A list of Lost Lift Served Skiing History Resources

justkeepmovingne

I've been attempting to accumulate a relatively comprehensive list of resources that detail the history of (lost) lift served skiing history in the Northeast and beyond, and have hit what feels like critical mass. Anyone have other suggestions that I missed that I should have included?

I'm trying to stick to resources that cover a broader region (not just one resort). Also noting that I'm aware Hyak is one site; though due to many links being broken it is difficult to navigate without direct links and thus having an entry for each feature is more beneficial.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-XGUb3ZECYqoInVZL0di5c9NK3o8jci2mMqRcNiVhoM/edit?usp=sharing

ciscokid

I don’t see nyskiblog on there

That’s a great list thanks

justkeepmovingne

Good call. That's definitely a high-quality resource. NYSkiBlog along with a couple youtube channels that tend to specifically cover lost lift served ski areas (Skier72, Avery Zucco) have been added to the list.

justkeepmovingne

Some of the biggest gaps I'm finding in condensed information (or information wholly):

-Pennsylvania (basically nothing written in paper form, a tiny bit on NELSAP and some miss-mashed info on DCSki). I've combed up a summarized account of at least 34 areas, with at a bare minimum of another 20 that I've yet to dig into in the form of combing newspaper archives and what little is available on the web). Many of these aren't documented by any "project".

-The Northwest. Specifically Idaho and Montana. There is very little to nothing written of lost lift served history in either of these two state. There are plenty of open areas that you can read about, but almost no accounts of areas lost in any form, period. South Dakota and Wyoming have a bit detailed on them in Colorado Ski History or MWLSAP, but there's not much. I'm sure there's more to uncover.

-New Jersey. There's a bit in book form (see Elizabeth Holste's book) and a few of the NELSAP entries, but I would estimate that around half of New Jersey's lost ski areas are undocumented; such that it is nearly impossible to glean any information about them. I've dug up information on some of them, but others are proving very difficult to find information about despite being very confident they do exist.

-Quebec. The Wild East(?) of lost ski area history, IMO. There are so, so many active ski areas and plenty of closed ones, but info is sparse. Google turns up plenty of results, but as best as I can tell, there is no "project" or book as far as I can tell that really delves into QC ski history, or even Eastern Canada as a whole.

-Paper Gaps: While some of these areas have plenty written online, there is no book yet written for these regions that details ski history quite as well as, say, the Northern Adirondacks, is covered by Lost Ski Areas of the Northern Adirondacks; including de-facto titles:
-...Northern Green Mountains (everything above Vermont's 4 most southern counties and into the northern reaches of the Greens in the Eastern Townships)
-...Southern New England (covering Connecticut, RI, everything west of the Berkshires in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire)
-...Maine (Basically no books detailing Maine's ski history, despite there being at minimum 164 lost ski areas in the state detailed by Eric Hendrickson's map)
-...Pennsylvania or the Allegheny Plateau as a whole if you'd like to include essentially Central and Western New York as well.
-...Catskills (including the Capital Region and everything south to NYC. There is a Skiing in the Catskill Region book in the Images of America series that I should be receiving in the next day or two to preview, but I am certain it will still not nearly cover the full scope of the area)

Anyway - if anyone has resources that specifically cover these, let me know.

ciscokid

If you think Liz left out half of lost Jersey I would like to hear about a few

Alaska, looks like Nelsap page

https://www.alsap.org/

joshua_segal

While I don't maintain it, I continue to host the LostNY website originated by ThatNYSkier. See: https://skikabbalah.com/lostNY/LostNY_about300.htm

The nelsap.org site also has links for lost areas in NY, NJ, QC, Alberta, CO, WA and PA.

justkeepmovingne

[quote="ciscokid;c-70298"Alaska, looks like Nelsap page

https://www.alsap.org/[/quote]

The ALSAP page is great - good find! Will add it straightaway.

