Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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In 1944 four North Adams Ski Club members, Webster Ottman, David Allen, James Lockwood and Harry Short, set out to build a ski area at Heartwellville, five miles from the Massachusetts line. A 1,000-foot rope tow driven by a Ford motor opened that winter; NELSAP gives the day as December 22, 1944.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe old slopes are part of the Green Mountain National Forest, kept as a backcountry ski and hiking area by a local alliance and the Forest Service.3
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Dutch Mountain, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Dutch Mountain
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1946–1986 · 10.7 mi away · VermontA small ski area on Mount Olga off Route 9 in Marlboro, Vermont, open from the 1946–47 season until insurance costs closed it in 1986.
- 1937–1979 · 14.3 mi away · MassachusettsA snow-train-era ski area on Route 8A in Hawley that opened in December 1937 and ran rope tows and a T-bar until the late 1970s.
- 1962–1980 · 15.3 mi away · MassachusettsA chairlift ski area at the Route 2 pass on the New York–Massachusetts line that ran 1962–69 and, renamed Mt. Raimer, 1972–80.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
In 1944 four North Adams Ski Club members, Webster Ottman, David Allen, James Lockwood and Harry Short, set out to build a ski area at Heartwellville, five miles from the Massachusetts line. A 1,000-foot rope tow driven by a Ford motor opened that winter; NELSAP gives the day as December 22, 1944. For 1946–47 a 2,000-foot Constam T-bar went to the top of the hill, and a J-bar came later. At its peak it had a T-bar, J-bar and rope tow on 570 feet of vertical.1,2
The area was sold in 1968, in August by NESH's account and October by NELSAP's. It kept only surface lifts as rivals built chairlifts.Later owners renamed it Dutch Mountain, in 1975 by NESH and 1977 by NELSAP, and the Dutch Hill name returned under the owners who bought it in 1981. The 1979–80 winter gave only 11 days of skiing. Bad snow years, competition and changing habits wore it down, and it closed after the 1984–85 season.1,2
Local firefighters burned the buildings for practice in 1990, and in 1999 the land passed into public hands; it is now part of the Green Mountain National Forest. Since 2017 the Dutch Hill Alliance of Skiers and Hikers and the Forest Service have recleared old trails for backcountry skiing and hiking, without lifts.1,2,3
TodayThe old slopes are part of the Green Mountain National Forest, kept as a backcountry ski and hiking area by a local alliance and the Forest Service.3
Timeline
- 1944First rope tow opens; NELSAP gives December 221,2
- 1946Constam T-bar installed to the top of the hill1,2
- 1968Area sold; NESH says August, NELSAP October1,2
- 1975Sold again and renamed Dutch Mountain, by NESH's account2
- 1977Name change to Dutch Mountain, by NELSAP's account1
- 1981New owners bring back the Dutch Hill name1,2
- 1985Closes for good after the 1984–85 season1,2
- 2017Volunteers and the Forest Service begin reclearing trails for backcountry skiing2,3
Sources for this history (3)
- 1New England Lost Ski Areas Project · Dutch Hill / Dutch Mountain
- 2NewEnglandSkiHistory.com · Dutch Hill History
- 3Trail Finder · Dutch Hill Winter Recreation Area
Photos
No photographs of Dutch Mountain we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Dutch Mountain, in their own words.
Facts
Location
42.8190° N · 73.0055° W · Vermont · Green Mountains
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1944–1985
Closed after the 1985 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 5all 5, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain