Lost Ski Area Silvermine 10-12-2016

My kids had so much fun last year when we climbed the old ski hill at Silvermine Lake that we decided to go back and explore some more. We started out on the smaller trails that are hidden behind the trees to the right of that first pic. I was happy to see that somebody had mowed a lot more of the area then in past years. Just a couple inches of snow should make the mowed areas skiable.




We climbed up through the woods above the little slope and angled back towards the bigger trails as we climbed. The trees are actually pretty far apart in here. There's some dead fall so I would guess you'd want maybe two feet of base before skiing this but it looks like it would be fun with enough snow on the ground. There's a little stretch of a work road or maybe a connector trail back here too.





We explored around the top of the hill for a while, found some rocks to climb on and an old rusted trailer. We've hiked around here several times in the past and never happened upon the trailer before. Pretty cool.



We came back down the "expert slope" that is on the left side of the first pic.





You can't hike here without checking out the old lift shacks and machinery.




This is where I found the coolest potential line of the day. It seems to be the path of one of the old surface lifts that hasn't quite grown in completely. It's just a narrow little path right down the fall line in the middle  of the trees between the two wide trails in the first pic.

Cool post Brownski. That's a beautiful area for sure. I've spent quite a bit of time in Harriman SP and my family has several generations working for the park. I used to spend a lot of holidays at my Uncles cabin along Seven Lakes Drive.

Thanks for the great photos.
Silvermine and Fawnstock were the first eastern ski hills I skied after my family moved NY from Wisconsin in 1967.
I remember learning to ride the T-bar and J-bar, thinking how easier they were compared to rope tows.
On one group trip it snowed heavily all day, my first time in powder,I skied until closing, and was the last kid on the bus.
A slow trip home came to dead stop when a wreck on the Tappen Zee halted all traffic.
By the time we arrived back to school it was very late, and no parents were there. My sister and I walked home thru knee deep snow.

Nice, Brownski!  I've never hiked around Silvemine, but I have rode past it many times on my road bike.  

2000 yr old skier
That's awesome feedback. I love those kinds of stories. Can you tell me if you guys utilized the woods above the kiddie slope back then? Looks like it would have been a cool spot.

Marcski wrote

Nice, Brownski!  I've never hiked around Silvemine, but I have rode past it many times on my road bike.

Yeah, that is a cool area this time of year. If you're looking for kid friendly nature walks, there's lots to choose from. The AT goes right through there and there's a really well constructed trail that I think was a CCC project.

I wasn't much of a skier, just a fifth grader learning to love the sport.
It was'nt until I dropped out of high school and became a ski bum when I discovered the powder in the trees.

2000yearoldskier wrote

I wasn't much of a skier, just a fifth grader learning to love the sport.
It was'nt until I dropped out of high school and became a ski bum when I discovered the powder in the trees.

Tell us more 2000yearoldskier!

I think we might have a little in common.

raisingarizona wrote

2000yearoldskier wrote

I wasn't much of a skier, just a fifth grader learning to love the sport.
It was'nt until I dropped out of high school and became a ski bum when I discovered the powder in the trees.

Tell us more 2000yearoldskier!

I think we might have a little in common.

I second that

RA, I've read your comments on all the ski-webs.We both share the love of the ski bum life.
We differ in ability though, I've never flown off those Jackson cliffs like you have,  well not on purpose anyway.

2000yearoldskier wrote

RA, I've read your comments on all the ski-webs.We both share the love of the ski bum life.
We differ in ability though, I've never flown off those Jackson cliffs like you have,  well not on purpose anyway.

I don't care about ability 2kOS, I care about the love.

I bet you have some more good stories like the one you already shared on this post.

I didn't graduate high school my senior year. I got a full time job and went to night school to get my diploma. That whole winter I drove up to Vermont or Plattekill on the weekends chasing storms and corn cycles. I managed to keep skiing, get my degree and save 8k in cash to leave the next fall for Montana where 8k could go really far and ski my butt off up in Whitefish. I was determined to leave New Jersey and live my dreams of the ski bum life.

Cool!

Apologies if I missed this... why is the area called "Silvermine?"

Harvey wrote

Cool!

Apologies if I missed this... why is the area called "Silvermine?"

It's next to Silvermine Lake, which I assume is named after an actual mine. I lost my trail guide at some point but I remember reading that there were a number of mines in the area, little family operations.

Been up in North Rockland dog-sitting lately and got in a couple rides in Harriman. Today I parked at Silvermine and rode up Seven Lakes Dr. to the other end of Lake Tiorati and back. My legs were toast so to stretch them out I climbed up the ski hill again. I wouldn't have bothered taking more pics but I every time I come here I see something new.

