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Mid-Atlantic Lost Ski Areas:
Pocono Manor Ski Area
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
| Historical Overview - reported by M. Scott Smith, DCSki Editor |
Kevin Whipple writes about the following lost ski area:
“The Pocono Manor ski area is located on the Pocono Manor Resort near Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. The Pocono Manor Hotel opened in 1902. This 3,500 acre resort is still operational and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as a historic district. It is one of just a few of the grand hotels, built in the Poconos around the turn of the century, that is still operating.
I don’t know much about the history of the ski area (when it opened and closed, what it offered, etc.), but I do know that it served as a snow tubing hill into the 1990’s. From what I can gather, it had 2-3 lifts (one t-bar and a couple of rope tows) serving two main slopes and a couple of trails on over 200 feet of vertical drop. It was an ‘upside down’ ski area with slopes descending from a summit lodge just behind the Pocono Manor Hotel on top of the hill. By the end, the ski area boasted snowmaking and night skiing. The old summit lodge is today a private residence.”
Kevin provides the following topographic map. “This shows what I think the lift layout looked like,” Kevin writes. “The longest red line is the t-bar. The next longest was a rope tow serving a large slope that descended from the lodge (this was later the snow tubing slope). The shortest red line near the top of the hill was what I think was another rope tow serving a small learning slope.”
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Picture provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Kevin also provides the following photos:
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This is the view from the deck on the summit lodge. The slope below it was the rope tow slope that was later used for snow tubing. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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This photo shows an old lift tower footer for the main rope tow. Beyond is the summit terminal for the tow, beyond that and to the lift is the summit lodge which is now a private residence. Looming above that is part of the Pocono Manor Hotel on top of the hill. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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This is the main slope (top-to-bottom) which was served by a t-bar. “It had a ‘true-blue’ grade near the bottom, but was likely rated as advanced,” Kevin writes. The t-bar ran along a lift line through the woods to the left in this picture. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Looking up the rope tow slope with a snowmaking pipe in the foreground. In the distance is the summit lodge, with the Pocono Manor Hotel rising up beyond that. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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A snowmaking shack sitting at the very bottom of the hill, along the Swiftwater Creek, which supplied the water for snowmaking. “It is still in good shape with all pipes and components in place except the actual pump(s),” writes Kevin. “It looks like one could simply toss in a new pump and fire the system up.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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A small, open slope just under the summit lodge and skier’s right of the t-bar summit. “No trails descend from it and remains of a rope tow are found in the woods alongside,” writes Kevin. “I believe this was probably a learning slope.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Looking down the t-bar liftline from about 50 yards up the hill. In the foreground is one of the t-bar towers, still standing, minus the haul rope. The cluster of pines at the base of the hill are hiding the base terminal of the lift. Within this stand of pines is the bottom bullwheel, counter-weight, and a destroyed lift shack. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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The bottom bullwheel for the t-bar. “Nature has retaken this terminal of the lift,” writes Kevin. “Saplings are now growing through the bullwheel.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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The top terminal of the t-bar, still in good shape. According to Kevin, the liftline is grown in but can still be followed up the entire hill. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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One of the t-bar towers that still stands along the liftline. “A classic ‘lost ski area’ picture,” writes Kevin. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Woody Bousquet provided this scan of a Pocono Manor ski patch. Photo provided by Woody Bousquet.
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A 3-d view from Google Earth showing where the tow slope lift may have run further down the mountain at one time. The topographic map would suggest this as well. Image provided by Kevin Whipple
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An aerial view of the area from Google Earth. Image provided by Kevin Whipple.
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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. Is area accessible to the public? - posted by Jose
July 7, 2009 at 2:18 pm I'd like to go hiking in the lost ski area you just previewed. Is this private property or can I go walk on these grounds? Thanks for putting this piece together.
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