Belle Mountain Ski Area, Lambertville, NJ

New Jersey has perhaps some of the most surprising lost ski areas in terms of their location. You don't often think of New Jersey as being ski country, especially outside of the relatively more rugged northern third of the state. Still, where there were people who wanted to ski there cropped up a series of very small local ski hills to accommodate the growing sport in the 1960s and 70s. Belle Mountain, just outside Lambertville in Mercer County along the Delaware River, is one such lost ski area. 

Sporting no more than 200 feet of vertical drop on a hill topping out at right around 300 feet above sea level, Belle Mountain (affectionately referred to as the "Belle Bump" by locals) really pushes the limits of compact ski areas. The date for Belle's opening is hard to pin down exactly. Based on aerial photos it appears that skiing may have started as early as the early 1960s in the field at the bottom of the hill's north slope. A rope tow seems like it may have operated about half way to the top here. Certainly by the late 1960s a longer rope tow was extended to the top of the hill servicing a straight slope down the steeper north side of the hill, along with a looping trail and a field on the northeast side which served as a beginner area with its own rope tow. In the late 60s or early 70s a Hall double chairlift was installed. The dates on this are again somewhat hard to say for certain. Lift installation sources and aerial photos show that it would appear the lift began going up in 1969, but other sources associated with the ski area at the time do not remember it operating until the early 70s. In either case, it would give Belle more of a sense of permanence. Several structures were also built up around the base of the hill as well to accommodate skiers: a warming hut and snack bar, ski rentals out of a trailer and a ticket office. 

Belle Mountain soldiered on through the 1980s and into the 1990s but the changes in skier preferences, cost increases and competition ultimately drove the area into the red. By the mid 1990s the county had assumed ownership of the area and contracted out the operations. After a couple of warm winters and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the venture, Mercer county shuttered Belle Mountain permanently. It's last operating season would be the disastrously warm winter of 1997/1998. The ski area infrastructure remained in place for years, but was finally removed in 2010. 

The area is a park today and open to the public. Although it doesn't look like it, quite a bit remains to tell the hill's story as a ski area. One small shack stands at the bottom of the hill. This housed a series of valves for the snowmaking system. Off to one side is the snowmaking pond. The pumphouse is still standing with the pump still in it. In fact the snowmaking system is largely in place across the hill. There are pipes running all along the hill outlining the former slopes. Electrical hook ups and hydrants abound. Of the lifts nothing remains of the longer rope tow besides the cement footer at the top of the hill and a fallen pole which would have mounted a sheave wheel. There is a metal pole at the top that had the lift attendant's controls attached. There is also a small collapsed antenna at the hill's summit. Whether this was related to the ski area or not is unclear. It might have served the ski patrol and employees if they used a radio system. Of the smaller rope tow there are a few rusted components in the bushes. A second beginner pony tow is intact still sitting in the lower field. Interestingly, a partially collapsed structure which appears to be the top terminal of a rope tow is present halfway up the main slope. This might have been the top of the original rope tow. The chairlift was removed with the rest of the major structures, although the counterweight was left behind. It is now encased in brush next to the road. Also present are the rails which the Hall drive carriage would have rested on. The lift was quite short, at only 786 feet in length. Unfortunately, after sitting derelict for nearly 15 years it was likely scrapped rather than sold on to a different mountain.

The area was fully lit and the metal light poles still dot the hillside, looking out of place today. Although still a public park, Mercer County stopped mowing most of the slopes several years ago, allowing them to gradually grow back in. Locals still earn turns during the rare snowstorms that cover the runs enough to become skiable, but this has become more difficult as more brush overtakes the area. 

While Belle was small it produced a ton of skiers who went on to bigger mountains and are still skiing today. It's an area a lot of people remember and have memories of learning to ski at. That is sort of the legacy of these small ski areas. While they might be a part of history now, they are very much living on in the skiers they produced.

The last thing standing (almost) at Belle Mountain. This little shack housed valves for the snowmaking system. The pipes for the snowmaking system are buried here but run on the surface across most of the rest of the hill.

USGS topo of Belle Mountain. The hill the ski area is situated on is part of a series of river bluffs over the Delaware River in Mercer County. The summit of the hill is around 300 feet above sea level and the vertical drop does not exceed 200 feet. The ski area occupied the north slope of the hill.

Historic aerial photographs show the evolution of this small area. The first ski slope appears in the early 1960s along with the snowmaking pond. By the late 1960s the ski area extended to the top of the hill, the double chairlift followed shortly after. Note the snowmaking apparent in the fourth panel which shows where the ski trails were situated. 

Brochure from the 94/95 season towards the end. Interestingly they advertised 7 trails. Realistically there was maybe 2 ways down from the top, and a third for the beginner area. 

More from the 94/95 brochure. A weekend all day ticket for a non-county resident was $21. Rentals were $15 ($25 for snowboards). Learning to ski was one of the main attractions of small areas like Belle Mountain.

 

In case you worried about getting lost you could always grab a handy Belle Mountain trail map. Here there was only labeled 4 trails or slopes, so this brochure likely predates the 94/95 one. The double chair is also listed as being 1000 feet long, although other sources put the length at 786 feet for the installation records. They also had quite a cool looking logo.

 

Newspaper clipping from 1979 featuring Belle Mountain. This is looking down the hill from the beginner slope. The light poles in the background are still standing today. 

Another newspaper clipping, this time from 1998 featuring the ski patrol director Kurt Crouse as he inspects the grips on the Hall double chairlift. 1998 was Belle Mountain's last year in operation.

This building seems to have housed components of a rope tow. This may have been the original early 1960s mid-hill rope tow that served the bottom of the main slope. This would not have been in use after the completion of the longer rope tow which reached the top of the hill.

Return wheel on the handle tow. All the components of this tow are still in place, despite all the other lifts having been removed. 

Current satellite image of Belle Mountain with the approximate locations of the lifts and old ski area infrastructure labeled.