Sources and method
Where the information in this archive comes from, and how it is checked.
Method
Each entry begins from a documented closure, not from a list of names. A candidate is only written up once its closure can be confirmed against a regional ski history archive, contemporary news reporting, or a national mapping source. Coordinates are taken from OpenStreetMap data rather than estimated from photographs.
Resort names are verified against contemporary reporting before publication. Secondary ghost-resort blogs frequently garble them, and a misremembered name can send research in entirely the wrong direction.
Regional archives
- NELSAP - the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, running since 1998, with per-area pages for hundreds of closed areas.
- New England Ski History - season-by-season lift and ownership records.
- Colorado Ski History - the standard reference for lost Colorado areas.
- Snow Japan History - closed Japanese ski areas by prefecture and year of closing.
- Stations Fantomes - French ghost resorts, including the smallest village tows.
- Hokkaido Wilds - field reports from closed and backcountry areas in northern Japan.
Mapping and coordinates
- OpenStreetMap - base mapping, lift and piste geometry, and the tiles used on this site.
- Nominatim and the Overpass API - place lookup and coordinates.
Corrections
If an entry is wrong, incomplete, or attributes something to the wrong place, please say so and it will be corrected.