• Austerlitz Had a Ski Area

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Mountain Ten
1948 - Mid/Late 1960's

    Mountain Ten was a small ski area started by Howard Hirsch of New York City
  during the 1948-1949 season.  It first operated with 600' and 750' rope tows,
  along with a few slopes and trails.  Around 1950, the area installed two new
  tows near 1000' each, while the 750' got shortened to 400'.  The vertical of the
  area was 400'.  The last listing we have for this area is 1951.  Several NY
  guidebooks from 1955-1960 do not list the area, and those guides are quite
  thorough.

    To the right is an overhead map of the area.  Notice that the slopes have
  grown in quite a bit.  A parking lot can be seen at the bottom of the slope.  It is 
  unknown where the rope tows were located.

    Dan Hegeman used to ski here and brings this first person perspective: I'd like
  to mention to you that Mountain Ten did not go out of business in the 50's.  I
  skied Mountain Ten into the mid-to-late 1960's.  The place was operating at that
  time as a cooperative, as I remember.  (I was very young at the time and the
  details of ownership were of no importance to me.)  As I remember it, we had a
  family membership.  The place boasted having the longest rope tow in North
  America.  Legend had it that there was a longer one in Russia.  It was really too
  steep for a rope tow, and you had to have a strong grip to make it to the top. 
  Wool mittens were not permitted, as they would sometimes freeze to the rope by
  the time you got to the top.  The rope tow would eat through a pair of leather
  mittens in a day.  We used to wrap our mittens in friction tape, which would be
  worn away by the end of the day, sparing the leather for another day.  I don't
  think I skied there past 1968, although my memory is not really clear on the
  years.  I graduated to skiing the mountains in the Berkshires, such as Brodie.  I
  suspect the other members did too.

    Bill Kimok: I read Dan Hegeman's piece on Mountain Ten with nostalgic interest
  for a number of reasons.  I bought my first pair of used skis from Dan's little
  brother Clint, with whom I skied at Mt. Ten almost every Sunday for two years 
  during the late 1960's / early 1970's.

    I also engaged in my first competitive skiing at Mt. Ten.  Every year during that
  era they had slalom and downhill competitions for various age groups.  These
  games were scheduled usually during the early spring, and without any real
  snow-making equipment at that place we were always at the whims of nature.  I
  remember one year when the snow was so sticky and my skis were so pathetic
  that I pretty nearly walked down the slope during the downhill; no match for the
  couple of big fish-little pond ringers who brought expensively waxed K2s to the
  dance.

    Nonetheless, you couldn't beat the prices.  I paid maybe $10 for a full year's
  membership there.  Nor could you beat the ambiance.  Many of us were school
  chums from Chatham High School - coming from neighboring villages such as Red
  Rock, Spencertown, Austerlitz, and East Chatham - and Mt. Ten made for a
  convenient rendezvous point on weekends when we didn't have transportation or
  couldn't afford lift prices at the Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont
  slopes.  Moreover, there was a nice little cozy lodge and fireplace at the base of
  the hill, and you couldn't beat the prices on hot dogs and hot chocolate, which 
  were sold to us by volunteer members who rotated behind the snack counter.

Mountain Ten by the Year

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Town Facts

Latitude: 42.311N
Longitude: -73.473W

Square Miles: 48.74
Acreage: 31190
State Park Acreage: 3000+

Population: 1453
Population/Sq Mile: 29.81

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