snowboarding ever was there.  here is what i wrote about it in the running thread:

 

 

 

Edit: my description was for another pic toast took, not for the trail map shown

Edited March 9, 2020 by theprogram4

[JFskiDan]

Awesome video.  i actually watched it sometime over the weekend.  

[PSUFrankenstein]

Yeah I used to ride there when I was in middle school.  Did anyone give you shit about going there or did you have to get permission to check it out?

[theprogram4]

a very obscure old hill is the honey brook ski hill in chester county.  ive only been able to find 2 physical pieces to prove it existed...a sign at the old Wick's ski shop in Exton (now Buckmans) and this patch: http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=94

years ago i remember reading it was across from Tel Hai retirment home on Beaver Dam Road.  i havent been able to find this link, but I found a brochure from Tel Hai where a resident is quoted as taking her childeren there (page 8): https://www.telhai.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TelHaiLifeFall2015_Final.pdf

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tel+Hai+Retirement+Community/@40.0609224,-75.8916525,15.99z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c65d24cb0a1891:0x1d67a4a2d77b4fde!8m2!3d40.0624198!4d-75.8865127  (at tel hai camp maybe?)

Edited March 9, 2020 by theprogram4

[EdBacon]

6 minutes ago, PSUFly said:

Yeah I used to ride there when I was in middle school.  Did anyone give you shit about going there or did you have to get permission to check it out?

Nobody seemed to mind. It is private property, but there's a public trail along the side of the area by the lake. You can pretty easily just walk over onto the old ski slopes. 

 

18 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

Hell yea!  i was literally looking at blue marsh a few days ago.  my second day of snowboarding ever was there.  here is what i wrote about it in the running thread:

 

 

 

Edit: my description was for another pic toast took, not for the trail map shown

 

I never actually got to snowboard there. I did go snowtubing there back in the 90s. Our cub scout troop used to do trips, my memories of the place are pretty hazy. We only ever went to the medium tubing park, we never got to try the big one. I do remember the ambulances though! 

I was actually wondering, since the t-bar didn't seem to run much in the later days, how did you access the "advanced" terrain from the triple lift if the t-bar wasn't running?

[theprogram4]

1 minute ago, EdBacon said:

Nobody seemed to mind. It is private property, but there's a public trail along the side of the area by the lake. You can pretty easily just walk over onto the old ski slopes. 

 

 

I never actually got to snowboard there. I did go snowtubing there back in the 90s. Our cub scout troop used to do trips, my memories of the place are pretty hazy. We only ever went to the medium tubing park, we never got to try the big one. I do remember the ambulances though! 

I was actually wondering, since the t-bar didn't seem to run much in the later days, how did you access the "advanced" terrain from the triple lift if the t-bar wasn't running?

if i remember correctly, the triple lift went all the way to the top near the t bar, i think the trail map is a little deceiving

[PSUFrankenstein]

I was just reading through some of the other lost/abandoned ski areas on dcski.  pretty cool stuff.  There's a bunch in Colorado that I was reading about last year when I was out there.  There was one in Steamboat called Stagecoach that was supposed to re-open, but I don't think anything ever got finalized.  My friend said a lot of people used to hike it and ski, but I doubt they would get much business if they re-opened 

[EdBacon]

1 hour ago, theprogram4 said:

if i remember correctly, the triple lift went all the way to the top near the t bar, i think the trail map is a little deceiving

Yeah I noticed they were very close together at the top. I guess you couldn't ski the whole top to bottom t-bar line, you had to cut over towards the triple then.

I also don't know who ever bought the lifts. The t-bar I imagine was scrapped. The triple is probably having a second life somewhere, I'm not sure where though.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Good stuff ed bacon. You should come to blue this weekend. 

[theprogram4]

@EdBacon there was Chadd's peak right off RT 1 on the Delaware county/chester county border.  good amount of info online about it, and some youtube vids

[pcklein31]

Never made it Blue Marsh, but I remember passing as we went to our childhood cabin... Amazing how many little hills used to be around.

