To understand the beginnings of skiing in New York State one has to consider three brothers from the small town of Phoenicia in the heart of the Catskill Mountains who got excited about skiing from the 1932 Olympics held at Lake Placid. The Simpson family owned land on the north western face of Romer Mountain.  James, Carroll and Augustus (Mickey) Simpson convinced their mother to donate about 6 acres to the State of New York for development into a ski slope to be known as the Simpson Memorial Ski Slope after their father Jay H. Simpson, who was a forest ranger from 1915 until his death in 1919. Simpson Memorial Ski Slope 1939 This 1935 donation by deed allowed the CCC boys to cut the trees and develop the land into a ski-able surface. Meanwhile the surrounding land was still owned by the family and it was envisioned that a ski tow and a ski jump would be installed to augment the slope. The ski jump was never built, but over time and well in to the 1960s the ski area was expanded and trails added.

The slope initially opened on February 11, 1935 without a tow and skiers had to climb up to ski down.

The following year an industrial stationary engine was rented for the season and a tower with sheaves and pulleys was built to power the tow. Engine & drive train for the first tow The tow was a strange contraption since there wasn't much of a blueprint to go by. Ski Tow Opening Day 1936 To compound the difficulty the tow line bent to the right about halfway up to conform to the edge of the cleared slope. This required skiers to let go of the rope and walk ahead around several set of poles that allowed the tow line to bend and then get back on the tow to continue to the top. Bend in the tow line. It was soon recognized that this arrangement was poor. First of all by having the engine at the bottom, it meant that the down rope was under constant tension. To create and maintain this tension required numerous additional pulleys in the tower at the bottom adding wear and tear to the rope. The length of the tow and the bend in the tow line required a four strand tow rope which was costly and large in the hands of the skier making it hard to grip.

In subsequent years the design was modified by moving the engine to the top of the tow line. The down rope was no longer under tension. A simple weight of concrete on a pulley provided needed tension for the sheaves. A smaller and lighter three strand rope could also be used.  Splicing tow rope The photos show the mechanism which consisted of a 1929 Buick car engine and transmission coupled through a Link Belt chain drive to the sheaves. Improved tow mechanism showing chain drive Improved tow mechanism with chain covers in place The car engines were not suited for stationary use and these engines were soon replaced with stationary industrial engines. Further more once the long tow with the bend was broken into two separate tows, a another tow was added parallel to the first tows Loading the twin tows Simpson's Twin Tows Simpson's Twin Tows Looking up A motor house was built to contain the two sheave and engine mechanisms. Engine House for Tows 1& 2, Mickey Simpson on packer with Jim Quinn 

The ski slope was intended to be an economic boom the the village. Ski trains brought skiers from Weehawken on the West Shore Railroad directly to the slope with only a change in engines at Kingston. Ski Train at Simpson' Ski Slope  Ski train & cars at Simpson's Skiers could find lodging in town if desired. One train brought 1496 souls to the slope. As the sport was in its infancy most people could not ski but knew enough to look good. High Fashion at Simpson's Later as experienced skiers from Europe demonstrated techniques, skiing developed into real sport. Kicking up power at Simpson's 1937.

The Ticket office was built around the tower erected for the first tow and served as the base of operations for the ski area  Looking East toward Tows & Ticket Office Waiting your turn 1941 To promote skiing in the area the Phoenicia Ski Club, Inc. was formed and helped get a lodge built on the ski slope as a warming hut and concession stand. Ski lodge before addition This was later expanded after incorporation. The bobcat symbol of the club was adopted as the ski centers patch. During WWII gasoline was restricted and rationed. This made operation of the tows difficult. By saving rations stamps, the Simpson brothers were able to get enough gas to operate for at least one weekend each of the war years so as to be able to say they had been in continuous operation.

