Origin of Ski Area Names - List

Beast Patroller

Back in the beginning Berkshire East was called Thunder Mountain (with all the trails having Native American themed names). It was changed around 1969/70 to Berkshire East by a corporation controlled by Richard Tambussi along with the Brown family out of Michigan and managed by Roy Schaefer. The reason for the name change was so their mountain appeared first on the Mass ski reports.

shpride

Beast Patroller;c-49435 wroteBack in the beginning Berkshire East was called Thunder Mountain (with all the trails having Native American themed names). It was changed around 1969/70 to Berkshire East by a corporation controlled by Richard Tambussi along with the Brown family out of Michigan and managed by Roy Schaefer. The reason for the name change was so their mountain appeared first on the Mass ski reports.

I never knew the backstory for why they changed the name. Thanks for sharing!

shpride

Couple easy ones - Blue Hills named after the mountain and Bradford named after the town.

Brklynskier

Not New England, but from the Snowjournal south ranks:

Plattekill Not certain, could be named after a stream the Platte Kill, or the town of Plattekill

Elk Mountain, Yes, there are Elk in PA

Ski Bobcat, Yes, there are bobcats in the Catskills

Maybe we need a wildlife category

Jack Frost, We'll leave that one to the people in marketing

Princeton Ski Bowl, Wasn't it his alma mater?

Shawnee (PA) Native American

Blue Mountain / Little Gap, Mountain range / geographic feature

Hunter, Name of mountain

Montage / Snö / Montage The original corporation was the Montage Mountain Corp. Not sure where that came from. / That's another one from the marketing department / Nostalgia

No Name / Roxbury, Snark / Name of town

ciscokid

joshua_segal;c-49417 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-49396 wroteNot New England, but one of my favorite family-named ski areas is Perfect North Slopes, Indiana. Owner's name is Perfect.

Perfect
I may have told this before on SJ: I assume the full name of the owner was Clyde Perfect.
When I went to Perfect North Slopes when I lived in Cincinnati, I got lost and stopped to ask directions to Perfect North Slope. He replied, "Oh, you mean Clyde and Glide." and then he gave me the (correct) instructions.

Puuurfect thread for summer!

lotsoskiing

ciscokid;c-49439 wrote
joshua_segal;c-49417 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-49396 wroteNot New England, but one of my favorite family-named ski areas is Perfect North Slopes, Indiana. Owner's name is Perfect.

Perfect
I may have told this before on SJ: I assume the full name of the owner was Clyde Perfect.
When I went to Perfect North Slopes when I lived in Cincinnati, I got lost and stopped to ask directions to Perfect North Slope. He replied, "Oh, you mean Clyde and Glide." and then he gave me the (correct) instructions.

Puuurfect thread for summer!

Is that carpeting under the lifts?

ciscokid

lotsoskiing;c-49440 wrote
ciscokid;c-49439 wrote
joshua_segal;c-49417 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-49396 wroteNot New England, but one of my favorite family-named ski areas is Perfect North Slopes, Indiana. Owner's name is Perfect.

Perfect
I may have told this before on SJ: I assume the full name of the owner was Clyde Perfect.
When I went to Perfect North Slopes when I lived in Cincinnati, I got lost and stopped to ask directions to Perfect North Slope. He replied, "Oh, you mean Clyde and Glide." and then he gave me the (correct) instructions.

Puuurfect thread for summer!
Is that carpeting under the lifts?

Not sure

http://www.snowjournal.com/discussion/2239/ciscokid-perfect-north-indiana-12-22-18#latest

NELSBEER

OK, Crotched is named for the shape of the hill (I think), when first opened part of it was called Onset but was also was named BOBCAT at some point.... straight forward enough... except its current owner is Vail Corp. which is headed up by Robert Katz, or more familiarly BOBKATZ ,,, Does that go under Ski Areas whose names sound like the owners name but are totally unrelated?

rickbolger

:D :D :D

tedede

NELSBEER;c-49444 wroteOK, Crotched is named for the shape of the hill (I think), when first opened part of it was called Onset but was also was named BOBCAT at some point.... straight forward enough... except its current owner is Vail Corp. which is headed up by Robert Katz, or more familiarly BOBKATZ ,,, Does that go under Ski Areas whose names sound like the owners name but are totally unrelated?

