Split Rock Ski Area, Lake Harmony, PA

I think one of my favorite perks to starting this project are the mini road trips its allowed me to take. You get up into the mountains and see the towns and communities in the ski country near where these lost areas were located. Those places are important in the context of lost ski areas as well. Skiing is a part of the economy there. It's part of the tourism industry that many mountain towns increasingly rely upon, especially during the "down" part of the year. But skiing also makes up a part of the identity of these places, and its intertwined with the culture and history in a deeper respect. The trip before this I took to Apple Hill outside Allentown, and I had said if I were writing a book about skiing in eastern PA, that place would have its own chapter. If Apple Hill has its own chapter, then another lost area would make up a big chunk of the first chapter. That area was called Split Rock, and its where the public was first introduced to commercial, lift-served downhill skiing in PA. 

The history of Split Rock goes all the way back to the 19th century and the anthracite coal mining boom in northeastern PA and the formation of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, an amalgamation of coal mining and canal interests in the anthracite region. In 1941 company president Robert White bought 45,000 acres of woodland atop the Pocono Plateau where he had founded the Split Rock Lodge on the shores of Lake Harmony as a company retreat. The lodge took its name from a rock formation atop a nearby hill. 

The lodge grew over the years from a company executive retreat to a four seasons resort including cottages and summer cabins. In 1942 the Split Rock Ski Club managed two ski slopes near the lodge: the namesake Split Rock ski slope and another, the Hazzard Ski Slope which would later be sold in late 1940s to become Big Boulder. After its divestment by the coal company Split Rock became a public resort following the pattern of other Poconos vacation resorts. The 1950s through the 1970s were the golden years of the post-war vacation boom in the Poconos, and throughout the Northeast in general. Split Rock straddled the lineage between the pre-war grand hotels and the newer, modern vacation resorts. Where many of the old hotels and lodges did not survive the Depression and WW2, Split Rock adapted quickly to offering modern amenities and marketing itself as a family destination to New Yorkers and Philadelphians looking for distraction. 

Driving through the development today, much of that mid-century resort character remains apparent. The lodge itself is still open, although it dissociated itself from the ski area and now serves only as a hotel. Split Rock is unique in that it is a survivor of a bygone era. Most of the resorts which flourished in the Poconos in 1960s are gone,  the victims of cheap air travel and changing tastes.

The ski area itself was a small affair, typical of ones attached to the old vacation resorts. Skiing was more an add-on than a main attraction, and guests were assumed to be novices, so skiing was more of a novelty than a serious pursuit. A tow was placed below the hill topped by the namesake rock, and this serviced a short open slope. The tow was later replaced by a t-bar and a toboggan chute was added, but this arrangement remained unchanged for around forty years. It wasn't until the 1980s and an ownership change that the lodge began to think about skiing as a serious offering. Lift serviced terrain was extended to the top of the hill, and a Borvig double chairlift was installed on a tandem tower configuration to allow the addition of more lift capacity when needed. However, it was not to be, and the double chair ran alone for the rest of the ski area's operation. While a good deal of modernization was done on the mountain the vertical drop still did not exceed 200 feet, which ranked it as the smallest of the Poconos ski areas open to the public, by far. 

Most skiers by the 1990s and early 2000s would only know Split Rock as a less crowded alternative to Big Boulder, if they visited at all. In 2004 the ski area was finally closed, ending 62 years of operations, making it Pennsylvania's oldest, and longest lived lost ski area. The lodge lived on, and the old vacation community has evolved into a development of second (and now more often, first) homes around Lake Harmony. 

The bottom terminal of the old chairlift is now a parking lot beside a new indoor water park. Parking here on a sunny day, the first thing you notice is the noise. A kind of ceaseless white noise hum from the water park's massive air handlers. The slopes themselves remain clear and in a way it looks like the ski area simply shut down for the season. Snowmaking hydrants crop up along pipelines snaking up the hill. The Poma t-bar which replaced the rope tow in the 1960s is still standing. The chairlift was sold to Mt. Peter in New York, but apparently nobody wants a used t-bar anymore, so here it remains. It has a characteristic "floating" bull wheel and tensioning system at the return terminal. This consists of the bullwheel, unattached to the ground via the traditional stanchions but instead suspended on cables and drawn back by a counterweight. It makes for an interesting site sitting forlorn as it is today. It also reminds you a very long, heavy metal cable is held in place by neglected supports and crumbling cement, and so after looking you walk away somewhat more quickly than you approached. 

Of the double chair only the tower footers and a cement foundation for the top terminal remain. Next to the unload area of the chairlift is the rock in Split Rock. It is, as its name suggests, a giant rock, split in two. A set of rather rickety wooden stairs had been run to the top. The views of which offer a panorama of trees. The Pocono Plateau is, after all, a plateau. It's flat, and this is reinforced when you look out from the top of Split Rock. Still, its status of a geologic novelty should not be understated, as it appears as the subject in numerous old postcards, replete with smiling sightseers. Perhaps entertaining people was easier 80 years. Maybe it isn't the economy or the weather, or anything else so easy to study. Maybe the truth is simpler, but also harder to explain: that people just require more stimulation these days. The days where a vacation resort could offer round beds and mini golf and draw the crowds are over. Now we need indoor beaches and 4k television. And that, perhaps is why places like Split Rock closed. I had that idea to mull over as I got back in the car, the hum of the water park omnipresent, to drive off to the next artifact of vacation-past. 

Split Rock Lodge on the shores of Lake Harmony. The lodge was built in the early 1940s as a rustic retreat for executives of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. It later evolved into a hotel and four season vacation resort.

USGS topographic map shows the lack of relief around Lake Harmony. The hill that the ski area was sited on does not exceed 200 vertical feet. The summit however is quite high by PA standards at around 2060 feet above sea level owing to its location atop the Pocono plateau. Approximate location of the ski lifts is indicated in red.

Aerial photographs show the ski area's expansion in the 1980s with the addition of a double chairlift to the top of the hill. Previously skiing was confined to a smaller slope on the side of the hill. The original slope was cut in the 1940s.

Current satellite view of the former Split Rock Ski Area. Approximate locations of lifts and ski area infrastructure are labeled. Note that the ski area had its own ski lodge. This changed from a structure at the bottom of the old ski slope, to a newer building set back on the opposite side of the snowmaking pond. Also note the development across the base area since the area's closing.

View down the ski slope when it was still serviced by the rope tow. This was how operations at Split Rock would have looked in the earliest days. Photo is likely from the 1940s or 50s.

Split Rock brochure and trail map from the 1960s. The trail layout was rather simple with the main slope and a few adjacent trails. The area also advertised cross country skiing, ski rentals and a ski school.

1960s advertisement for the Split Rock Lodge. Split Rock grew into a four season vacation resort offering patrons numerous outdoor activities.

View up the old ski slope. Photo is likely from the 1960s or 70s.

1990s trail map after the terrain expansion. The old ski slope and t-bar are on the left, the new double chair served the expanded terrain pod on the right. The modern lodge is also depicted at the bottom, along with the Galleria movie theater.

Looking down the t-bar line today adjacent to the old ski slope. The 1960s Poma t-bar is still largely intact. Snowmaking pipe is visible on the ground next to the t-bar tower.

Top tower of the t-bar. This was at the unload point at the top of the old slope. The pine trees have grown up quite a bit since the 1960s.