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HB Shakespeare

Booting up
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Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Posts
33
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Fremont. Nebraska is an interesting state. It has a lot of land; almost all of the land is private; and it has a small population.

I remember driving west through Nebraska as a kid on my way to Aspen Snowmass with my family in the winter of 1974. We were coming from Minnesota and hit I-80 west of Omaha, I think. My aunt Mary knows the exact route. I still remember when the Rocky Mountains first came into view somewhere between Sterling and Fort Morgan. It was cool.

Nebraska. I’ll bet the Scandinavians logging in Meadville back in the 1800s had a few ski runs down the bluffs along the Niobrara. They probably took a horse-drawn wagon up and then schussboom.

This would be enjoyable if in fact the runs existed and remnants of them still exist. Climb up the bluffs after a 20-inch snowfall with your metal-edged XC skis or your randonee set up and ski down to Plum Creek.

Meadville Bluffs. Lines and vertical as good as Giants Ridge.​
 

pete

not peace but 2 Beers!
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Nov 14, 2015
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2,543
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Iowa
For anyone whose interested in lost ski areas and in Front Range area, you should come see the premier of Abandoned with me at the Oriental theater on Oct 22nd. It is story of some lost ski areas in CO and all proceeds go to support Friends of Berthoud Pass (FOBP) -- a lost ski area now popular for backcountry skiing.

http://www.theorientaltheater.com/event/322642/Abandoned-ski-documentary-and-QA


looks like it could be pretty nice flick. Hopefully on line some time.

did pick up the book "Powder Ghost Towns" (ISBN 978-0-89997-466-8) noted earlier, nice read.
 

4aprice

Out on the slopes
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Apr 2, 2018
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975
Location
Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Granby Co
Within my area of NEPA (Lake Wallenpaupack) I know of two “lost” ski areas:

-Tanglewood Ski Area (Hawley, PA)
-Alpine Mountain (Canadensis, PA)

I never skied at either when open.....

There was an area off the north shore of the lake in Hawley called Poco North, closed mid 70's.


The one in Virginia I did ski Patrol at has been gone for 25 years.
I bagged any patrol stuff when it died.

Skyline/Big Devil/Rapahannock

Rapahannock was at one time owned by the owners of Camelback PA.
 

BC.

NEPA ShopRat/Skier
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Aug 27, 2017
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2,035
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Lake Wallenpaupack, PA
There was an area off the north shore of the lake in Hawley called Poco North, closed mid 70's.


Thanks...just Googled it.....pretty cool. I have lived up here for 20 years, I had no idea. Thanks for the info. on PocoNorth.
 

mister moose

Instigator
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Joined
May 30, 2017
Posts
659
Location
Killington
I hear Brody (spelling??) in western Mass was a good time and the snow being turned green on St. Patty's day just made the day sound like a blast. It's now a summer resort with no more skiing; much sadness.
I'm a Brodie alum also, probably skied there at least 25 times. Lots of night skiing, they had some of the best night skiing in the day. They had an eclectic collection of lights, rose high pressure sodium, blueish mercury vapor, and yellow white incandescent. The slopes were multi colored.

I also skied the first year of Satan's Ridge, which became Ski Sundown in CT. Hogback, the upside down area on Rte 9 in southern VT. They had a view from NY to NH from their lodge. I also remember Northfield, MA, a large wooden hotel/resort that had sledding, skiing, and a ice track, launch from a tower, steep ramp toboggan run. That was our favorite. It since burned, as a lot of those old wooden hotels have done.
 

New2

Out on the slopes
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May 3, 2017
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728
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Spokane
In this blog post, Mike Krongel describes "a closed ski resort an hour from a major population center, with a population that skis..." "the second closest ski area to the population center, has way more elevation and acreage than any ski area requires, receives early snow fall in adequate amount..." "over three thousand acres of terrain..." and "skis 360 degrees." What's he talking about?

