Old School ski areas to explore

[marzNC]

Does not get more "old school" than this! Ski Venture in New York in the Mohawk Valley opened in 1937. It was built by engineers who worked at GE. It's a "family oriented cooperative."

People who buy a season pass get taught how to run the rope tow. They can ski any time since there are lights. All natural snow, 100 ft vertical, two rope tows.

Posted October 2023

Membership — SkiVenture

www.skiventure.org

"New members to SkiVenture must have two sponsors to join. If you do not have sponsors, you may have an interview with a SV officer/board member."

 

[TNtoTaos]

In 2012, Ski Apache lost lifts to a major wildfire. They used snowmaking equipment to try to limit the damage as the fire approached.

The resort is owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. They took over in 1963 after the resort was developed by Robert Anderson (oil money). The original name was Sierra Blanca Ski Resort. The name was changed to Ski Apache in 1984.

June 2012

Just saw this post, and checked on the Ski Apache website -- looks like they're fully recovered and will be open this winter. I used to go there when I lived in Las Cruces: it's a 4-hr drive, so you could be there and back in one day, with two drivers. It's a fun little ski area, especially when the Apache Bowl is open. Also used to rent equipment at the Alto Ski Shop, which I believe was destroyed in the fire. Their biggest problem is snow coverage -- they're positioned so that they really don't get a lot of snow anymore, and can't open the Bowl, which is the main draw of the ski area. This has caused many of the small businesses in Ruidoso to close - very sad. Also, Ruidoso has been devastated over the past few months by horrific flooding, the latest episode was last week! Half the town has practically washed away.

 

[marzNC]

Mad River Glen has embarked on yet another major fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise $2.5 million in donations, pledges, and grants during a period of 75 days. They want to buy the other 1100 acres that was also owned by Betsy Pratt when she sold the current property to the MRG Coop. The MRG Board got the ball rolling at the second emergency meeting held on Nov. 10, 2025 about the opportunity. Given that there are 2500 shareholders, that comes out to an average of $1000 per shareholder without any other funding sources.

As of November 24, 2025

20th Hole Land Acquisition - Mad River Glen, Vermont

The Mad River Glen Cooperative closed on the purchase of the land on February 24, 2026. This is a landmark achievement for Mad River Glen — and a testament to....

www.madriverglen.com

Start of the info, check MRG webpage for the rest:


November 24, 2025

Mad River Glen Exercises Right to Buy 1,100 Acres Surrounding the Ski

SAM Magazine—Waitsfield, Vt., Nov. 24, 2025—The Mad River Glen co-op board of trustees voted unanimously to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire

www.saminfo.com

 

[GladeDuchess]

I'd been thinking there needed to be a thread on this, but there was one all along!

Almost anything in Maine is sort of "old school" aside from the big three, but my top three (in order from L to R):

3. Titcomb - T bar only, very old school lodge, nothing super impressive, but a lot of fab little woods runs. The local race scene can get right lively on a weekend afternoon too.

2. Camden Snow Bowl - Old school chair lift, actually some long and somewhat impressive runs for a small hill, and how many places in the east offer skiing with an ocean view?

1. Lonesome Pine Trails - A North facing slope, north of Quebec city, this place actually gets some good pow days on a good year. T-bar only. The lodge serves as the community rec. centre, and EVERYONE here knows each other. EVERYONE! Impressive views of Ft. Kent and Canada abound, and a lift pass was like $30. Picture was taken on the last day of the 23-24 season and it was FREE. They told me to just go ski. : ) I think an entire family can get a season pass for like $800.
Smashing little place for sure. Just prepare for sub-zero temps and know it's not on the way to anything except Gaspe, QC.

 

[marzNC]

Whaleback got their lift repaired! Wasn't running most of the season. But Whaleback ended up with a decent season with help from Mother Nature. The level of community support is amazing!

March 12, 2026

Whaleback Mountain ski area reopens chairlift - Valley News

Whaleback Mountain's chairlift is back in action after a year-long repair. The nonprofit ski area overcame challenges to get the lift running again.

vnews.com

 

[marzNC]

Pajarito in New Mexico is going to have major upgrades in snowmaking by next season.

