SKIING WITH BEETLEJUICE AT AMERICA’S OLDEST ROPE TOW
I love visiting different ski areas. Don’t get me wrong, having a home mountain, or two, is great, but going and exploring other ski areas is one of my favorite parts of the winter. Today my explorations took me to East Corinth, Vermont, to Northeast Slopes. I drove by this ski area, which is in a very rural part of Vermont, in 2021, and have wanted to visit ever since. What I didn’t know then was that this place has a rich history, both in terms of skiing, and its connection to Hollywood.
Sign at the base.
Looking up the hill.
Looking down the hill on Waterfall.
Northeast Slopes has been spinning rope tows since 1936 and it’s the oldest operating rope tow hill in the country. They have two. One is short, and the other goes almost to the top of the hill. If you want to get to the top, you’ll need to take the T-Bar. The hill is about 35 acres, with a vertical of 360 ft. There are 12 runs. They don’t make any snow. This is a natural snow-only ski area. On top of being the oldest rope tow hill in the country, Northeast Slopes is also home to some famous red buildings.
In the 1980s, Beetlejuice was filmed in the area. To keep a long story short, early in the movie, two main characters (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) Barbara and Adam Maitland are about to drive across a covered bridge when they see a dog. Adam yells to watch out, Barbara swerves, and the car goes through the side of the bridge. The car then proceeds to fall into the creek below, killing them both. From there, the two haunt the house they lived in, and are significant characters in the film. In the 2020s, Hollywood came back to the area and filmed the followup movie, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The bridge was once again highlighted, though no one died in it this go around.
The bridge cover from Beetlejuice at the bottom of the Small Rope Tow.
I think the building at the bottom of Big Rope Tow was also part of the bridge cover.
The bridge cover from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Another angle of the bridge cover from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
For both movies, though, a red covering was constructed for a bridge in East Corinth. After filming the first movie, the first bridge covering ended up at Northeast Slopes, in the 1980s. Fast forward 30+ years, and the second red covering built for the bridge ended up right next to it. The first red covering was used to house the equipment for the rope tows, and probably storage, too. The second one is a pavilion area. You can easily see both.
As a fan of the movies, the first thing I did upon arriving to Northeast Slopes was check out these set pieces. They were definitely cool to see, and if you like that sort of thing, it’s worth visiting the ski hill just for that and then continuing on to the town to see more. I did that myself after leaving Northeast Slopes.
The actual bridge.
The location of Miss Shannon’s School for Girls.
The location of Miss Shannon’s School for Girls.
There he is!
After checking out the buildings, it was all about the skiing. I hopped on the T-Bar by myself and said, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” I figured it would be more interesting of a ride if I had someone to talk to. Sadly, he didn’t appear, but what didn’t disappoint was the the skiing! Northeast Slopes is a bit larger in size than the T-Bar hills I’m accustomed to skiing, and there are even some trees. It’s a pretty sweet T-Bar hill. Despite its small vertical, there are even a few areas that are fairly steep. They weren’t spinning the long rope tow today, just the short one, but the T-Bar was spinning so I stuck to it.
Riding the T-bar.
Northside.
Looking up at Upper Powerline.
Sugar House.
Yesterday was warm and today was cold. That means conditions were firm basically everywhere, though they were a bit better where they had groomed, which was primarily in the terrain around the rope tow and the T-Bar. I was really surprised they had trees to ski, so I checked some of them out and they were pretty open, though short. Unfortunately, conditions weren’t great today for skiing trees, so I mostly stuck to the other runs.
Some skiable woods.
Looking back at Main Slope from the top of The Face.
New Face.
The lodge is to the right.
My lift ticket was only $15, and a hot dog was $3. I didn’t get a hot dog, but I did check the price. Though it’s a small ski hill, Northeast Slopes has a lot to offer. I mean, there are multiple pieces of Hollywood sitting at the bottom! But Beetlejuice aside, the size of this T-Bar hill provides plenty to keep you entertained for an afternoon, especially if you’re in the trees. And let’s face it, you can’t beat the price, lift ticket, hot dog and all.
Never trust the living,
Lincoln