A Ski Area Steps Back in Time

“Can you read me down there, Rick?”
“Yes, Bill.”
“Yeah, go ahead shut the switch off and on. We’ll test the switch. There it goes. Yup, that was fine. Thanks.”

Sound of engine starting.

That’s Bill Ghelli starting the old Chevy engine that powers the Mount Prospect Ski Club’s wayback machine.

It sits atop Mount Prospect at the Weeks State Park.

Instead of moving an Impala it pulls a 1,200-foot tow rope, with adults and squealing, happy children

That’s something that hasn’t happened here for a long time.

The slope first opened in the late 30’s or maybe early 40’s.

It is just a few miles south of Lancaster on Route 3.

It was popular for decades.

Lucy Wyman is the president of the Mount Prospect Ski Club.

“It was really busy. I mean this whole hill was cleared at that time and the lines of skiers snaked right across the bottom of the hill here.”

Mount Prospect struggled on but about 10 years ago things went downhill.

For a couple of years so little snow fell that Mount Prospect did not open.

Then the next year a heavy snowfall collapsed a building.

Folks lost interest.

Last year members of the club remembered what fun they’d had as kids. They thought about what North Country kids were missing.

They decided to revive Mount Prospect.

Lucy Wyman. “There is something very simple and fun about it and wholesome and of coursefor families who live three miles down the road they can bring their kids up here. It doesn’t cost them much. It is a great place to learn.”

Lancaster residents voted to pay for the insurance.

Emergency services agreed to have an EMT there.

And plenty of people volunteered time and money.

This is the first full season.

WHIRRING SOUNDS (rope on pulley)

On Saturdays and Sundays the tow rope whizzes up and down the hill from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets are $5 for children and $7 for adults.

However, there are no ski rentals.

Standing up top, looking down over the slopes, Ghelli isn’t sure whether the club is actually making money.

“Who know? The money is important but we are shooting for the crowds and not the cash.”

Ghelli agrees his view from the top is great.

But when the rope tow begins the scenery improves.

“You get even a better view when you see the kids on the rope coming up the hill because when they get up top they are smiling and happy and taking off.”

At the bottom parents and kids gather, sometimes inside a warming hut.

Chad Miller is from Lancaster.

He brought two children, including his daughter, Molly.

“I think it is a lot of fun just to be on the rope tow and I love it more than any other place. I like this because it is small, it is easy I can go off on my own and it is a lot of fun just to be independent.”

But not all kids were so ready to adopt the old technology.

This father had to convince his young son that he had to pick up the tow rope instead of watching it slither past.

Child: “I want to practice.”
Father: “Yeah, you are going to practice.”
Child: “No, I want to practice skiing.”
Father: “Right, but you have to go up the mountain before you can practice skiing, buddy.”

But other youthful veterans found this anti-gravity machine just terrific.

SOUND OF SKIS AND THEN KID YELLING

As with all sports there is, yes, the thrill of victory.

Even small victories, such as staying with the rope a little longer, are important.

“Look at that. That is the third telephone pole, that is a new world record for Clemmy. Three and one-half telephone poles.”

Most of the slopes can be seen from the bottom.

That allows parents to watch from below, allowing the kids a sense of independence.

It is a friendly crowd and even newcomers are made to feel welcome.

“It is a real village sort of situation where we raise the kids, everybody helps get them on the rope tow and get them skiing.”

And for some there’s the rare pleasure of a kind of time travel.

“I feel like I just stepped back about 50 years.”

FADE SOUND OF WYMAN TAKING SMALL CHILD UP ON THE TOW ROPE.

For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen

(sfx out.)