Recent Comments

I remember when this was a thriving ski area way back in the late 60's when I was a teenager. I never got a chance to ski there but I remember going to the Lodge itself and watching the Musical groups they would get to play on Saturday night. That was a big deal for me to ride to Youngsville all the way from Tidioute with my friends. Those were great memories. How could you not be entertained by bands with names like "The Cardboard Baloon"? LOL

I learned to ski on Blair Mountain. My older brother was a lift attendant and after work one day he gave me a couple cans of beer and than took me to the top Blair Mtn., told to meet him at the bottom. To this day I still tell this story. I also shot many a deer on Blair Mtn. Today, there are houses everywhere.
The truth is Blair mtn tried to expand its skiing but the owners of Roundtop bought the top of the mtn. preventing Blair from expansion which caused its dismay. There was a big dispute between Blain & Roundtop at the time.
I've moved from the area many years ago but still love Dillsburg.

I learned to ski here myself. Used to visit my grandmother on long weekends when I was younger. She lived just a few miles away. We would ski all day saturday and saturday night. Now, I have kids of my own and wanted to go back not realizing that the place wasn't even open anymore.

Oh MY! Here I sit in the West Indies, on the island of St. Kitts, & I find this site on APPLE HILL!! What a blast from the past! YES! The Jaindl kids, Sally Brinnkerhoff, Leslie Sheldon, EVERYBODY skiied Apple Hill! I think my first year was 1963?? I remember skiing in knickers, and those great knee-hi grey woolen socks! Up and down the T-bar on the "expert" hill, and riding the cafeteria trays making a long chain down the "Advanced Intermediate" run!! Those were the days! Skiied all day, skiied all night! Right after graduating from Parkland in '73, I moved to Colorado to keep skiing, teaching, and racing! Tom Mauser! OMG.. Bill Oldt, my sweet departed ski-buddy, Joey Jessel and Linda Whitner.. we all went on to hang out at Doe Mountain, Elk, and Camelback! I've long since retired from ski racing to follow my passion for teaching scuba diving... But I will always fondly remember where I first strapped on those long thongs and bear-trap bindings! Sweet Memories Indeed!!

I had the pleasure of learning to ski at "Chadds bump" in the late 1970s. Since then, 3 generations of my family have enjoyed the sport, the bonding and life in the mountains. It all started with Chadds Peak. Thank you for that gift.

The Winter-2011 "Journal of the New England Ski Museum" featured an article on "ski trains" operating in the 1930's. According to the article, the Baltimore & Ohio R.R. took skiers from Washington D.C. to Meyersdale, PA where they skied at a farmsite in Glencoe, PA owned by a Simon Webreck.
They also skied at Deer Valley on a hill serviced by a 700 foot cable driven railway ski tow built by a Golon B. Harris there. In a photo provided, the cars appear to be riding on standard railroad gauge. They are simple open platforms with benches to accommodate several skiers. The operation apparently lasted only through the 1938 season.

I spent many wonderful hours learning to ski on that little slope in the early 70's. Lots of good pictures of the HS ski team bombing their way to victory! Long live the fond memories!

I now live in Vermont but learned to ski t chadds peak and was on the school ski team . spent everyday they were open when It was open when I was a kid

I learned to ski at Bear Rocks as part of the Blizzard Ski Club. This was in the late 60's and early 70's. We would get picked up by a bus at a local shoping center in Fox Chapel. Very early in the morning. We would ski all day and then get bused back to the shopping center at night. We were kids aged 9-13. No parents, just us kids. It was heaven.

Loved skiing at Chadds Peak! My older brother Stefan and I skied there with the Newark HS ski team (around 1981). He taught me how to ski a slalom course. It was the closest place to ski after school in the evenings. Good memories there! I remember the rope tow and needing to wear good leather gloves to grab onto the rope as it took me up the hill. The pommel lift was a trip too! Enjoyed reading and reliving these good memories :)

believe bald knob was open past '65. Sanna was my great uncle and my father states they worked there together winter of 67. good stuff yall.

Hi Karl, I remember your dad taking us skiing at Crystal. He had a VW bug then that we would pile into. Like it was mentioned the only heat came from 2 open fireplaces. They also had a few lights for night sking. Was Mr. Peters the President?

I only skied Buckaloons once , I am from the east side of Cleveland , I used to ski in NY all the time , we had a great time skiing Buckaloons it was a great little mountain and pretty steep , that was a great trip and it had to be 1981

It moved to Bethel Park and is still called SnoZone, It is located at Cool Springs Golf. Everytime I call or drive by it seems to be closed so I dont know whats up with that.

The lane nearset the lodge is SnowDrift Lane, named by Evelyn Alcorn in the 1970's. Jeff and Evelyn are retired now and living on Snowdrift in a greatly expanded "cabin". They also built an apartment and garage on the lot nearest the road and rent it for the ski season or weekends other times.
Most have been updated and expanded. Linda and I are near the bottom of SnowDrift in the Ben Hazeltine house which we have pretty much renovated.
Jenn, which cabin did your parents own? The lodge was sold to a company owned by one of the Pritts families. Not yet sure of their plans for the Lodge and acreage.

