Kahkout Mountain Ski Area, Winona Lakes, PA

Stumbling upon these places happens in a number of ways. It might be from word of mouth, or seeing a picture online. Or even observing the impression of a trail in the woods and wondering what was there. Sometimes bits and pieces are left behind for us to discover, and that sparks the imagination and gets the best of our curiosity. So it was with me one sunny afternoon in March of 2020. As the world shut down I found myself driving on a nearly deserted highway to a non-descript stretch of woods in the Poconos. The only direction I had was a jacket patch: a green shape with a white caricaturized Native American on skis and the name "Kahkout Mountain" emblazoned across it. 

It can be somewhat surprising, and maybe a little disheartening to learn how little history has been preserved of some lost ski areas. In my case, all I had was this patch and an article in the Pocono Record from 2008, detailing the challenges facing private ski areas in the Poconos. The concept of the private ski area is one which might be somewhat unfamiliar in other parts of the country and perhaps anomalously took root in the Poconos, despite less it's impressive terrain and snowfalls. In the 1960s and 70s as many resorts and small ski areas were opening to the public across the regions there was also a push to develop new vacation communities of second homes. Residents could buy into the developments and gain the advantage of private amenities from joining. These often included a repertoire of outdoor activities. Tennis courts and pools were provided. A clubhouse and private restaurant might be available. And in many cases so were private, lift serviced ski slopes. One individual in particular who left an impression on the private resort market in the Poconos was Karl Hope. The developer behind Shawnee Mountain and Big Bear at Masthope (formerly private, now open to the public), he would go on to develop two other private areas: Pocono Ranchlands and Winona Lakes. The latter contained the Kahkout Mountain ski area.

Besides Hope a number of private areas took off, all following a similar pattern. Land, often times around a natural focal point like a lake, was subdivided and sold as lots to buyers who were expected to build vacation homes. They did this with the promise of getting access to the community's amenities on an on-demand basis, free of the crowds at public vacation resorts. Initially these developments fared quite well. The Poconos are practically dotted with them: Saw Creek, Arrowhead Lake, Tanglewood and the list goes on. However, as times changed so did the nature of the vacation industry and real estate in the Poconos. Most second home vacation communities gained increasingly larger proportions of primary home residents. Fees could no longer stretch to cover expenses of running the area's different amenities without public revenue streams. Some areas like Kahkout Mountain allowed lift ticket sales to residents' guests, but even this wasn't sufficient to cover the shortfall. Ultimately, residents were faced with the choice of whether to cut certain activities like skiing, or pay to keep them afloat. In some cases areas went public, like at Big Bear. At others, the skiing stopped. 

In 2008 the residents of Winona Lakes voted on whether to pay to upgrade the aging ski lift at their ski area. By a margin of nearly 40 points they voted down the project. The area at this point was already suffering from lack of interest and was only open a handful of days per year on weekends. But while all this was occurring very few people from outside were paying attention. The very nature of private ski areas meant that their operations were oftentimes completely unknown to those outside their host communities, and so when they closed they became much more forgotten and "lost" than their public counterparts.

So that's how I arrived at Winona Lakes, with just an old ski patch to go off of. The community today consists of more primary residences than vacation homes. The main road leading to the lodge/community center is still called Ski Lodge Cir. Kahkout Mountain was an upside down ski area, meaning the ski lodge was at the top and you generally parked/started your first run from the top already. This afforded patrons at the lodge views north over the hills of northeast PA. Kahkout Mountain consisted of a single Borvig double chair, installed in 1972 which lifted skiers 450 vertical feet from bottom to summit. The monopod drive terminal is pretty common on smaller Borvig chairs of that time period. Another identical unit is a few miles away at Pocono Ranchlands. Kahkout is in the bigger half of private areas given its vertical, and fairly steep terrain on the more difficult trails. Snowmaking was provided from water drawn out of the Bushkill Creek at the base, and the area operated modern fanguns up until its closure. The field behind the lodge was used as a learning area, and the top and bottom wheels of the pony handle tow are still stored at the edge of the slope. The chairlift still has the original chairs hanging. Indeed it mostly appears the area was simply shut down and walked away from in 2008. Old posters still hang on the walls of a bottom maintenance building. Trail signs still remain (although some are riddled with bullet holes) and the imagination needs to do little work to imagine Kahkout as a functioning ski area. All that is required is to picture the people.

 

Looking out from the top of Kahkout Mountain. Even though the lift doesn't spin anymore, it doesn't take much imagination to picture the mountain in action. 

Kahkout Mountain as it appeared in 1992. The lodge was at the top (bottom left) of the mountain. There was a single Borvig double chair spanning the entire vertical drop. The trails merged around mid-mountain. From left to right looking downhill was the easiest out and back trail, two steeper expert trails and then two intermediate trails furthest right. Kahkout was one of the larger private ski areas and had some of the more difficult terrain for a private area in PA.

                                            

Current satellite image of the mountain. Note that the lodge has changed. The original lodge burned down in the 1990s and was rebuilt. The new lodge has an outdoor pool while the original had an indoor swimming pool. Also note the prevalence of hemlocks over the mountain which shaded the trails and would have helped retain snowpack.

The drive terminal of the Borvig double chair. The drive was a compact monopod configuration with the motor inside the unit attached to the bullwheel on a single stanchion. The chairs are original Borvig slat chairs. Looking up the liftline through the angular bottom portal tower, another Borvig feature on lifts of this era.

Top of the lift line and one of the top lift towers. Note the characteristic square, angular 70s Borvig design. The liftline stretches 2500 feet and rises about 430 feet.