Reader Comments
Below are some emails I've received regarding Hahn Mountain. If you have a story you'd like to share, please contact me.
Hi Jeff:
My name is Rick, and I too spent too much of my childhood at Hahn. I really enjoyed your site, it really brought me back. I don't have any memorabilia to share, but I'm sure my family has some pictures from there. There are probably patches, pins, brochures and trail maps, even ski hats with blood on them due to wipeouts on Hahn's slopes somewhere in this house.
We were there every Friday night during ski season from Wyomissing. My brothers and I took lessons from Flying Dutchman ski club back then. It always felt like we knew everyone there, like we owned the place. We'd get away with stuff that would get us arrested at today's slopes. Same was the case for poor old Heidelberg/Blue Marsh ski area. I even recall the 'arcade' they had, and the pinball and high-tech pong games they had. I always wanted to spend my time and my parent's money down there and they'd get so mad.
As a lightweight 3-5 year old, that t-bar was my nemesis! It took forever for me to get up that damned thing, because I was so lightweight it would just pick me up, spin me halfway round, then set me back on the ground. I'd make it backwards... for about 10 feet, then hang on for dear life as it dragged me to the top. A great way to build character, I tell you! I was too small to go on the chairlift by myself, so it was my only option.
I recall the small pine trees that lined the slope that ran parallel to the chairlift. My brother and I would start at the t-bar drop off, pick up some speed, then jump off some random mogul into the top half of those trees, which were probably only 12' tall. They were so soft and spring-y they would bend down, then spring back, throwing us back up the hill. We'd repeat until we eventually got to the bottom! We laughed ourselves silly!
Our skiwear (aka Montgomery Ward one-piece snowmobile suit) never made it through the whole season. I remember my mom/dad and ski instructors yelling at us for laying on the slopes eating snow, saying that someone would ski into us because they couldn't see us. Nowadays, I see snowboarders sitting in the snow and I want to yell at them, too.
A couple years ago I hiked up to The Pinnacle with my future wife and was telling her all these stories about that small ski area up in that area. Just before I got to pinnacle I remembered that there was a sign on a tree at Hahn Mtn that said "pinnacle" with a view of that peak. When our hike got to the pinnacle I was finally looking at the ski area for the first time in over 15 years. Even though it was summer I only saw the lodge as it looked covered in snow, I could smell the french fries and the water hot chocolate, and I could hear the pinball games and the snowguns. I could even feel the bruises I always got from falling down those steps in the lodge when trying to go up and down in my ski boots.
By mid-80's we stopped our Flying Dutchman lessons, and that stopped our trips to Hahn. We started going to Doe, and by the time we graduated from high school and had our driver's licenses, we did longer treks to Little Gap. Both those places aren't the same, but at least they are still open.
Now I have 2 kids that will soon be the same age as I was when I was experiencing this. I hoped to have them grow up in New Hampshire, but as things are, they are now in my old Wyomissing stomping grounds. I can't wait to give them the same experiences.
Now, if you've read this far, I thank you for your patience. I didn't expect to ramble on, but I love to reminisce about the way skiing used to be. My 2 kids are also really into trains. Not just Thomas Tank Engine stuff, but anything that looks like a train. I would love to learn more about the WK&S railroad if you can spare the time.
Thanks again for reading my ramblings. I really enjoyed your site. If I come across any BV/H Mtn memorabilia I'll scan it and send it to you and other lost ski area sites.
Rick
Wyomissing, PA
Hi Jeff,
I skied there back when it opened.
I join the ski patrol there the season of 1970/1971 at age 15.
I knew the owner's son so I used to sleep over in the first aid room on weekend nights. Most of the night I would be out on the mountain with the snowmakers. Somehow I got addicted to snowmaking there since I still make snow but only in my back yard. For photos of my snowmaking and equipment, go to my website http://www.findsnap.com/ and go all the way to the bottom of the page and click on the snowmaking links.
As for Big Valley's snowmaking system in addition to the five rented diesel compressor outside (rented from Quarrymen's Supply) there were also four electric piston type compressors in the building and one water pump.
Most of the original owner's names I can still remember. Yeager, Forry, Cummings, Ratnick.
I'll use your map and try to put in two other original trails as I knew them. There the ones in yellow. The area circled in green originally didn't have lights on it. I don't know the trail names now, but will try to find out.
Also when Hahn took over they regraded the upper Rim Trail, redid the lodge taking out the ceiling tiles and added the deck.
Other local extinct ski areas I know of.
Apple Hill, North of Allentown
Sharp Mountain, Pottsville
Pine Forge, Between Douglassville and Pottstown
Levan's Old Mill, Kutztown
Crystal Ridge, Virginsville
Blue Marsh, Bernville
Thanks,
Scott
Lyon Station, PA
Hello Jeff,
Can you believe I Google this ski are about 5 years ago but found nothing. Now, your site is great!
I skied Hahn Mountain when I was attending collage at K-town in the 1982 - 1984 time frame. I remember it being cheap and even having some moguls. I went by there a few years back taking my family for a hike on Hawk mountain, but didn't leave the parking lot believing it was private property and the gun club would not want me looking around. I really did want to hike up the trails. Are any of the lift parts still on the mountain? Do you know what ski areas purchased the lifts?
Thank you for a great memory!
John Richards
PS: I road that train about 10 years ago when my girls where little. Good time
I skied at Hahn Mt. in the late 70's , early 80's. I live in Lititz and would drive up there week days and weekends too. My friends were in a ski club in high school and I think that's how they knew about the place. Lot of memories there, I remember on weekends they had a DJ or band in the lodge and I remember everybody dancing with their ski boots on! When I would go down stairs to use the bathroom the floor was moving up and down when you looked up at it from everybody dancing! I took a drive there a couple of years ago to look around. I was on bing maps tonight looking at an aerial view of the place. Thanks for bringing back some great memories with your web site.
Barry
Jeff:
A friend found your website about Hahn Mountain and we thoroughly enjoyed it!
I have attached copies of my memorabilia.
While I am envious I do not have your poster, I did find a bumper sticker (and I do have the ski patch).
Also attached are brochures from the 82-83 season (on blue paper) and 83-84 season (on green paper) as well as an undated brochure (on "glossy" paper).
My uncle (Henry Peters from Fleetwood) was a ski instructor there at Big Valley and Hahn Mountain. My brothers skied Big Valley in high school and I arrived on the scene when it became Hahn Mountain. We taught all of our friends how to ski there -- it was our Saturday night hang-out place.
Thanks again for bringing back our fond memories.
Linda Peters