Thank you Avid Skier. THIS IS A LOST SKI FORUM.

Please refer to title of this blog. "DCSki", not "DCDog". Start your own blogs and air your issues where they might help with your problem or concers.

You are correct, Wendy. The owner of the Pottsville Pizzeria was the Ski School Director. His first name was Lou, but I cannot recall his last name. I think his wife was an instructor also.

There is a good article about John P. Hall at http://www.pittsburgh-press.com/article.cfm?id3444

My Great Grandpa and Elmer Hill, were good friends and had the oil leases on the hill. My Grandparents ( Paul and Ruth Miller )were close with John and Rita California when they took care of the slopes. My aunts all skiied there- Bobbi, Linda and Jane Miller, and my dad (David Miller) remembers all the names i showed him on this thread. I m an avid Snowboarder and have always heard all these stories about the Ski area in Youngsville. Neat piece of history...its a shame its closed. But the winters are so sporadic anymore, it would be a leap of faith to try and open it again. Even Peak n Peak has gone bankrupt a few times over the last few years

My parents owned a cabin on the street closest to the lodge in the late 70's and 80's. Never got to ski there, it was closed down. We did sled ride like crazy on our cabin road. So many great memories there.

Samuel,
When my children can't play in their neighborhood without being terrified that one of those dogs will attack or get run over by the psycho tow truck driver...you bet that I'm going to type everywhere I can to make someone listen. My job is to make sure my children are safe, as well as protect a community that can get back to what it was intended to be,,,unfortunately without ski slopes.

The layout of the resort and building structures were designed by the FL Wright foundation. Plans were to extend 4 runs up through the National Forest, build expansive lodging, erect community buildings all in a PUD type development. The son of one of the developers still lives in the valley, Brad Pollack.

Well our Brandywine team rocked in the early 70's as well! I remember the season starting in the fall doing dry runs at the BHS soccer field with Mr. Steele having us run around poles. Then the after-school practices and meets during the cold winter. Then the last meets of the season as it warmed up, marked by a water-ski run on the flats after crossing the finish line. Great memories!

Chadd's Hole ROCKS!!!! Where is Horst Gwinner today? We were the studliest corps of ski instructors in the USA. Horst was just plain cool. Then there were the world-class high school ski races which Brandywine always won, of course.

This appears to have turned in the Bear Rocks home owners association forum.

This appears to have turned in the Bear Rocks home owners association forum.

Thank you fellow walkers for responding and for the vital information pertaining to the unleashed dogs.

I skied here once, the winter of 1995-96. As I recall there were only one or two short slopes with not much vertical drop.

I am the son of Bill Wentz and nehpew of Tom Wentz. I have been hearing stories about this place my whole life. I wish I could have been out there whooping it with you all! Both Bill and I have recently won gold medals in racing. He's still out there kicking ass. I've had a brand new pair of racing skiis the past two years because of the love my father has for this sport. We live for it. Thank you apple hill for building the relationship my family has for this amazing outdoor sport.

jtm, Its a shame that people do not obey Pa's dog leash lawsno matter where one lives. You are very lucky you and your dog where not injured! When I take walks in beautiful Bear Rocks, I use a walking stick and carry plain water in a spray bottle. A spray in the face deters most dogs. I've been safe so far. There are choices to report offenders: No-Kill rescue organizations work with Pa laws. There are several in the area: operationKona.org in Donegal, fayettefriendsofanimals.net,etc. Animal control will pick up an animal,perhaps fine an owner if the animal has id. or the owner acknowledges they own the animal. An article read, said... after 48hrs animal control can euthanize a stray by using carbon dioxide,"gasing"- a cruel and inhumane method, never knowing if the animal could have been placed in a "loving home" . versus lethal injection.

jtm,
The dogs on Forest are a pit bull mix and a german shepherd mix and are owned by Mark and Madonna Mullen. They are a constant problem and the police are very familar with them. The animal control officer, Gary Moore can be reached at 724 425 1825. If more people reported their incidents we would be able to walk safely through our beautiful community in no time at all. Mark is very loud, dim witted, and obnoxious but like most bullies he only knows bad words and backs down when confronted

(In reference to the tower) I have lived 3 miles from this for the past 10 years and I finally had enough and I am doing research on all of this. I have heard countless stories and rumors. I really want to see pics from the late 60's thru the late 80's. the only new information about it is there is now a lare fence around the sructure. It is under new ownership and for sale. The owner of Essis and sons Carpet One owns it and the asking price is $2.25 million. it is 16 acres with a fairly large pond and the creek runs past it.

I was an instructor there in 1973. We had to spray silicone on the slope every day to keep the friction down on the bottom of the skis. LOL
Halfway though the season the ski were worn down to wood right under where the boots were. The PTex was gone. The first time the Pony Lift was completely loaded it blew out the back of the motor housing.
The best part of Ski Land was after we closed all the instructors went up stairs to the custom wood made bar, and we drank like fishes. LOL It was a weird place to work. We got so bored we would do flips off of picnic benches we covered with Poly Snow. I taught skiing for 15 years and that was the craziest place I ever worked.