I skied the Sharp Mountain ski area in the early 1970s. Our High School (Tri Valley)had a ski club under our gym teacher Mr. Mencer and we skied quite frequently during the week and during the evening hours. It was my first introduction to the sport and I have continued the ski various areas through the years. To date I have skied for the last 54years. Our main mountain that we ski today is Elk Mountain in Susquehanna County. My most humorous event at Sharp Mountain was when I collided with two girls when transitioning between the TBar run and the JBar run. There was a ski school between these two runs and I collided with the girls in front of the ski school and we all ended up by the fence by the parking lot. In that timeline wooden skis were the norm for rentals. The girls had a considerable debris field of possessions and my wooden skis were broken in front of the boot. It was amazing that I survived the event, because the girls threatened me with bodily harm due to the event. I pray the girls if they read this, were not hurt by the event. Looking back on it now, it was an amusing event but at the time it wasn't very funny. Last event I remember was that my friend was hit by one of our ski buddies, literally run over and had to be removed from the mountain via injury sled and by the ski patrol or those that were trained to help in injuries. The event was observed from the chair lift. All good times and memories from the past! The area was very nice and we all prayed it would reopen someday!
I am 64 years old and learned to ski at several of your Gorskie areas My Dad was from Pottsville and skied Sharp mountain many times That place was unique in the fact that they had a ski jump set up there Really enjoy your site Thank you
The first time I ever rode a chair lift was at Sharp Mountain. Power went out and we hung up in the air for 45 minutes before the lift moved again, albeit very slowly. When we got to the top the attendant said, "dont fall, I cant stop the lift". Well of course I fell but got out of the way just in time for the following chair. Good memories, skied here a lot. Fairly short drive from lower Bucks County. Thanks for the memory.
Learned to ski there in '77. Great memories of going over the mountain ( we lived on the other side) after 'supper' & skiing for a few hours before bed-time. Made a life-long skiier out of me. Thanks for this video!
learned to ski there in "77. Right up the street from my cousin's house & over the mountain from ours. We'd go over after dinner & ski for a few hours. So fun! made a lifelong skier out of me. Thanks for this video
Avery, i used to work there before they closed. The double chair lift is at blue mt. ski area palmerton,pa. Now that was a few years ago when the owner and i rode it together. The snow guns were the old style tri-pod with an air hose & water connections. The t-bar was also sold to them. The j-bar i have no idea who or where that is.The supply lines ran between the t-bar and double chair at that time they were not buried under ground. Thanks for brining back good memories. Steve
Learned to ski at Sharp Mt. with the steep grade, mogul hill and sudden "stop" it prepared you to ski anywhere! But it was the events held there that made it a great place to ski in the late '60s.
I grew up on 24th street across the parking lot of the ski area and recall that Charlie Marquette, the ex son-in-law of the landowner excavated the ski area over a couple years and the tractors were kept right next to our property. The video is great but of course saddens me since it is overgrown to the point that it is unrecognizable. The memories for me run very deep since Sharp Mt was my playground. I skied there religiously and my mom worked in the lodge running the ski school desk. The ownership changed hands a few times over the years and after it failed as a ski run in the 70s, it became the Pottsville Club (after the original one on Mahantango Street burned down). Want to mention, there was a road that ran perpendicular to the main slope slightly above the lodge that went to a water tower-not sure if it is still there or dismantled.. I concur with Steve Gall's comment about the snow making machines that they were actually guns on tripods. I remember them well since some years we depended on them greatly for enough snow. Wondering if the Schuylkill Co.Historical Society may have more info on the development of the ski area as well as the demise...Thanks again Avery for the video - are you from the area by chance?
Thank you so much for sharing these memories of Sharp Mountain! I grew up not too far away near Reading, PA. I had heard about this place from people who also remembered local areas like Hahn Mountain. That got me curious about the history and I've been researching ever since. The road still runs to a set of water tanks on the other side of the mountain. I'll have to get in touch with somebody at the county historical society. There are some resources online but sadly with many of these lost ski areas all that you can go off of is the accounts of people who skied there. Many times they did not generate a ton of press. I did see a 1970 clipping from Ski Magazine featuring this area. There's a few other things floating around out there.
