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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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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MLK at Mount Peter NY

On Monday I ventured 45 minutes to Mt Peter in Warwick, NY, with my 3rd grader. After Sunday’s ice storm turned into a gully washer, I was a little unsure of what the trails would look like when we got to the mountain.

Hailey's Comet
Riding Hailey’s Comet

We were pleasantly surprised to see that pretty much the entire mountain was open on deep manmade snow. We booted up in the beautiful Sunrise Lodge. It is a fully windowed post and beam building that sits almost on the trails. A great spot for familiies, it is heated and has AC for summer events.

About 20 feet away is a snack bar offering a nice variety of food and drinks including hamburgers and hot dogs. There is also a full service cafeteria, a bar and a creperie.

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