Community run small ski hills

February 28, 2023 2:07 PM

Some folks in my local community are trying to evaluate options for establishing a local community owned ski bunny hill (like a tow rope up a hill sort of deal). Curious if anyone is aware of towns (in North America would be most relevant, I know Europe has more of a history of this) that run very small scale bunny hills with any equipment.

This is being partitioned for through the local community sports organization which funds various sporting facilities (large downhill mountain bike parks, soccer fields, pools, etc).

To be clear they are looking at options to see if the community can operate a bunny hill with one tow rope / magic carpet. Not a full resort in anyway. I am aware of Mt Ashland, OR, Bogus Basin, ID and Bridger Bowl, MT as examples of community / non-profit run full snow resorts etc - but those are *way* larger than what is being thought of here (think 1-2 acres, 50 feet elevation gain, with a tow rope sort of deal).

Any examples of towns that have something this would be useful information. It’s targeted at kids and low income families who can’t afford hundreds of dollars to learn or get access through traditional ski resorts. Assume this is in a town that has significant snow fall and open land.

posted by inflatablekiwi to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (30 answers total)

"What I found in a thousand towns" by Dar Williams has a fictional example of a community organizing a sled hill and the positive benefits associated with it.
posted by aniola at 2:15 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Another fictional example -‌- this is the whole plot of Snow on Blueberry Mountain by Stephen Meader: putting in a tow-rope to drive some winter traffic up to a mountain in the Poconos.
posted by Rash at 2:26 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Spring Hill has been running on our local flood defences for my entire life, and they started out with only a tow rope that ate many pairs of my mitts.
posted by Kreiger at 2:27 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

It is in Canada, but Mount Cain on Vancouver Island has two t-bars and a rope tow, and is community run by volunteers.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:36 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

South Berwick, Maine does this.
There are a few in Vermont, apparently, and at least one in Nevada.
posted by oceano at 2:55 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Vermont has a long standing history of these, in personally familiar with Northeast Slopes and Gilbert's Hill (now closed). Ascutney reopened for a few years in Brownsville, but closed last year.

Slightly larger scale (they have a chair) is whaleback which is a community run ski hill that I have very fond memories of, as a kid and an adult (their beer league races were amazing fun pre pandemic).
posted by larthegreat at 2:55 PM on February 28, 2023

As others have mentioned, this is very much a thing especially in New England. I don't have examples handy, but I do have a suggestion to ask your question at Ski Talk. It is very much "the metafilter" of the skiing world. Very friendly, welcoming community. If you ask your question there I bet you will get a very comprehensive listing and probably connects with people who actually interact with some of these micro-ski areas.
posted by mmascolino at 2:58 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have family in Grand Haven, Michigan, which has a tiny ski area (basically a small number of tow ropes up several sides of a large sand dune) called Mulligan's Hollow. It isn't a destination-worthy ski area in any way but it rocks nonetheless - it gets a lot of use from the local kids and also serves as a venue for winter activities such as Grand Haven's annual cardboard sled race.

It is just the kind of arrangement you describe in your question and it is absolutely an asset to the community.

Feel free to MeMail me if you want.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:59 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

The Brattleboro, VT ski hill:
https://www.brattski.org/
posted by TurkishGolds at 3:03 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

Abenaki Ski Area, Wolfeboro, NH
Campton Mountain, Campton, NH
The Kanc Ski Area, Lincoln, NH
Storrs Hill, Lebanon, NH
posted by Daily Alice at 3:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Chester Bowl in Duluth, Minnesota
Como Park has a ski hill run by the city of St. Paul, Minnesota
posted by theory at 3:18 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

I grew up skiing at the Mt Greylock Ski Club back in the '70s and early '80s. At the time I think it was $48 per family per year and a few volunteer days, which could be monitoring the tows or doing maintenance or whatever. I remember learning how to do long splices on the rope tows there.