Crotched Mountain was named due to the crotch in the hill. Crotched Mountain rehab opened in 1953. The first Crotched Mountain ski area opened in 1964. Onset opened in 1969, became Bobcat in 1977 (and was rumored to be a money laundering operation) and later became Crotched West.

lotsoskiing

tedede;c-49450 wrote
NELSBEER;c-49444 wroteOK, Crotched is named for the shape of the hill (I think), when first opened part of it was called Onset but was also was named BOBCAT at some point.... straight forward enough... except its current owner is Vail Corp. which is headed up by Robert Katz, or more familiarly BOBKATZ ,,, Does that go under Ski Areas whose names sound like the owners name but are totally unrelated?
Crotched Mountain was named due to the crotch in the hill. Crotched Mountain rehab opened in 1953. The first Crotched Mountain ski area opened in 1964. Onset opened in 1969, became Bobcat in 1977 (and was rumored to be a money laundering operation) and later became Crotched West.

Is Onset a native name?

joshua_segal

lotsoskiing;c-49451 wrote
tedede;c-49450 wrote
NELSBEER;c-49444 wroteOK, Crotched is named for the shape of the hill (I think), when first opened part of it was called Onset but was also was named BOBCAT at some point.... straight forward enough... except its current owner is Vail Corp. which is headed up by Robert Katz, or more familiarly BOBKATZ ,,, Does that go under Ski Areas whose names sound like the owners name but are totally unrelated?
Crotched Mountain was named due to the crotch in the hill. Crotched Mountain rehab opened in 1953. The first Crotched Mountain ski area opened in 1964. Onset opened in 1969, became Bobcat in 1977 (and was rumored to be a money laundering operation) and later became Crotched West.

Is Onset a native name?

Onset was the name of a thoroughbred racehorse that was a favorite in the stable of the owner of the Ski Area. Onset was less than a great horse, but did win enough money to pay for his oats.

lotsoskiing

joshua_segal;c-49453 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-49451 wrote
tedede;c-49450 wrote
NELSBEER;c-49444 wroteOK, Crotched is named for the shape of the hill (I think), when first opened part of it was called Onset but was also was named BOBCAT at some point.... straight forward enough... except its current owner is Vail Corp. which is headed up by Robert Katz, or more familiarly BOBKATZ ,,, Does that go under Ski Areas whose names sound like the owners name but are totally unrelated?
Crotched Mountain was named due to the crotch in the hill. Crotched Mountain rehab opened in 1953. The first Crotched Mountain ski area opened in 1964. Onset opened in 1969, became Bobcat in 1977 (and was rumored to be a money laundering operation) and later became Crotched West.

Is Onset a native name?
Onset was the name of a thoroughbred racehorse that was a favorite in the stable of the owner of the Ski Area. Onset was less than a great horse, but did win enough money to pay for his oats.

"I have a great horse. I think I'll name my ski area after it!"

One of the more bizarre reasons for a ski area a particular name...

z1000307470

Gore is named after and is a survey term meaning a triangular piece of land.

riverc0il

lotsoskiing;c-49454 wrote"I have a great horse. I think I'll name my ski area after it!"

One of the more bizarre reasons for a ski area a particular name...

Just for laughs, I think the summary should have a 'Named after a horse" category, just for Onset. :D

Chuckstah

Kicking Horse is named after the Kicking Horse river and pass, which were named for a horse that kicked the explorer who named them. So the names after a horse category is at 2😀

riverc0il

Chuckstah;c-49459 wroteKicking Horse is named after the Kicking Horse river and pass, which were named for a horse that kicked the explorer who named them. So the names after a horse category is at 2😀

Nah, otherwise Cannon should be considered named after a geological feature rather than named after the mountain. If Kicking Horse was named after the river/pass, then it stops there. I don't think we can extend naming to two degrees. Good try, though. :)

IBRAKEFORTBARS

Was always intrigued by Song Mountain in Tully, NY and how its name came about. I suspect the original owners/developers were mightily fond of hit parade music from the 30s and 40s. Several trails were song titles: Stormy Weather, Bali Hai, Sentimental Journey, Moonglow, etc. Very nostalgic way to honour a beautiful time in American pop culture.

lotsoskiing

Woods Valley, NY. Named after founder, Dave Woods: https://www.woodsvalleyskiarea.com/about.asp

conrad

Verified and updated the list. Yes, trying to keep it to first degree, but feel free to mention any named after names. Discovered a couple of things. Plattekill is the name of a nearby mountain the ski area is kind of on the side of. And I concur that Song Mountain does not seem to be the official name of the mountain, but it happens to be right next to a Song Lake.

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