In the mid 80's there were plans to open a major ski resort in West Virginia called "Tory Mountain". There were photos of several trails already cleared and an impressive brochure. Anybody know what happened to those plans? Any chance of it being resucitated? ALso, ablut the same time Ski Liberty tried to get approval for a new area near Emmitsburg, Md called College Mountain". Have they given up?

I never heard of Tory Mtn, but there also was a start-up ski area called Cherokee near Front Royal, Va. I think it operated for a few seasons with 2 or 3 chairs with potential for close to 1,000 ft vertical. But, it has faded away.

I met a guy last year at Timberline who claims that his family owns Tory Mountain, and at one time thought of developing it as a ski resort. I seem to recall him saying that the family decided instead to drill the mountain for natural gas. I'm going to see if I still have his e-mail and ask him about it.

College Mountain still exists and can be seen from Liberty. Some years ago, Snow-Time Inc. (corporate entity owning Ski Liberty, Ski Roundtop, Whitetail and Windham) wanted to develop the Mountain into another ski resort. This plan met with local opposition from Emmitsburg residents and St. Mary's College. The base of the ski area would have ended up right in the school's backyard and very close to the town. As negotiations were underway, the corporation got a selective logging permit that allowed it to cut some timber from the mountain. Unwisely, the "selective" cutting area looked startling like ski runs or at least the beginnings thereof. Opposition to a ski area only increased after that. As a result of the opposition and cost involved in fighting them and then paying for development, Snow-Time Inc. gave up the idea of opening a new resort. Fast forward many years later to now. After the recent acquisition of Whitetail, Snow-Time, Inc. decided there was no profit in developing College Mountain. Hence, the Mountain sits unoccupied and the "selective" logging area is almost fully grown back in.

> ... Also, ablut the same time Ski Liberty
> tried to get approval for a new area near
> Emmitsburg, Md called College Mountain".
> Have they given up?

FWIW, over the years (decades, I guess), I have also occasionally heard people, all from Penn State, jokingly refer to Tussey Mtn, the small ski hill just east of State College, PA, as "College Mountain", probably because of the name of the town and because most of its skiers were from the university. More disparagingly, I've also heard it referred to as Wussey Mtn - grin.

To be honest, even before Whitetail, I'm amazed that anyone would have considered another, completely separate ski hill that close to Liberty. I would have thought that the developers would get much more return on their money (and fewer legal hassles) by expanding Liberty into a more comprehensive resort. However, to be honest, I have no idea what the neighboring, non-ski land is being used for and if it could have been obtained by Liberty.

Anyway, as the other poster pointed out, with Whitetail now in operation (and the other problems), the question of yet another area is probably entirely moot.

Tom / PM