Lost ski areaNew HampshireNortheast
Musket Mountain
Ran 1935–1984. A Brookline ski area that opened in the winter of 1935–36 and ran as Brookline Ski Area, Big Bear and Musket Mountain until 1984.
Overview
Look around
Loading the ground…
Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
Counting who skied it…
Brookline Ski Area opened in the winter of 1935–36 with a gas-powered rope tow, 950 feet long with 300 feet of rise, serving several slopes; NELSAP gives the opening as 1936. Wes Blake and Don Reynolds added a second tow the next winter, and by World War II the area had two tows and five trails.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe old slopes hold the Andres Institute of Art's outdoor sculptures and walking trails.1,2
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Musket 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 Musket Mountain
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Years not yet collected · 9.8 mi away · MassachusettsA rope-tow ski area off Martin Pond Road in Groton, first called Priest's, that ran from the early 1960s to about 1980.
- 2017–2018 · 10.9 mi away · New HampshireA small Magic Carpet slope on Long Hill in Nashua that skied on natural snow for a few weeks in each of the 2016–17 and 2017–18 winters.
- Closed 1984 · 11.5 mi away · MassachusettsA family ski area on Mount Watatic in Ashby that grew from a rope tow to T-bars and two chairlifts, closing in the mid-1980s.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 2 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Brookline Ski Area opened in the winter of 1935–36 with a gas-powered rope tow, 950 feet long with 300 feet of rise, serving several slopes; NELSAP gives the opening as 1936. Wes Blake and Don Reynolds added a second tow the next winter, and by World War II the area had two tows and five trails. Arthur DeRosa took over in 1959, and three years later he added a T-bar and eight new trails.1,2
The area became Big Bear in 1973, when it had a T-bar and three rope tows. Its snowmaking system burned late in 1976, delaying that season's opening. James Swisher, with Dave and Bonnie Gucwa, bought it in 1982 and renamed it Musket Mountain; NELSAP dates the new name to 1983. Its troubles did not ease, and it closed for good after the 1983–84 season. New England Ski History lists a 600-foot vertical, while guides NELSAP quotes give 350 feet in 1963 and 248 feet in 1979.1,2
Paul Andres bought the land in 1996 and began the Andres Institute of Art, where dozens of outdoor sculptures now line trails on the old slopes. The lodge became the Big Bear Function Center and Pub.1,2
TodayThe old slopes hold the Andres Institute of Art's outdoor sculptures and walking trails.1,2
Timeline
- 1935Brookline Ski Area opens with a 950-foot gas-powered rope tow1
- 1959Arthur DeRosa takes over the area1
- 1962T-bar and eight new trails added1
- 1973Renamed Big Bear1,2
- 1976Snowmaking system burns late in the year, delaying the opening1
- 1982James Swisher and the Gucwas buy it and rename it Musket Mountain1
- 1984Closes for good after the 1983–84 season1,2
- 1996Paul Andres buys the land and begins the Andres Institute of Art1
Sources for this history (2)
- 1New England Ski History · Brookline
- 2New England Lost Ski Areas Project · Brookline Ski Area/Big Bear/Musket Mtn
Photos
No photographs of Musket 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 Musket Mountain, in their own words.
Facts
Location
42.7306° N · 71.6662° W · New Hampshire
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1935–1984
Closed after the 1984 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 3all 3, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain