Big Valley / Hahn Mountain
Ski Area
Jeffrey Zweizig Jeff Zweizig Jeffrey Zweizig Jeff Zweizig
Click for more pictures of the ski area 
Click for satellite views of the ski area 
A Big Valley patch (show actual size). 
A Hahn Mountain patch. (Image contributed by Woody Bousquet) 
10" x 14" poster, another artifact from my parent's old desk drawer. It's a simple b&w poster, but it looks like I was feeling artistic with a red marker. |
Recollections The name of this ski area was first Big Valley and then Hahn Mountain. I skied Big Valley and Hahn Mountain from around age four. The area closed for good in the mid 1980s when I was around 15 years old. Both my parents were ski instructors so we all spent a lot of time there. Big Valley was bought by the same guy that owned the Hahn fire truck company in Hamburg, PA, hence the name change to Hahn Mountain. Looking from the lodge there were three main trails. The "Rim" came down the left, "Big Valley" was in the middle and "Appalachian" (I think that is the correct name) was on the right. The lower half of each of these trails had a separate name, but they all escape me. The lower half of Appalachian was called Bear something and the other two may have been "The Landing" and "Outer Limits". All of these trails had lights and snow making. There were three lifts. There was a Hall T-bar located between the lower halves of the Rim and Big Valley. The T-bar only went half way up the mountain. There was a Hall double chair lift between Big Valley and Appalachian. And there was a short rope-tow and beginner slope on the far side of the chair lift base. The T and chair dated from when the entire ski area was called Big Valley. The rope-tow and beginner slope was a Hahn Mountain addition. I also remember some changes to the lodge when the area became Hahn Mountain. More decking was built around the outside perimeter and a small addition was built on the parking lot side of the lodge to house a new stairwell between floors. The old stairwell (which was removed) was located in the middle of the lodge near the snack bar. And there was a lounge/bar on the far side of the building. The basement contained the ticket counter, rentals, restrooms, gameroom, ski patrol room and a short-lived ski shop. Big Valley used individual snow guns, but Hahn Mountain bought these enormous gas and diesel powered Hedco snow machines. I guess the machines didn't work out because they began converting back to small guns the year before they closed. There were also a few unofficial trails that were sometimes available with enough natural snow and daylight. There was an easy narrow trail that we called "Proposed". It snaked around the back left-side of the mountain and came out about half-way down on the Rim trail. From the top of the chair lift one had to climb a bit further up the mountain to find the entrance to Proposed. There was a trail I think was called "Fox" or "Fox Trot" or Fox something. This trail was accessed by turning right at the top of the chair lift. The trail exited onto Appalachian. Finally, there was an unnamed slope directly beneath the chair lift. Hahn Mountain is located north of Interstate 78. Take Rt. 143 north from Lenhartsville then turn left on Pine Creek Road. You'll see the remains of the ski area on your left just before reaching Gun Club Road. After Hahn Mountain closed down my parents and I moved on to Heidelberg/Blue Marsh ski area. I became a ski instructor too, but gave up skiing for good after a few more years. Blue Marsh is now gone as well. One of my fondest memories of Hahn Mountain is pinball! There was a small gameroom in the basement of the lodge that included a 1979 Bally Star Trek pinball machine. I now have a |