Over the winter I used the old rope tow path through the woods as a skinning route (still haven't had the balls to ski down it) so I must have gone right past this counter weight hanging up in the trees without noticing it.




Also never noticed that there's a great view of Bear Mountain from up here also.



Then, walking over to the other trail I discovered another discarded counter weight laying in the trees.



Lasz pointed out on my blog story about taking my son and his friend hiking near here that one of the former owners was an important snow-making pioneer from way back, which led to an offline question from a semi-famous internet-skier about whether Silvermine had snowmaking or not. I think they did based on these pipes which follow one of the tow lines up the hill. I assume the bigger one is water and the smaller one is air but I couldn't see any hydrants and the pipes are pvc so they would have had to have been pretty thorough about draining the system when not in use.




This thing was under construction forever. Turns out it's just a basic pavilion for picnic'ers.

They definitely had snow making. I spent a night making snow there with my buddy..

Brownski wrote

Lasz pointed out on my blog story about taking my son and his friend hiking near here that one of the former owners was an important snow-making pioneer from way back, which led to an offline question from a semi-famous internet-skier about whether Silvermine had snowmaking or not. I think they did based on these pipes which follow one of the tow lines up the hill. I assume the bigger one is water and the smaller one is air but I couldn't see any hydrants and the pipes are pvc so they would have had to have been pretty thorough about draining the system when not in use.

I believe Laz was talking about Bill Gilbert, who eventually purchased Catamount.  He basically made one of the first fan gun's for snowamaking and when he sold his company it became SMI.

From Catamount's website:  (http://www.catamountski.com/mountain/history.php)

The first generation of Gilbert and Edwards, Bill and Don, began their ski industry careers seven years later, when they took over management of the small ski area Fahnestock. The following year, the partners leased land from the State of New York and opened the Silvermine ski area.

Skiing really started to grow in the Berkshires in the late 1950s, with the opening of the Jiminy Peak and Butternut Basin ski areas. In the late '50s or early '60s, the Brodie Mountain ski area - now closed - also opened.

Also in the early '60s, Bill and Don created the Sterling Forest ski area in New York State. Sterling Forest is still in operation; Fahnestock and Silvermine have long since closed.

The partners and Catamount remained on parallel courses through the '60s. Bill secured his place in ski operation history by creating and marketing the first airless snowguns - a highly energy-efficient snowmaking process that utilizes electrically-powered fans, rather than compressed air, to create snow. The company he founded, SMI, became a leader in fan-type snowmaking, and remains so today.

Also in the early '60s, Bill and Don created the Sterling Forest ski area in New York State. Sterling Forest is still in operation; Fahnestock and Silvermine have long since closed.

Sterling Closed 3 years ago...

Marc, yes. 100% correct. I didn't have the details at my fingertips when I posted. I actually have some pics of some of those first generation fan guns from Catamount. Maybe I'll find them later on.

Jason
You continually impress me with your Rockland County roots. Are you a life long resident or one of the original colonists from the 60/70s era? Either way, you've seen some big changes around here. I'm curious about Ski Stony Point. Did you ever go there? Silvermine is like a time capsule because it's in the park but I can't see a shred of evidence that Ski Stony Point even existed, at least from the road.

Brownski wrote

Jason
You continually impress me with your Rockland County roots. Are you a life long resident or one of the original colonists from the 60/70s era? Either way, you've seen some big changes around here. I'm curious about Ski Stony Point. Did you ever go there? Silvermine is like a time capsule because it's in the park but I can't see a shred of evidence that Ski Stony Point even existed, at least from the road.

 
LOL
I moved here from the Bronx in 1967. We moved to South Spring Valley , which is  now Chestnut Ridge. I moved to New City in 77....
Lived in NJ for a bit , Been in New City since early 90's..

As for Stony Point Ski Area. We used to ski there on Friday night...There are now a bunch of large houses on the hill...

JasonWx wrote

Brownski wrote

Jason
You continually impress me with your Rockland County roots. Are you a life long resident or one of the original colonists from the 60/70s era? Either way, you've seen some big changes around here. I'm curious about Ski Stony Point. Did you ever go there? Silvermine is like a time capsule because it's in the park but I can't see a shred of evidence that Ski Stony Point even existed, at least from the road.

 
LOL
I moved here from the Bronx in 1967. We moved to South Spring Valley , which is  now Chestnut Ridge. I moved to New City in 77....
Lived in NJ for a bit , Been in New City since early 90's..

As for Stony Point Ski Area. We used to ski there on Friday night...There are now a bunch of large houses on the hill...

Ah yes, thats around when my in laws moved up also.
As to Ski Stony Point, I know the houses you mean. That explains it. I assumed it was on the other side of the road. Did it have a road above it the way Mt Peter does? There's one there now.