Mount Snow Nuclear Bomb Snow Bowl

Nick · Apr 2, 2014

Did you guys know this? I didn't. I did a search and it showed up here in an AZ challenge Q&A --> http://forums.alpinezone.com/showth...rts-(Mt-Snow-Attitash-Crotched-Wildcat)/page2

but that was about it.

http://www.gondyline.com/mount-snow.php

Schoenknecht, who unsuccessfully petitioned the US Atomic Energy Commission to detonate a nuclear bomb to create a deep snow bowl at Mount Snow, see below.

That would have been interesting. Imagine how we freak out when we cut down a tree nowadays.

I wonder if nuclear fallout is edgeable?

ScottySkis · Apr 3, 2014

ki remeber reading that i. brocjers when i stayed at Mount Snow. i hope to see some more openings of traills spon with bombs that be cool.

drjeff · Apr 3, 2014

Walt did some incredible things for the ski industry as well as also had some ideas that were WAY out there for sure! :lol:

bvibert · Apr 3, 2014

I thought this was a bad April Fools joke that I missed from a couple of days ago when I read the title...

BenedictGomez · Apr 3, 2014

Nick said:
That would have been interesting. Imagine how we freak out when we cut down a tree nowadays.

I wonder if nuclear fallout is edgeable?

I imagine it was a publicity stunt, because I doubt the guy was an idiot.

drjeff · Apr 3, 2014

BenedictGomez said:
I imagine it was a publicity stunt, because I doubt the guy was an idiot.

Back when he wanted to do it, BEFORE we all realized the long lasting affects of nuclear fallout, Walt was serious! He wanted to increase the vertical from it's roughly 1600 feet to somewhere around 2000 vertical feet, since he felt that longterm that was going to be beneficial for the resort and the general region.

Walt did a bunch of wild things back in the day!

St. Bear · Apr 3, 2014

drjeff said:
Back when he wanted to do it, BEFORE we all realized the long lasting affects of nuclear fallout, Walt was serious! He wanted to increase the vertical from it's roughly 1600 feet to somewhere around 2000 vertical feet, since he felt that longterm that was going to be beneficial for the resort and the general region.

Walt did a bunch of wild things back in the day!

You could then pile the debris at the summit, and get to around 2400 vertical!

BenedictGomez · Apr 3, 2014

drjeff said:
Back when he wanted to do it, BEFORE we all realized the long lasting affects of nuclear fallout, Walt was serious! He wanted to increase the vertical from it's roughly 1600 feet to somewhere around 2000 vertical feet, since he felt that longterm that was going to be beneficial for the resort and the general region.

Walt did a bunch of wild things back in the day!

I read it was the 1960s? Before my time obviously, but people built Nuclear Fallout Shelters in the 1960s.

thetrailboss · Apr 3, 2014

I do recall hearing this. Don't tell the locals.

Glenn · Apr 3, 2014

Yep, pretty wild idea.

joshua segal · Apr 3, 2014

The New England Ski Museum in Franconia, NH did a feature article on this subject within the last decade. Unfortunately, when I downsized a year or so ago, my collection of their journals was a casualty, so I can't offer that to you. But I am sure that they could send you a copy of the article if you contact them.

Twism86 · Apr 3, 2014

Having actually seen a few nuclear bomb craters first hand, this would be disastrous on the side of a mountain and pretty much ruin it for any type of skiing. Bad idea.

However, creating a big ass crater somewhere flat and snowy where you dont have many real hills (Canadian tundra for example) it would make a fairly steep and consistent slope to ski in. Ignoring that fact that you would have numerous people skiing to to a single point and all that cluster......

MadMadWorld · Apr 4, 2014

A great setting for a Hills Have Eyes remake

jimk · Apr 4, 2014

Twism86 said:
Having actually seen a few nuclear bomb craters first hand, this would be disastrous on the side of a mountain and pretty much ruin it for any type of skiing. Bad idea.

However, creating a big ass crater somewhere flat and snowy where you dont have many real hills (Canadian tundra for example) it would make a fairly steep and consistent slope to ski in. Ignoring that fact that you would have numerous people skiing to to a single point and all that cluster......

I've seen nuke bomb craters up close too. Obviously, the idea of using nukes to make a ski hill sounds preposterous today for all kinds of reasons. However, the USG did take a look at civil applications of nukes about 40-50 years ago for road/canal construction, a giant natural gas type fracking application, and other large scale projects. See wiki entry on this with a good picture of a bomb crater:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare
I've got to believe any discussion about using them at Mt Snow by Walt S. was more as a publicity stunt in the vein of Austin Powers. In financial terms, if you weren't given a bomb for free by a ski-crazy president or stole one from a careless dictator the cost of building/acquiring a nuclear bomb (hundreds of millions or more for the infrastructure to generate a small amount of fissile material) for a puny 500' of extra vertical would exceed the cost of building a nice 3000' vertical ski area from scratch in the traditional manner. Plus, there would be a lot more sought after misuses of the stuff than for ski trails:angry: I once held a ball of weapons grade nuclear material (Plutonium 239) in my hand. Maybe that explains why I never get cold hands on a ski hill?

St. Bear · Apr 4, 2014

jimk said:
if you weren't given a bomb for free by a ski-crazy president

One guy does come to mind.

Domeskier · Apr 4, 2014

St. Bear said:
One guy does come to mind.

Is that how Dear Leader created that sweet new North Korean resort?

St. Bear · Apr 4, 2014

Domeskier said:
Is that how Dear Leader created that sweet new North Korean resort?

Good point, make that two guys come to mind.

BenedictGomez · Apr 4, 2014

St. Bear said:
One guy does come to mind.

Domeskier said:
Is that how Dear Leader created that sweet new North Korean resort?

He does have plenty of nuclear material, and given his launches have been mostly unfavorable maybe that could be another use for it.

Domeskier · Apr 4, 2014

BenedictGomez said:
He does have plenty of nuclear material, and given his launches have been mostly unfavorable maybe that could be another use for it.

And if any of those North Korean nukes ever ended up in the U.S., Dear Leader could simply claim that they were meant for Mount Snow's latest expansion scheme - plausible deniability guaranteed!

joshua segal · Apr 8, 2014

joshua segal said:
The New England Ski Museum in Franconia, NH did a feature article on this subject within the last decade. Unfortunately, when I downsized a year or so ago, my collection of their journals was a casualty, so I can't offer that to you. But I am sure that they could send you a copy of the article if you contact them.

Following up on my own posting: If anyone is seriously interested in pursuing this story, here are references:
- Mt. Snow, by Doris Kirkpatrick, Skier, January 1962, pg. 20
- Skiing Faces the Atomic Age, by John Hitchcock, Skier, March 1963, pp. 20-1
- Journal of the New England Ski Museum, pg. 13, Summer 2004, #60
- Journal of the New England Ski Museum, pg. 23, Autumn 2004, #61, Letter from Joshua Segal

Mount Snow Nuclear Bomb Snow Bowl

Administrator

Well-known member

Well-known member

Moderator

Well-known member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

Moderator

Active member

Active member

New member

Active member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Similar threads