Looks like they've gone to Facebook for more recent updates.
posted by straw at 3:32 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Whaleback is like this, I believe. (Upper Valley NH). The Dartmouth Skiway is sort of like this, owned by the college rather than the town. Wirth Park in Minneapolis also has something sort of like this, for sledding and snowboarding but not actual downhill skiing.
posted by shadygrove at 3:32 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

In Michigan:
Mt McSauba, Hanson Hills, Gladstone, Hickory and Holiday in Traverse City, Sault Seal, Crystella, Adventure Mountain.
posted by theclaw at 3:41 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Holy cow! Wasn't expecting so many good responses in short order! Favorites for everyone - I'll pass this info on to the folks trying to work this through!

mmascolino - appreciate the idea. I am aware of SkiTalk...and I'll suggest to the organizers they may want to open up a thread there (a post in another forum with a lot skiers got a little side tracked on costs of kid passes for Vail/Ikon etc. - lessons were learned). Nerd of the North - thanks for the MeMail - replied there (much appreciated!).

If it ever gets off the ground we'll do a ski MeFi meetup ;-)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 3:52 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

I learned to ski at Snowhaven
posted by Uncle at 3:55 PM on February 28, 2023

Yep I think Whaleback has an actual chair lift (maybe two) but is definitely what you're looking for. We've got a little group who is in the process of trying to put one of these together in my town, just a bunny hill for skiing and tubing. There's also anexisting private ski hill that is just for the local college and the reason it's not open to the public has more to do with insurance issues than anything else, so I that may be one of the issues with doing this sort of thing in the US.
posted by jessamyn at 3:55 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Expanding on theclaw for the ones in Traverse City:

Hickory Hills is specifically city run, but there is definitely a lot of community fund raising as well- its is MUCH nicer than when I was a kid.

Mt Holiday is is a community run non-profit venture that took over that hill when it was no longer able to hack it as a for-profit company.
posted by rockindata at 4:00 PM on February 28, 2023

Hansen Hills is in Grayling (oldest ski hill in Michigan!), and the land is state owned, but is run by a community recreation authority, and they also do a good bit of fund-raising for things like groomers.
posted by rockindata at 4:04 PM on February 28, 2023

The Blue Hill Ski Area outside Boston is on state land and was managed by the state initially. Now it's a partnership between the state and a for-profit company but it appears the state still plays an active role in maintaining and upgrading it. The wikipedia article has some interesting information about its ownership and management history. (I looked this up because I grew up nearby and it always felt very local/non-profit in how it was run)
posted by lunasol at 4:15 PM on February 28, 2023

Historically, there used to be tons of these sorts of ski hills! Those in New England are comprehensively collected here.
posted by slateyness at 4:53 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Bear Paw Ski Bowl south of Havre (Hav-er), Montana. "The Chippewa-Cree Business Committee and the Snowdance Ski Association, a non-profit organization of volunteers, manages the hill. The ski hill has been in operation since the 1960’s."

Montanans will gladly talk to you about this.
posted by ITravelMontana at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2023

Heck, we used to have one run by our county in a county park here in Central New Jersey. It shut down at least 20 years ago, but that was because it stopped snowing enough for it be worth the county resources than anything else.
posted by mollweide at 7:14 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Denver has Ruby Hill Park, which is partially from the city park department, and some Winter Park staff, and volunteers.
posted by nickggully at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2023

Loup Loup in Washington state!! 1,240 vertical feet, the mountain (Little Buck) is serviced by a Poma fixed grip quad chair lift, installed in 1998 with an amazing community effort. A platter surface tow and a beginner rope tow give sliders a chance to practice their skills without going to the top. Runs are groomed nightly with modern Bombardier snow cats.

More here
posted by seawallrunner at 10:07 PM on February 28, 2023

Also in Washington, Leavenworth Ski Hill is a small club-run ski hill with two rope tows, a ski jump, nordic trails, and a tubing operation.
posted by rube goldberg at 10:58 PM on February 28, 2023

Oregon Field Guide did a little story on Warner Canyon in Southern Oregon. Lots of good info in there anecdotally about what it takes to keep things running.
posted by amanda at 7:55 AM on March 1, 2023

Duluth MN has Chester Bowl, which does have a small ski lift, but it's all community run.
posted by RedEmma at 11:14 AM on March 1, 2023

The Camden Snow Bowl in Camden, Maine.
posted by virago at 12:31 PM on March 1, 2023

Campgaw Mountain in northern NJ is owned and run by Bergen County. Slightly bigger than just a bunny hill, but not that much bigger.
posted by odin53 at 12:50 PM on March 1, 2023