Initially snow grooming consisted of using snow shoes to pack the snow as mechanical snow packers didn't exist. Later wide gauge Oliver OC-3 and OC-4 tractors were used as the first snow packers. A.J. Simpson on Oliver OC-3 Sno-Packer 1 As the brothers had full time jobs, the slope was only open on weekends and holidays. After the season, improvements and trails were added as time and money permitted. Summer Work More summer work with the OC-4 tractor and Sno-Packer 2. As summer end meant that new tow rope had to be played out and spliced. Slicing rope meant a involved process since there was three strands to each end. This means six splices which had to be done in a way as to not increase the diameter of the rope at the splice. Thus for every fiber laid in one had to be removed.

The early sixties generated new hope for the ski slope as the brothers decided to try to raise money to enlarge the area.  The ski slope was incorporated July 14, 1960 and an addition to the lodge, the fourth tow and additional trails were built with cash on hand. The last trail was finished in October 1965. The idea behind the incorporation was to be able to sell stock and bonds. Based on a seemingly willingness of the public to support such an endeavor, bonds were offered for sale to raise money for a lift and snow making. There were few takers once the offer was made. Once it was realized that this was not the avenue to raise money several banks banks and the Small Business Administration was approached to try to raise money to no avail. Most ski area had badges that loyal skiers wore on their ski parkers. Given the areas history, the ski area's badge was based on that of the Phoenicia Ski Club, a club in existent in the 30s and 40s to promote trail and cross country skiing.

The addition to the lodge contained new restrooms, a ski shop, first add room and kitchen to service the grill and snake bar. The lodge from the top of the first tow.

About the same time the NYS Department of Labor took over regulating ski areas and put forth new rules to insure safety.  Now the down rope had to maintain a certain horizontal distance from the up rope even at the bottom where additional wheels had to be installed to allow for this.  In addition, improved safety devices were required at the top to stop the tow if anyone one got entangled in the rope.  After several attempts of a improved device a simple rope between to bamboo poles suspend on either side of the rope connected to a metal hinge that acted as a switch was approved. The hinge once opened interrupted the ignition system on the industrial engines causing the tow to stop.

In an effort to make an extra buck one summer the ski area was rented out as a hang gliding area. One fellow provided the gliders, instruction and insurance to make this happen. More hang gliders.

As time passed skiing grew into a real industry, people with greater resources developed larger and larger ski areas. Improved up hill transportation was provided in the form of J-bars, T- bars and chair lifts. Snow making became necessary with changes in climate and to add to the length of the season. All this required greater and greater capital out lays which doomed the small operator. But the final nail was the cost of liability insurance which increase dramatically in later years due to the nature of skiing and a few substantial jury awards for injuries received across  the industry as a whole. The death of two of the brothers, Jim (1971)and Carroll (1965), and the advanced age of Mickey finally determined that 1979 would be the final year of operation.

An effort was made to sell the ski area intact. Martin Crossley and others took an option to buy the ski area if he could get IDA funding. He failed and the land was latter leased then sold to Harry Jameson. Mickey died in 1994 at the age of 90. The corporation ceased to exist on December 9, 1995 with the final distribution of assets to stockholders.

Historical Marker

After WWII the brothers realized that the future of ski areas lie in larger areas. Phoenicia only had a vertical drop of 440 feet. To that end they acquired 300 acres of land on Rose mountain off of Route 42 in Bushnellville, NY. An adjacent 200 acres was own by their nephew. They had the land for a larger area and an investor by the name of Bob Keogh that was to provide the funds for development. On the way to the bank to sign for the funds he died and so too those plans. Thus the brothers had to be content with further development of the existing area. It felt to Mickey's son, Jay to finally dispose of the Rose Mt. land and oversee the dissolution of the corporation.

Fast forward to July 17th, 2004. Jay Simpson and his wife Mary Fayne attended the Town of Shandaken's bicentennial celebration in Phoenicia and were pleasantly surprised to see the restore Oliver OC-3 tractor used years earlier during the operation of the ski center traveling under it's own power down main street driven by it's current owner Jerry Neal. Apparently, Jerry Neal purchased both tractors from Harry Jameson and has restored the OC-3 to working condition. At the end of the parade Jay couldn't resist climbing on one more time.