Skyline Ski Area

The ski area near the town of Washington, Virginia, went by three names. It began as a private club for members of Congress and State Department officials, possibly in the 1950s; DCSki says the exact opening date is unknown. Virginia Places calls it the Rappahannock Ski Area at first, then Skyline once it opened to the public, and later Big Devil. DCSki, citing the general manager of Massanutten Resort, gives the order as Skyline, Big Devil, then Rappahannock.^1,2

Virginia Places gives a vertical drop of less than 700 feet; DCSki gives 645 to 685 feet and five lifts: a Pullman-Berry double chair, a Borvig double chair from the base to the summit, a Hall T-bar, a Stadeli handle-grip lift and a rope tow. The 1973–74 season was its last and a hard one. The 1973 gas crisis cut the number of skiers while a run of rainstorms that winter drove up costs, and the area went bankrupt around March 1974.^1,2