When I was still a child, after the ski area closed, I remember finding the remnants of that old wooden jump in the woods. I don’t remember it from the years Sharp Mt. was open. I did “try” to learn to ski there as a very small kid, but transitioned over to Hahn Mt. as a teen. I’d love to find some info or even pictures of the jump!
Like Sally, I also lived on 24th Street (hey, Sally, how are you?) I'd buckle up my boots, throw my skis over my shoulder, and walk up my back yard to Sharp. Spent all winter there Monday through Friday 6:00 to 10:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. John Cullen was the developer/coal guy who owned the land. It was a fairly steep hill of Northeastern ice that produced a lot of excellent skiers. Thanks for the present day tour of my old neighborhood. Did you check out the top of the mountain and any remains of the fire tower?
Thanks for sharing the memories of Sharp Mtn! I did not go down the ridge to the site of the old fire tower, although the old roadway to get there is still very obvious.
Hi Trish! Great to hear your comment - you and I go back....I tagged Tim and he replied to me on FB with his memories which would be great for him to share on here.
Learned to ski there also. Did you know that sometimes in the summer the lodge ran rides on the chair lift to picnic and hike on too if the mountain? I used to just hike up there and walk all over the mountain. Did you know there was a cave up there?
I skied the Sharp Mountain ski area in the early 1970s. Our High School (Tri Valley)had a ski club under our gym teacher Mr. Mencer and we skied quite frequently during the week and during the evening hours.
It was my first introduction to the sport and I have continued the ski various areas through the years. To date I have skied for the last 54years. Our main mountain that we ski today is Elk Mountain in Susquehanna County. My most humorous event at Sharp Mountain was when I collided with two girls when transitioning between the TBar run and the JBar run. There was a ski school between these two runs and I collided with the girls in front of the ski school and we all ended up by the fence by the parking lot. In that timeline wooden skis were the norm for rentals. The girls had a considerable debris field of possessions and my wooden skis were broken in front of the boot. It was amazing that I survived the event, because the girls threatened me with bodily harm due to the event. I pray the girls if they read this, were not hurt by the event. Looking back on it now, it was an amusing event but at the time it wasn't very funny. Last event I remember was that my friend was hit by one of our ski buddies, literally run over and had to be removed from the mountain via injury sled and by the ski patrol or those that were trained to help in injuries. The event was observed from the chair lift. All good times and memories from the past! The area was very nice and we all prayed it would reopen someday!
I am 64 years old and learned to ski at several of your Gorskie areas
My Dad was from Pottsville and skied Sharp mountain many times
That place was unique in the fact that they had a ski jump set up there
Really enjoy your site
Thank you
The first time I ever rode a chair lift was at Sharp Mountain. Power went out and we hung up in the air for 45 minutes before the lift moved again, albeit very slowly. When we got to the top the attendant said, "dont fall, I cant stop the lift". Well of course I fell but got out of the way just in time for the following chair.
Good memories, skied here a lot. Fairly short drive from lower Bucks County.
Thanks for the memory.
Thanks for sharing this story!
Learned to ski at Sharp Mountain. Short drive to Pottsville and spent most weekends at Sharp Mtn.
Learned to ski there in '77. Great memories of going over the mountain ( we lived on the other side) after 'supper' & skiing for a few hours before bed-time. Made a life-long skiier out of me. Thanks for this video!
learned to ski there in "77. Right up the street from my cousin's house & over the mountain from ours. We'd go over after dinner & ski for a few hours. So fun! made a lifelong skier out of me. Thanks for this video
Avery, i used to work there before they closed. The double chair lift is at blue mt. ski area palmerton,pa. Now that was a few years ago when the owner and i rode it together. The snow guns were the old style tri-pod with an air hose & water connections. The t-bar was also sold to them. The j-bar i have no idea who or where that is.The supply lines ran between the t-bar and double chair at that time they were not buried under ground. Thanks for brining back good memories. Steve
Thank you for the info! It's great to hear those lifts made it somewhere else.
