Mount Peter Turns 80

How many 80th birthday parties have bouncy castles and magicians? Not many but when you’re the oldest family run ski area in New York, it makes a sense. While 450 feet of vertical may not put Mount Peter in the same league as Whiteface or Stowe it is their equal in terms of history.

mount peter 80th anniversary

Mount Peter ski area was born in 1936, the same year as Sun Valley, when skiing exploded in popularity. The circumstances of its founding put it in an even smaller club, originally established by Macy’s as a showcase for their ski apparel; pretty unique.

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In Defense of Early Season

As skiers we belong to a unique group of people, but not so special that we don’t feel the need to sub-divide our community further into even smaller fraternities.

early season at Gore

There’s the divide between skiers and snowboarders. There are gear sub-groups: telemarkers, AT skiers, mono-boarders and the almost defunct snow-blades. There is west vs east, terrain vs snow snobs and of course resort versus backcountry.

Debates between groups can be endless: dedicated, passionate skiers are naturally ardent. They want others to understand and validate, if not share their passion. I’m no different.

Dreaming of a long season

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Hiking Silvermine Ski Area at Harriman

It was late morning on Saturday and by some miracle neither of my sons had any scheduled activities. I seized the opportunity to get them some exercise, a lesson in ski history and hopefully some pre-season psyche. I pried them away from the X Box to climb the ski hill at Silvermine Lake.

Silvermine Ski Area run

Silvermine Lake is one of several small bodies of water in Harriman State Park that are popular picnic spots for people from the city during the summer months. It also used to have a small ski area located near its shore. It closed some time back in the eighties I think, possibly a victim of warm winters or a lack of chair lifts.

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