Ski Rio or The Balsams are the best fits I can come up with. But you have to drive pretty fast to get from Rio to Alamosa in an hour, and it seems a stretch to consider Coaticook a "major population center," though I don't know what else would fit the criteria near The Balsams. And it seems like a stretch to say that either's existing ski terrain "skis 360 degrees," though this might be a reference to future plans. Anyone else have an idea of what lost ski area he might be discussing? Maybe some place outside the US?
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
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Oct 26, 2016
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4,806
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Whitefish, MT
Last edited:

Posaune

sliding
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Mar 26, 2016
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1,914
Location
Bellingham, WA
mtpilchuck.jpe

Just east of Everett, WA was Mt. Pilchuck Ski Area. Two lifts and terrain similar to Mt. Baker, but less of it. Went out of business in 1980. My first really good powder day was at Pilchuck. We were one of about 20 cars that got through before a muscle car slid into the bank on the very windy and steep, snow covered road and blocked all traffic for a couple of hours. We had the slope almost to ourselves with sunny skies and 8-10" of real powder. The light went on for me that day.
 

slowrider

Trencher
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Dec 17, 2015
Posts
4,534
View attachment 55553
Just east of Everett, WA was Mt. Pilchuck Ski Area. Two lifts and terrain similar to Mt. Baker, but less of it. Went out of business in 1980. My first really good powder day was at Pilchuck. We were one of about 20 cars that got through before a muscle car slid into the bank on the very windy and steep, snow covered road and blocked all traffic for a couple of hours. We had the slope almost to ourselves with sunny skies and 8-10" of real powder. The light went on for me that day.
Pilchuck family? Construction companies.
 

Dave Petersen

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Believe it or not this is Nebraska. Wanted to ski it as a kid but it didn't stay open too long.

upload_2018-10-12_13-8-47.png
 

sjjohnston

Putting on skis
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Joined
Mar 26, 2018
Posts
44
Not sure what this refers to, but Mt. Pilchuck itself is a prominent mountain in the Cascades that is quite visible from the northern Seattle urban area. It's a State Park.
Right. It's a place name, taken from an Indian word that long predates the ski area, and has now long survived it. Like "Snoqualmie."

Back when it was still around, I raced at Pilchuck a number of times over the years. One chair was below the lodge. The more interesting terrain was above. It was a kind of "pool and drop"-ish, but an interesting little area.
 

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
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Sierra & Wasatch
This is my favorite lost ski area film. Anyone who drives Highway 50 over Echo Summit (where there was also a ski area with two chairlifts into the 80s.) into South Lake Tahoe drives right by it every time. One of those ski race kids in the video is probably Spider Sabich...
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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Joined
Dec 2, 2015
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5,843
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West of CDA South of Canada
I have a bad record with 'lost ski areas'.

Here is the short list starting North and working South.

Cleary Summit ski area Fairbanks, AK
Ran the ski school there one winter. This is not the Chugach.
cleary summit.jpg

Independence Mine, north of Palmer, AK Taught a few clinics here famous for early season, everyone from european racers to local school kids showed up here. great hike to terrain.
independencebowlbaldwin.jpg

Army Arctic ski bowl. Just outside Anchorage, AK. As a kid used to ride in deuce and a halfs to ski there in the 60's after school after school. It was a pretty good hill for $1.00/day
AMHA_ArcticValley_1945_ropetow.jpg

Pikes Peak Ski Area. I thaught there in high school for a couple of years, and learned a lot there including skiing. Buddy Warner won a race there.
pikes peak.jpg

Ski Broadmoor, Colorado Springs. Would night ski there in high school. It was a tilted ice rink with a chairlift.
broadmoor_overviewA.jpg


There were others but not that I skied much at. You probablly should not let me ski at your ski area.
 

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
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Sierra & Wasatch
Ski Broadmoor, Colorado Springs. Would night ski there in high school. It was a tilted ice rink with a chairlift.
I remember my brother having a Broadmoor poster in his room when I was a kid.
 

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
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75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
The Broadmoor... Neat! I've been there for conferences a few times, and looked at the historical things they have hanging up about skiing. Interesting to see someone on here who skied there.
 

Dave Petersen

Graphic Designer/Social Media Manager
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This is my favorite lost ski area film. Anyone who drives Highway 50 over Echo Summit (where there was also a ski area with two chairlifts into the 80s.) into South Lake Tahoe drives right by it every time. One of those ski race kids in the video is probably Spider Sabich...
Great film!
 

jmeb

Enjoys skiing.
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Nov 13, 2015
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4,490
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Colorado
Just got back from the Abandoned ski premier. Super impressive little flick given its just 3 people skiing, filming, interviewing, editing, directing and producing. Good interviews. Fun skiing in relatable places. A nice mix of ups and downs. It covered Geneva Basin, Cuchura, and of course Berthoud Pass. The Q&A afterwards was also great.

Hope the find a way to make more films.

The turnout was also awesome. A really fun bunch of people. The show had been sold out for a week-plus. 1000% less bro-y than any ski film I'd been to. And that was a great thing.
 

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