Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Snow Bluff Ski and Fun Area was built near Brighton in Polk County, about 12 miles north of Springfield on Highway 13, on bluffs along the Sac River. Bill and Becki Durbin of Morrisville, who owned a contracting company, had never skied when Becki's parents gave them a trip for Christmas and they chose skiing in Colorado; they took lessons first at a ski area near St.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTimeline
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Memories
Skied Snow Bluff, 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 Snow Bluff
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1964 · 60.4 mi away · MissouriA small resort ski area at Tan-Tar-A on the Lake of the Ozarks, opened in 1964 with snowmaking and last advertised around 1981.
- 1972–1977 · 92 mi away · ArkansasArkansas's first ski resort, built in 1972 on the hill above the Dogpatch USA theme park in Newton County, whose snowmade slopes closed in 1977.
- 1965–1983 · 142.4 mi away · KansasKansas's first ski area, a T-bar and rope-tow hill on Blue Mound just east of Lawrence that ran from the 1960s until 1983.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 4 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Snow Bluff Ski and Fun Area was built near Brighton in Polk County, about 12 miles north of Springfield on Highway 13, on bluffs along the Sac River. Bill and Becki Durbin of Morrisville, who owned a contracting company, had never skied when Becki's parents gave them a trip for Christmas and they chose skiing in Colorado; they took lessons first at a ski area near St. Louis, and from that day Bill wanted a slope of his own. In July 1988 bulldozers were clearing eight slopes, two of them for beginners, to be served by a 300-foot rope tow and a 600-foot chairlift, with snowmaking, night lighting and a lodge with a restaurant, on about 17 of their 120 acres.1,2,3
The Durbins aimed to open that December. The Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project lists the area from 1988 to 2000, with 147 feet of vertical, and Skimap.org holds its trail maps from 1988, 1997 and 1999.1,2,4
Sources for this history (4)
- 1The Springfield News-Leader · It's all downhill from here: Ski slopes to open near Springfield (Jane Fullerton) — The Springfield News-Leader, July 10, 1988, p. 11 (clipping hosted by MWLSAP)
- 2Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Snow Bluff Ski and Fun Area — Missouri
- 3The Springfield News-Leader · Slopes / Couple to open snow ski area near Springfield (continuation) — The Springfield News-Leader, July 10, 1988, p. 12 (clipping hosted by MWLSAP)
- 4Skimap.org · Snow Bluff ski maps
Photos
No photographs of Snow Bluff 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 Snow Bluff, in their own words.
Facts
Location
37.4270° N · 93.3597° W · Missouri
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1988–2000
Closed after the 2000 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 1all 1, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain