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Mid-Atlantic Lost Ski Areas:
Blue Marsh
Bernville, Pennsylvania
| Historical Overview - reported by M. Scott Smith, DCSki Editor |
Blue Marsh was a small ski area located in Bernville, just 10 miles north of Reading, PA. The area shut down in 2005.
Blue Marsh offered skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing with seven lifts and tows, including a triple, a double, a T-Bar, and four handle tows. The area included a Half Pipe and All Terrain Park, the Big Tube Park, the Kinder Tube Park, and the Wolverine Raft Park. Night skiing was offered every day except Sunday. Blue Marsh had a vertical of 315 feet and about a dozen trails, the longest being 2,600 feet long. Blue Marsh marketed itself as being a great place to learn how to ski or snowboard, with reasonable lift ticket prices. In 2003, Blue Marsh offered an all-day (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.) weekday lift ticket for $25.
The owners of Blue Marsh decided to shut down the ski area in 2005. On October 29, 2005, Blue Marsh held a public auction, selling ski equipment including Piston Bully Snow Cats, T-Bars, snow tubes, snowmobiles, lighting equipment, rental equipment, and china and glassware.
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Blue Marsh’s trail map in December, 2003.
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The Blue Marsh web site displayed this message through early 2006, before the web domain expired.
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If you have any additional information about this ski area, please contact DCSki's Editor, or add your comments by scrolling below. To view historical information about other lost ski areas in the Mid-Atlantic region, click here. Note that DCSki's Lost Ski Areas section contains recollections pieced together by DCSki readers. We try to continually develop a clearer and more accurate picture of closed ski areas, but understand that some of the details reported on this page may be inaccurate.
| Reader Comments |
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The views and opinions expressed in DCSki Article Comments are strictly those of the comment authors and have not been reviewed or approved by DCSki. If you believe a comment is inaccurate or inappropriate, please contact DCSki's Editor. Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Josh P.
December 26, 2006 at 10:10 am I learned to ski there back in the 90's. We went there for school nights and it was often less crowded than Roundtop was. Sad to see yet another ski slope close. It could have made a good terrain park area if nothing else.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Robbie A
January 11, 2007 at 1:48 pm I skied here in the mid 90's on one of my ski 3 resorts in a day adventures. The day I skied here it had seen better days. Very short hill with old lifts. I belive the lift ticket said Crystal Mtn for some reason which I thought was odd. Always sad to see any hill close.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by douglas heffner
February 11, 2007 at 12:05 pm i tubed at blue marsh and i have never skied there though... even though it was small it was like a hometown ski area like doe mountain used to be before it was renamed bear creek and made very public. it is a shame to lose any ski area.
Douglas Heffner Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Darrell S
March 8, 2007 at 11:26 pm Blue Marsh formerly was named Crystal Mountain. I have an old brouchure in my collection from when it was operating as Crystal Mountain. I can't say for certain when the name change occurred, but I would guess early to mid 1990s. I would guess they were using up old inventory of "Crystal Mt." materials right after the name change. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to ski there.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Sam T
November 30, 2007 at 6:32 pm I was just wondering if anybody has any pictures of the area. I had been night tubing there a couple times with my middle school, in 2002 and 2003. And does anyone know if the area has been sold to anyone else yet? I loved this place, and had a very special night there.
Comments on Blue Marsh formerly Heidelburg CC - posted by Cindy Knittle
January 16, 2008 at 11:32 am In the 60s-70s, we skiied every Saturday day and Monday nights at Heidelburg Country club (name changed to Blue Marsh ski area) near Berks county. The boots were lace up, the hill was icy, the tow was rope and Jbar- and we loved it! Our lodge was a trailer. The nice country club lodge was off limits, at least to me:)
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Barbara N
January 5, 2009 at 10:29 am In the late 80's learned to ski here when ELCO Middle School had a ski club. It's always been Blue Marsh to me. It seemed big enough at the time. In high school they added the triple chair lift. I always hated the T Lift.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Britt Weber
January 6, 2010 at 1:28 pm Blue Marsh Ski area was previously owned and operated by Heidelberg Country Club, which is still in existance. It used to be called Mount Heidelberg or Heidelberg Ski area. It was never called "Crystal Mountain" - sorry Darrel S. but I skiied at Mount Heidelberg all my life from the mid 1970's thru the late 1980's. Blue Marsh Ski area purchased the mountain and made numerous improvements including adding the triple and double chair lifts as well as the tubing park. It only had a T-bar and rope tow through the days prior to the purchase.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Ray T.
March 28, 2011 at 12:13 am I worked at Blue Marsh the winter of '94, in the ski rental shop. It was a great place to work and grab a few runs afterwords. I learned a lot and met many good people. I believe the owners were the Aicholtz (sp?) family; I do know they had owned Tussey Mt. in State College prior to purchasing Blue Marsh. It served Berks County well...I was sorry to see it close.
Comments on Blue Marsh - posted by Keith Sheppard
September 15, 2012 at 9:53 pm Reading these comments on this site really hits home for me too ! As I was raised in Berks County / Wilson School District, Mount Heidelberg for me back in the early to mid - 70's only brings back great momories of a wonderful childhood that all children should get to experience. Learning to ski their as a tween with many of my classmates to help me past the snowplowing phase. Its a shame it seems to be a sign of our poor economic times to have to close a place down that meant so much to so many people in the area. I have since moved to Virginia and have been Snowboarding for the past 15 years or so, and still come back home time to time with fond memories of where it all started for me. Thank you all who worked their, skied their and made it what it was, we all knew it wasn't the longest, steepest, or highest, but it was our friendly neigborhood slope and we LOVED IT ! Thanks for all the memories Heidelberg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heidelberg Alumni Today ! :) - posted by Brian Dettling
January 22 at 2:06 am My friends and family loved this place. We all learned to Ski here back in the late 70's early 80's. My dad helped out with the Ski School ( Also member of the Flying Dutchman Ski Club if any of you still remember ?? ) Several of my closest friends had parents involved at the Mt. ( Ski Patrol etc ).
Fast forward 35 Years and I am still living it ( Snowboarder Now ) out west! (Oregon) !! And make frequent side trips to British Columbia, California, Idaho , Nevada, Utah and Washington ! I love telling people about where I first learned how to Ski & Snowboard ! Proud to be part of Berks County ! Cheers! BD |
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