Hogback Mountain Ski Area
A small natural-snow ski area on Mount Olga beside Route 9 in Marlboro, Vermont, which ran from 1946-47 to 1986 and closed over soaring insurance costs.
- Region
- Vermont
- Country
- USA
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1946
- Year closed
- 1986
- Reason for closure
- Rising liability insurance costs (a premium of about $50,000 against roughly $70,000 of annual revenue), combined with competition from nearby resorts; it announced in October 1986 that it would not reopen.
History
Hogback Mountain Ski Area lay on the eastern face of Mount Olga, off Vermont Route 9 at Marlboro, close to Molly Stark State Park, with a vertical drop of about 500 feet. Trails were first cut there in 1937, and the lift company was incorporated in April 1946, with the area opening for the 1946-47 season around a Constam T-bar. Further T-bars and a Poma platter followed over the next two decades, and the Alpenglo Lodge was completed for 1961-62. The area relied on natural snow only. In June 1986 the owners were told their insurance premium would more than double, and with no snowmaking they decided they could not risk paying it; in October 1986 they announced the area would not open that winter. The property was listed for sale in 1982 and sold at auction in 1993. Local groups formed the Hogback Mountain Conservation Association in 2006 and much of the land passed to conservation ownership in 2010. Some old lifts and small buildings can still be seen in the southern part of the conservation area, which is now used for hiking, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar T-Bar | T-Bar | Constam | 1946-47 to 1970-71; base terminal burned in December 1970 |
| Whiteway Poma | Platter | Poma | 1955-56 to 1968-69 |
| Alpenglo T-Bar | T-Bar | Doppelmayr | Installed 1964-65 |
| Meadow T-Bar | T-Bar | Doppelmayr | Installed 1964-65 |
| Whiteway T-Bar | T-Bar | Alpine Lift | Installed 1969-70 |
Sources and further reading
More in USA
Location
42.8670, -72.7880