Mount Snow
The original name for Mount Snow was Mt. Pisgah. which is a 3,556 peak located in the town of West Dover, Vermont. The mountain was originally purchased by Walt Schoenknecht in 1953. Schoenknect purchased 500 acres of land on Mt. Pisgah for $15,000. The name of the mountain was changed to Mt. Snow after the family & become the new federally recognized name.
The mountain opened in 1954 with 2 chairlifts & a rope tow serving 5 trails and 2 slopes. After a great first year, Mt. Snow added its longest chairlift at the time; a 3,800 foot chain double lift which helped push the vertical drop of Mt. Snow over 1,700 foot mark making it one of the largest ski areas in the Northeast.
Within 4 years of opening, Mt Snow boasted 32 trails, a summit lodge & a large base lodge. In 1959 after opening the North Face for skiers, the Boston Globe called Mt. Snow the "World's Largest Ski Area."
Schoenknecht was just getting started on his expansion plans for Mt. Snow. In 1960, he opened Snow Lake Lodge at the base of the mountain with a large man made lake. In 1964, Mt. Snow took another step into the future of the ski industry & installed a gondola. By 1970, Mt. Snow had over 44 trails over 3 parts of the mountain.
Due to energy issues & multiple bad winters, Mt Snow was forced into bankruptcy in 1975. The mountain was eventually purchased in 1977. In 1986, Carinthia Ski Area was purchased & combined with Mt. Snow. In 1992, the first snowboard park in the East was established at Mount Snow, named Un Blanco Gulch . The park featured jumps, a half-pipe, quarter hits, spines, wedges, banked turns, and a buried van. "
In 2000, Mount Snow hosted the 4th Annual Winter X-Games. The Games shattered previous attendance records and drew in athletes from around the world. The Games returned to Mount Snow the following year. Then in 2002, Kelly Clark, a snowboarder raised on the slopes of Mount Snow, won the first American gold medal of the XIX Olympic Games in women’s half-pipe. The Gulch" remained a staple of Mount Snow's freestyle terrain until the 2008-2009 season when all terrain parks were moved to the Carinthia area of the mountain. A new lodge was built at the base of Carinthia in 2018.
Mt. Snow is currently owned by Vail Resorts & has 86 trails with over 600 acres. In the summertime, Mt. Snow offer hiking trails, mountain biking & chairlift rides to the summit.
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