March 27, 2026

MCP Details $37.5M in Planned Capital Improvements

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., March 27, 2026—Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) plans to invest more than $37.5 million in capital improvements across its Powe

www.saminfo.com

" . . .
The most significant project is at Pajarito Mountain, N.M., where a new snowmaking system is tied to the broader Jemez Mountain Regional Fire Protection Project, a public-private partnership involving MCP, FEMA, the state of New Mexico, and Los Alamos County. The effort includes construction of a pipeline and a 10-million-gallon reservoir that will supply water for both wildfire suppression and snowmaking.

The infrastructure is expected to increase snowmaking coverage at Pajarito by roughly 50 percent. The resort plans to install about 10,000 feet of pipeline and 13,000 feet of electrical distribution. It will also expand its snow gun fleet by 200 to 300 percent. The added capacity is expected to extend the average winter season length from roughly 60 days to 120-140 days, according to MCP.

Additional infrastructure work at Pajarito includes a full overhaul of the Aspen chairlift, with upgrades to the motor, gearbox, braking systems, and communications.
. . ."

 

[Zard]

Whaleback got their lift repaired! Wasn't running most of the season. But Whaleback ended up with a decent season with help from Mother Nature. The level of community support is amazing!

March 12, 2026

Whaleback Mountain ski area reopens chairlift - Valley News

Whaleback Mountain's chairlift is back in action after a year-long repair. The nonprofit ski area overcame challenges to get the lift running again.

vnews.com

Whaleback is a place with soul. I skied there in college one time when we stayed up too late partying at killington to ski the next day. So we stopped at whaleback on the way home for night skiing just to say we skied!
My son has Indy pass and said even if he can’t ski there, he’s going to make sure he scans his pass every year to make sure they get his credits.

 

[marzNC]

This article about Black Mountain also includes comments about the Indy Pass.

April 2026

Special Report: Black Mountain’s Revival, Led by Its Disrupter-in-Chie

Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems owner Erik Mogensen has transformed this legacy ski area and designated it as his laboratory. It’s the perfect pitch here, b

www.saminfo.com

" . . .
Champagne sales play an outsized role at Black. Adult lift tickets, if bought in advance, can be had for about $70, while the bottles of Clicquot run $99, more than the lift privileges but much less pricy than elsewhere. Total cabin proceeds for the season, including the brats, pretzels and headlining fondue, will almost equal what pre-Mogensen Black did in total.

Mogensen expects to surpass $4 million in total revenue for 2025-26. That is a roughly five-fold increase from when he began, while he’s also delivering a solid EBITDA. He does not believe high speed lifts are necessary here, and he just bought three “new-old” lifts with plans to install them for the 2027-28 season. He’s again stockpiling snow and planning to operate through May, in search of the big revenue that weekends can provide. Absent are the terrain parks and the investment needed to create that scene.

“The park doesn’t pay here. The champagne does,” Mogensen says.
. . ."

 

[marzNC]

Brundage near McCall, ID, is an independent "old school" mountain with about 2000 skiable acres, plus gates that allow for lift-served backcountry skiing for knowledgeable folks. For all intents and purposes, there is no lodging for travelers closer than a 20-minute drive. McCall is on a large lake so there is plenty of lodging for winter travelers because the area is a 4-season leisure destination not that far from Boise.

Brundage is on the Indy Pass, along with Tamarack. A traveler can easily do a day trip to ski at both places while staying in McCall, the small town near Tamarack, or at in Tamarack resort lodging. I had a very good time checking it out with Bill, @diymom , and @Ski Sine Fine in 2025. Would like to go back in the future.

Here's the end-of-season letter from the Brundage GM for 2025-26, which was a very challenging season because of low snowfall.

Sent out April 16, 2026:

 

[marzNC]

Not really about an existing "old school" ski area, although Blacktail Mountain probably fits the description, but this article about the ski hills in Montana is about how skiing started in Montana back in the 1950s based on rope tows.

December 2025

The Mid-Century Mom-and-Pop Ski Areas of the Flathead Valley - Flathead Beacon

Harold Termaat was standing on the hill above his 40-acre farm in Creston with his friend and neighbor in the early 1950s, decades before the landscape became dotted with subdivisions and ranchettes. As they gazed through the trees down to the fertile land with its crops and cattle, his friend...

flatheadbeacon.com