THE SMALLEST VERTICAL SKI AREA I’VE EVER SKIED
Last July I hiked Crane Mountain in the southern Adirondacks. While driving to the mountain I drove past a small ski area that required a second take for me to even realize that it was a ski area. Between the hill being small, everything being green, and there being a baseball field on-site, it was kind of tough to tell if it was a ski hill or not, but once I saw the lift my curiosity was peaked. That night I went home and started searching for the name of the hill. Since I had no idea where I was when I saw the hill, it took a minute, but eventually I came to find out that I'd driven past Dynamite Hill Recreation Area.
Sign at the entrance.
The lodge.
Looking down the ski hill from the top.
Seven months after driving by, I finally skied it this afternoon. Dynamite Hill Recreation Area is located in Chestertown, New York. From what I’ve found on the internet, its vertical is around 65 ft., which makes this smallest vertical ski area I’ve ever skied. Dynamite Hill is owned and operated by the community, and there’s no charge. This is a free lift-served ski hill. They do make snow here and they also have lights for night skiing. On top of the skiing, and the baseball field, there’s also a sledding hill, an ice skating rink, some hiking and mountain biking trails, and probably more. This recreation area has quite a lot to offer.
My first time riding the handle tow.
Riding with the handle behind my back.
They don’t normally operate the handle tow on Thursday’s, but with it being a holiday week, they were spinning the handle tow all day, which provided access to the one wide run. I’d never actually ridden a handle tow, so this was a first for me. When I first got on it I thought you were supposed to hold the handle with your hands. After a lap or two, my hands were starting to hurt, and the lift attendant showed me that I could actually put it behind my back. From then on it was a pretty comfortable ride.
Looking up the hill from the base of the handle tow.
You can probably tell from my pictures that I had the ski hill to myself. There was only one other person who skied while I was there, and they showed up towards the end of my time at the hill. With temperatures around freezing, the snow was really nice and soft today. It was great to carve through. With this being a very small ski hill, each run was short, which allowed me to get a ton of laps in.
Dynamite Hill Recreation Area is the 17th ski area I’ve skied this season. It’s a pretty small hill, there’s no doubt about it, but the skiing is fun for what it is, and you can’t beat the price. I will definitely be back in the future.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln