Ski Area in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Adam Harrington writes in with memories of a ski hill in Johnstown, Pennsylvania:

“I went to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown from 2000-2003 and there was a ski hill near the gym off Highland Avenue in Johnstown, PA. The hill had two ski slopes and I think it was serviced by a double but I may be incorrect, seems to make more sense if it was serviced by a rope tow versus a double chair but when we skied there I swear it looked like a double. Mind is a little foggy and it has been some years since I have been up there. The lift had been closed for some time before I got there because of liability issues. Not sure of all the stats (vertical or open dates). We would ski there often when there was enough snow and hike back up, it was a decent size hill for its location. Google Maps shows an image of the hill here.”

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Reader Comments

Mitch

January 5, 2010

3 slopes, not two!

I used to board there in college, and I just hit the UPJ ski slopes twice this week to take advantage of some amazing overnight 3" snowfalls. The slopes are still in great condition, the university keeps them clear as nature trails. The lift building, and the poles, are still in place, but I heard from faculty that they hadn't been used since the 70s.

Judging by the height of the poles along the lift path, it was either a rope tow or maybe a bar tow, where you would sit on a bar and get pulled back up to the top.

The third slope, the one on the right when looking at the google map, is a great hill that gets steep after the first bend at the top. You can see the lift line in between the 2nd and 3rd runs. It's not a long run, but it takes 6 or 10 minutes to walk back up to the top of the steep section, and it makes a great way to spend an afternoon.

Brett Pate

February 10, 2013

I mountain biked this when i lived there. Fun going down and pretty area too. I am curious to know the original name of the slopes.

Randy

April 20, 2013

I wrestled at UPJ in the mid 1980's and we used the slopes for conditioning. We would repeatedly run down one slope and up the other one. Great work out.