...Not to de-rail the thread but to lost(not really ever found) ski resort was the resort that was planned near Tunkhannock, but never came to fruition.  It appeared to have a lot of potential... Too bad

http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=62

 

[RidgeRacer]

Never made it Blue Marsh, but I remember passing as we went to our childhood cabin... Amazing how many little hills used to be around.
...Not to de-rail the thread but to lost(not really ever found) ski resort was the resort that was planned near Tunkhannock, but never came to fruition.  It appeared to have a lot of potential... Too bad
http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=62
 

This is a major bummer...that would've been a legit area.

[theprogram4]

13 hours ago, pcklein31 said:

Never made it Blue Marsh, but I remember passing as we went to our childhood cabin... Amazing how many little hills used to be around.

...Not to de-rail the thread but to lost(not really ever found) ski resort was the resort that was planned near Tunkhannock, but never came to fruition.  It appeared to have a lot of potential... Too bad

http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=62

 

damn that would have been like 1600 vert

[EdBacon]

22 hours ago, pcklein31 said:

Never made it Blue Marsh, but I remember passing as we went to our childhood cabin... Amazing how many little hills used to be around.

...Not to de-rail the thread but to lost(not really ever found) ski resort was the resort that was planned near Tunkhannock, but never came to fruition.  It appeared to have a lot of potential... Too bad

http://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=62

 

Heard of the story of that place. It is a major bummer for sure. 

There was another attempt at a major PA mountain out between Harrisburg and Johnstown, I think. It was called Sno Peak or Sno Park or something like that. It was open for like 3 years in the 80s or early 90s and was only half built, but would have had like 1300 feet of vertical. 

[Schif]

Question:

Do you think we've seen the end of brand new resorts in the US? 

 

I think yes we have but would love to get the opinions of others. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

3 minutes ago, Schif said:

Question:

Do you think we've seen the end of brand new resorts in the US? 

 

I think yes we have but would love to get the opinions of others. 

Steamboat is expanding their terrain and Abasin did a big terrain expansion last year.  There are some proposed ski resorts in British Colombia not the USA but North America.  These multi resort passes like the Ikon and EpicPass are breathing new life into the ski industry. 

[trackbiker]

Just now, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

  These multi resort passes like the Ikon and EpicPass are breathing new life into the ski industry. 

Not really. They're just consolidating people at the larger resorts and hurting the independent areas.

[Schif]

29 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Steamboat is expanding their terrain and Abasin did a big terrain expansion last year.  There are some proposed ski resorts in British Colombia not the USA but North America.  These multi resort passes like the Ikon and EpicPass are breathing new life into the ski industry. 

I was referencing brand new resorts. I think we will always see current places expand, how fast or slow is debatable, but I don't see anyone forming a brand new company, buying/leasing land, building lodges, building infrastructure and cutting trees and trails. 

[skiincy]

@EdBacon I love documentaries and snow. Curious what you come up with.  

Have you seen this one about Monarch Mountain? https://www.pbs.org/video/monarch-mountain-gmj3ww/

 

[theprogram4]

5 hours ago, Schif said:

I was referencing brand new resorts. I think we will always see current places expand, how fast or slow is debatable, but I don't see anyone forming a brand new company, buying/leasing land, building lodges, building infrastructure and cutting trees and trails. 

I think tamarack Idaho was opened in the early 2000s but only at like 1/3 of the original plans

[EdBacon]

Interesting fact: last area opened on the east coast that wasn't a reopening of a formerly closed area was Whitetail, in 1991.

Anyways, I decided to keep up this project. Here is lost area #2: Belle Mountain outsider Lambertville, NJ.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, EdBacon said:

Interesting fact: last area opened on the east coast that wasn't a reopening of a formerly closed area was Whitetail, in 1991.

Anyways, I decided to keep up this project. Here is lost area #2: Belle Mountain outsider Lambertville, NJ.

 

That was radical. 

[EdBacon]

I've got another place lined up. Only 70s kids will remember it though.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

25 minutes ago, EdBacon said:

I've got another place lined up. Only 70s kids will remember it though.

Apple hill?