Rowsdower
Member
Needed to scratch the itch so I decided to earn some turns locally.
Belle Mountain was a tiny (~200 vert drop) ski area outside Lambertville, NJ which closed down in 1997. The runs are still mostly clear and the land is open to the public so you can hike or skin up. I decided to give it a go after digging out the cars.
Pulled up to the "base" to one other car parked. One guy was skinning up and we struck up a chat. Said usually the lower slope is packed with kids sledding but today there was absolutely nobody else out. Had the place all to ourselves. Hike took about ten minutes up the main slope. There were other trails cut but I didn't do much exploring. There's still bits of ski infrastructure around: light poles, foundations for chairlift or t-bar towers and shacks where I guess a rope tow was situated.
Snow was dense, heavy pow with a sleet crust layer lurking under the surface. The runs aren't really maintained so you had to dodge brush on the way down, but the snow was dense and thick enough to provide great coverage.
Really cool experience. Never been to a lost area before. Very unique experience.
Belle Mountain was a tiny (~200 vert drop) ski area outside Lambertville, NJ which closed down in 1997. The runs are still mostly clear and the land is open to the public so you can hike or skin up. I decided to give it a go after digging out the cars.
Pulled up to the "base" to one other car parked. One guy was skinning up and we struck up a chat. Said usually the lower slope is packed with kids sledding but today there was absolutely nobody else out. Had the place all to ourselves. Hike took about ten minutes up the main slope. There were other trails cut but I didn't do much exploring. There's still bits of ski infrastructure around: light poles, foundations for chairlift or t-bar towers and shacks where I guess a rope tow was situated.
Snow was dense, heavy pow with a sleet crust layer lurking under the surface. The runs aren't really maintained so you had to dodge brush on the way down, but the snow was dense and thick enough to provide great coverage.
Really cool experience. Never been to a lost area before. Very unique experience.
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