ciscokid;c-70298 wroteIf you think Liz left out half of lost Jersey I would like to hear about a few

Yeah, happy to explain! Based on Liz's book Lost Ski Areas of New Jersey (which by the way, is an awesome read - anyone who hasn't purchased a copy yet should! Lot of good pictures even if you just want to flip through), she lists 23 ski areas. I should totally acknowledge that I don't yet own her book other book Skiing in New Jersey?, so it might contain info about Craigmeur, Jugtown, Bethel, Peapack, Belle Mt, Ski Mountain, Holly Mt, Galloping Hills, Snow Bowl, Pine Needle Slope, Thompson Park and YMCA Arrowhead (12 total).

If it does not, then my normal guess is that whatever the total number I've tracked down, there's probably roughly double that existed (and such, if there are 23 in that book, and I found another 12, then there might be roughly another 12 beyond that for ~48 total).

Again, absolutely acknowledging that these might be covered in her other book - I don't know the contents of it, and thus that estimated number might be smaller.

justkeepmovingne

joshua_segal;c-70301 wroteWhile I don't maintain it, I continue to host the LostNY website originated by ThatNYSkier. See: https://skikabbalah.com/lostNY/LostNY_about300.htm

The nelsap.org site also has links for lost areas in NY, NJ, QC, Alberta, CO, WA and PA.

Your Lost NY master list is already on there :smile:

Betsy

There is a book on Maine Ski History including lost areas written by Glenn Parkinson. First Tracks-Stories from Maine's Skiing Heritage.

ciscokid

justkeepmovingne;c-70306 wrote[quote="ciscokid;c-70298"Alaska, looks like Nelsap page

https://www.alsap.org/

The ALSAP page is great - good find! Will add it straightaway.

ciscokid;c-70298 wroteIf you think Liz left out half of lost Jersey I would like to hear about a few

justkeepmovingne

Cisco - the 12 I listed are in my comment above :) I’d venture to say you’re probably right. Most of those are likely in the other book after taking a look at a Google Books preview.

Betsy;c-70318 wroteThere is a book on Maine Ski History including lost areas written by Glenn Parkinson. First Tracks-Stories from Maine's Skiing Heritage.

This seems like a good one! I will add it to the list in the AM.

njskibabe

I have a second book that documents more lost NJ ski areas. Title is: Lost Ski Areas Of New Jersey. These are more lost NJ that are not in the first book.

justkeepmovingne

njskibabe;c-70387 wroteI have a second book that documents more lost NJ ski areas. Title is: Lost Ski Areas Of New Jersey. These are more lost NJ that are not in the first book.

I've ended up since this discussion acquiring the other book - it is very comprehensive and seems to cover everything I thought was missing (but evidently wasn't)! A very fun read.

rickbolger

Great to hear from njskibabe!!! Hi Liz!

ciscokid

njskibabe;c-70387 wroteI have a second book that documents more lost NJ ski areas. Title is: Lost Ski Areas Of New Jersey. These are more lost NJ that are not in the first book.

Hey Liz, good to see you’re lurking around!

njskibabe

Let me clear this up for everyone. Skiing In New Jersey? is my first book and documents most of the major NJ ski areas. Lost Ski Areas Of New Jersey is my second book and documents MORE lost NJ ski areas. I have documentation on 62 ski areas in New Jersey. If something is missing I would like to hear about it.

NJSki

Hi Liz, Did you ever document Morgan's Farm on Route 23 in Cedar Grove? It is a park now, and I believe the rope tow house was restored and is still standing.

justkeepmovingne

Mostly minor updates to this list in the last month or two, but did recently add Pierre Dumas’s master list for Quebec, outlining the 600+ ski areas in QC. You need to have a basic understanding of French to get more than the basics out of it, but there isn’t a more comprehensive list out there, as far as I can tell. Sourced from the Laurentian Ski Museum’s in Saint-Sauveur archives (museeduski.com)