Learned to ski at Sharp Mt. with the steep grade, mogul hill and sudden "stop" it prepared you to ski anywhere! But it was the events held there that made it a great place to ski in the late '60s.
I grew up on 24th street across the parking lot of the ski area and recall that Charlie Marquette, the ex son-in-law of the landowner excavated the ski area over a couple years and the tractors were kept right next to our property. The video is great but of course saddens me since it is overgrown to the point that it is unrecognizable. The memories for me run very deep since Sharp Mt was my playground. I skied there religiously and my mom worked in the lodge running the ski school desk. The ownership changed hands a few times over the years and after it failed as a ski run in the 70s, it became the Pottsville Club (after the original one on Mahantango Street burned down). Want to mention, there was a road that ran perpendicular to the main slope slightly above the lodge that went to a water tower-not sure if it is still there or dismantled.. I concur with Steve Gall's comment about the snow making machines that they were actually guns on tripods. I remember them well since some years we depended on them greatly for enough snow. Wondering if the Schuylkill Co.Historical Society may have more info on the development of the ski area as well as the demise...Thanks again Avery for the video - are you from the area by chance?
Thank you so much for sharing these memories of Sharp Mountain! I grew up not too far away near Reading, PA. I had heard about this place from people who also remembered local areas like Hahn Mountain. That got me curious about the history and I've been researching ever since.
The road still runs to a set of water tanks on the other side of the mountain. I'll have to get in touch with somebody at the county historical society. There are some resources online but sadly with many of these lost ski areas all that you can go off of is the accounts of people who skied there. Many times they did not generate a ton of press. I did see a 1970 clipping from Ski Magazine featuring this area. There's a few other things floating around out there.
There was a small ski jump which a few of the instructors used!
When I was still a child, after the ski area closed, I remember finding the remnants of that old wooden jump in the woods. I don’t remember it from the years Sharp Mt. was open. I did “try” to learn to ski there as a very small kid, but transitioned over to Hahn Mt. as a teen. I’d love to find some info or even pictures of the jump!
With the most recent dump we had here in pa, I’m following your videos and gonna try and ride these places! Earn the turns!
Not much left. Most would never realize it’s a former ski area. Glad we have you to show us around. Thanks and excellent video.
Thanks! It's especially surprising because this area was not a small operation for its time.
Like Sally, I also lived on 24th Street (hey, Sally, how are you?) I'd buckle up my boots, throw my skis over my shoulder, and walk up my back yard to Sharp. Spent all winter there Monday through Friday 6:00 to 10:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. John Cullen was the developer/coal guy who owned the land. It was a fairly steep hill of Northeastern ice that produced a lot of excellent skiers. Thanks for the present day tour of my old neighborhood. Did you check out the top of the mountain and any remains of the fire tower?
Thanks for sharing the memories of Sharp Mtn! I did not go down the ridge to the site of the old fire tower, although the old roadway to get there is still very obvious.
Hi Trish! Great to hear your comment - you and I go back....I tagged Tim and he replied to me on FB with his memories which would be great for him to share on here.
Just like I was; I think you were lacing up your boots😊
nice work. I always find these interesting. appreciate it.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
Learned to ski there also. Did you know that sometimes in the summer the lodge ran rides on the chair lift to picnic and hike on too if the mountain? I used to just hike up there and walk all over the mountain. Did you know there was a cave up there?
The electricity was also for the lights that illuminated the hill......
Ever heard of Frosty Ski Slope in Titusville,PA. Think it operated 2 or3 years. I know where it was but knowing else. Thanks
Nice job on all the vids! Lot of work to research, then find these abandoned areas.
Thanks for your support!
Grew up in Pottsville and skied Sharp Mtn. many times. Never knew til this video 6/14/24 that the ski area had been a coal mining operation.
i take my dog running up there,shme its lost to history
Good sleuthing. Even know where it is, it's almost impossible to see on Google Earth.
I did have some help but you're right it is hard to spot anymore.