Memories of NU ski slope fade as nature reclaims mountain

By Deanna Beattie
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Once upon a time, the wintry months of winter were a welcome thing to the people of Northfield. Paine Mountain, the sight of many modern Norwich activities, once boasted the largest on-campus ski hill and best Division II ski team in the nation. This ski hill was open to the public, and offered a great local site for ski fans to enjoy the frosty weather.

For the last 10 years however, there has been no ski hill.

Because of financial concerns, Norwich University closed the ski slope, and the hill has become overgrown with brush.

According to the New England Lost Ski Area Program Web site (http://www.nelsap.org/), the Norwich University Ski Area was first opened in the 1930s with a rope tow. In 1962, it expanded with a Poma lift.

In 1970, a 3,680-foot double chair lift was built. This lift could carry 1,150 people in an hour. Later, a Mighty Mite lift was added, as well.

The ski area was closed down in 1993, because interest in skiing was down, and the school was losing $160,000 a year trying to keep the hill open, said David Magida, the Chief Administrative Officer of Norwich.

Magida said that a survey was conducted in the early '90s to get an idea of what the students wanted to see happen with the ski hill. The results showed that 96 percent of Norwich students were not willing to pay more to ski there. Out of the students who skied, 34 percent thought the money put into the ski hill could have been put to better use.

"It was decided at the time that money would be better used elsewhere for students. We didn't want to increase student tuition to subsidize the ski area," Magida said.

When the ski hill was closed, the president put aside some of the savings from closing the ski hill to subsidize lessons and transportation for students at Sugarbush or Stowe, but few students signed up.

"The number of students who signed up for that was significantly lower than we expected. It seemed that there was a decline in the interest of skiing," Magida said.

A proponent of the ski hill, Chandler Stowell, the director of student activities and intramurals, said, "Neglect by facilities, increased insurance rates, and lack of snow led to the closing of the ski hill."

"We did have a few years where we had a lack of snow. At that point, it was very difficult for facilities to keep up with the maintenance of the ski area," Stowell said.

In the 1990-91 season, the ski hill was open only eight days, which were during Christmas break, because of little snowfall. The ski hill received 1,772 visitors that year.

Drastic changes would have to have been made to keep the hill open.

"A key issue would have been putting in snowmaking and lights," Stowell said.

The ski hill faces the south, which causes the snow to melt faster. Using snowmaking machines would have helped to keep the hill open, but the community complained that the machines would be too loud, so they were never brought in.

The north side of the mountain was also skied on and held snow longer. It hosted the NCAA skiing championships one year, Stowell said.

Stowell has been deeply involved with the Norwich University Ski Area. He directed the ski school at Norwich, which had 15 instructors and serviced eight local schools. Stowell also coached the ski team for several years.

"Everything was so positive about that ski area. It was a great opportunity for students to go over and take a couple of runs and get charged up and come back to classes," Stowell said.

Stowell was upset to see the ski hill closed and the facility not utilized.

"All you see is this path going up the middle that's starting to erode. It's a disgrace," Stowell said.

Stowell has tried to initiate new programs for the ski hill, such as a recreational facility with cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, biking and picnicking.

At one time the local Rotarian group offered $30,000 to create this facility in conjunction with Norwich. This plan did not come to completion because Facilities was concerned with the insurance for a recreational area like that, Stowell said.

"It is a shame that we can't make something happen over there," Stowell said.

Back to Guidon index