Lost ski areaMassachusettsNortheast
Klein Innsbruck
Ran 1967–2000. A two-chairlift ski area on Oak Hill in Franklin that ran from the 1967–68 winter until February 2000.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
Counting who skied it…
Stanley Marszalkowski, from Rhode Island, began the project in the mid-1960s, and Klein Innsbruck opened on Oak Hill in Franklin for the 1967–68 winter. A Hall double chairlift and a rope tow served a 200-foot slope.1,2
Read the whole historyTodaySenior housing, the Villages at Oak Hill, stands on the old base area and lower slopes.1
Timeline
4 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Klein Innsbruck, 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 Klein Innsbruck
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1939–1981 · 2.9 mi away · Rhode IslandA ski area on state land on Diamond Hill in Cumberland, with rope tows and later two double chairs, skied from about 1939 into the early 1980s.
- 1961–1985 · 3.2 mi away · Rhode IslandA family-run ski area on the east side of Diamond Hill in Cumberland, open from 1961–62 until 1985, with a T-bar, rope tows and for a time a chairlift.
- Opened 1970 · 7.3 mi away · MassachusettsA town-run ski slope with a single J-bar on Sunrise Hill in North Attleborough, dedicated in 1970 and closed by the early 2000s.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 2 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Stanley Marszalkowski, from Rhode Island, began the project in the mid-1960s, and Klein Innsbruck opened on Oak Hill in Franklin for the 1967–68 winter. A Hall double chairlift and a rope tow served a 200-foot slope. A second Hall double followed for 1972–73, night skiing came in the 1970s, and snowmaking grew until it covered about 80 percent of the terrain. A pony lift later replaced the rope tow.1,2
Mild winters made snowmaking hard and money ran short. The area ran into early February 2000 and never reopened. On May 30, 2000 it was sold to Marinella Development for $1.175 million. Both chairlifts and the lodge came down, the lower slopes were blasted level, and the 114-unit Villages at Oak Hill senior housing went up during the 2000s, with 25 acres set aside as open land.1,2
TodaySenior housing, the Villages at Oak Hill, stands on the old base area and lower slopes.1
Sources for this history (2)
- 1New England Ski History · Klein Innsbruck History
- 2New England Lost Ski Areas Project · Klein Innsbruck
Photos
No photographs of Klein Innsbruck 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 Klein Innsbruck, in their own words.
Facts
Location
42.0383° N · 71.4453° W · Massachusetts
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1967–2000
Closed after the 2000 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 2all 2, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain