Kevin Whipple writes about Split Rock Lodge, which used to offer downhill skiing:
Split Rock Lodge has a rich ski history, and operated until relatively recently (2004, I think). The Split Rock Lodge is still a fully operational resort with various condos, home sites, amenities, recreation, 27 holes of golf, and a huge hotel and conference center, even though skiing directly at Split Rock is no longer offered. It is located right off Interstate 80 in Carbon County, PA, very near to Blakeslee and routes 940 and 115, and situated right between Big Boulder and Jack Frost ski resorts. The resort now runs shuttles to both neighboring mountains for its guests. The skiing was said to have started here in 1946 (preceding Big Boulder Ski Area right next door).
I spoke with someone working for the resort who informed me that the area boasted 8 trails on 25 acres served by a double chair and a t-bar. There was no night skiing, but it did have full snowmaking and grooming capabilities. The base lodge, which still stands and is used by the resort, was modern and full of the usual amenities. The hill operated 6 days a week (every day but Tuesday). The person I spoke with said there was a real lack of midweek business and it was becoming harder and harder to meet expenses and payroll. I’m sure its location between two larger resorts didn’t help much either (both are within 5 or 6 miles).
I would guess the vertical to be around 150-200’, though I think they claimed more. The lifts were still standing when I visited with my camera, but the double chair has since been sold and moved to another resort. I’m not sure if the t-bar still stands. The base lodge still gets used for various things, and the slopes are still kept clear for hiking and a summer wine festival. I don’t know the maker of the t-bar, but the double chair was a Borvig/Partek. It utilized “double-double” towers, but only one side was used. At the summit of the double was a large rock formation with a gaping split down it (possibly the resort’s namesake). The t-bar slope appeared to offer the steepest skiing on the hill, but everything was beginner grade or lower intermediate at best.
Kevin provides the following photos.
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A topographic map with the approximate locations of the lifts. The longer line is the double chair, while the short line is the t-bar. Image provided by Kevin Whipple.
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The base lodge for the area. Kevin writes that the lodge is a nice place, still maintained for use in other activities. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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A view from the base lodge looking back at the hill. “I don’t know if the pool in the foreground was ever used during the winter,” writes Kevin. “The slope to the left of the photo is the broad t-bar slope. The t-bar ran up the right side of the slope (skier’s left). The picture is taken looking directly up the double liftline.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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This postcard “is from the earlier days of skiing at Split Rock,” Kevin writes. “The vantage point is the summit of the t-bar slope, although the lift was a rope tow on this postcard. I have no idea when the t-bar was installed, nor the double chair.” Photo provided by www.teachski.com.
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The base of the double chair. “Notice the double-double towers,” says Kevin. “This list has since been removed, and is now seeing action at another resort, possible Mount Peter, New York.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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The top terminal for the double, with the “split rock” in the background. “There was a wooden staircase leading to an observation deck on top of the rock, but I doubt it was open in the winter,” writes Kevin. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Looking down the t-bar slope from near its top. “The t-bar ran up the treeline to the left in this photo,” notes Kevin. “The lodge can be seen beyond the bottom terminal of the t-bar. There was a snowmaking/maintenance building at the base of this slope, with a pond beyond that.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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The bottom terminal of the t-bar. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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In April, 2009, Kevin Whipple provided the following additional images and photos from Split Rock:
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A 3-d view of the area from Google Earth. Image provided by Kevin Whipple.
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An aerial image of the area from Google Earth. Image provided by Kevin Whipple.
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A closer shot of the split rock at the top of the double chair. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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A groomer at the base of the hill and some modern fan guns for snowmaking. “I believe the resort had snow-tubing for a period, but they might still blow some snow and maybe even groom a sledding hill,” says Kevin. Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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“This photo shows a snow packer, but I know they utilized a modern groomer,” says Kevin. “Perhaps this is a left-over from the resort’s earlier days, or maybe used for some other purpose.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Unknown lift remnants found near the base of the hill. “Certainly not the remains of the original rope tow,” says Kevin. “Judging by the sheaves and the size of the bullwheel, I would venture to say this was a poma or t-bar.” Photo provided by Kevin Whipple.
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Ski patch from Split Rock. Photo provided by Woody Bousquet.
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Here is a picture I took of the trailmap in 1997.
Hey all.
I wanted to share another of the tours and historical info I've gathered on our lost ski areas. Split Rock was particularly interesting owing to its age, and also how it was founded. It grew out of the Split Rock Lodge retreat which was founded in 1941 by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. as a vacation retreat for company executives and employees. That served as a kind of nucleus around which the vacation communities were built up around Lake Harmony over the early post war years. The ski area likely dates to the early 1940s. It precedes Big Boulder (originally called Hazard), which was founded in 1946 and was sold a couple years later to become the Pocono's first commercial ski operation (and where snowmaking was first pioneered in PA). At the time Split Rock was a simple rope tow operation with a main slope and maybe a couple short trails.
The Split Rock Lodge went through a string of owners starting with Treadway Inn in 1967, then Pocono Recreation Inc in 1971 and finally Vacation Charters Ltd in 1981. The rope tow was replaced with a Roebling T-bar in 1964, which was then replaced with a Poma t-bar in 1969 (which has a great floating bullwheel at the top) which is still standing on the area today. They also had a Roebling J-bar installed in 1963 but I'm not sure where this was situated or when it was removed. By the 80s Split Rock was seriously being out-developed by its neighbors Big Boulder and Jack Frost, so in 1983 a major expansion was undertaken increasing skiable terrain and vertical. They installed a single Borvig double chair on a double-double pylon arrangement which increased vertical drop to about 180ft, which was still much smaller than its neighbors.
Ultimately the ski area didn't make financial sense to continue to operate for the hotel operators as they'd been diversifying into other areas like an indoor water park and other amenities for guests, most of whom were just going to bigger local ski areas if they wanted to ski. The area closed in 2004, and the double chair was sold to Mt. Peter in NY. The trails are still cleared and it looks like maintained.
I have video here as well as some historic pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa4fK8R_jDE&t=46s
