4 Rhode Island ski sites that went slip-sliding away
Rhode Island isn't much of a ski state. There's one ski resort – Yawgoo Valley Ski Area and Water Park in Exeter – that keeps skiing (and snow tubing) alive, so Rhode Island doesn't become the only New England state without a ski slope to its name. But the state's relatively flat landscape is less than ideal for the downhill sport.
One What and Why RI reader wanted to know if it's always been this way.
“Did RI ever have other ski resorts besides Yawgoo?” the reader wrote in to ask. “And if so, what happened to them?”
We sure did. There were four other ski resorts in the state. Here's what happened to them.
Diamond Hill Ski Area in Cumberland
In 1938, the Diamond Hill Ski Area in Cumberland opened to a massive crowd of about 17,000 people who came to see local ski clubs compete in ski jumping, cross country, slalom and downhill events. It was, in a way, a celebration of the ski run, toboggan slides, ski jumps and more that the Civilian Conservation Corps had built in 1936 and 1937.
In the mid-1960s, the state leased Diamond Hill and Ski Valley (see below) to private operators. It was profitable for a while, but in the 1970s, it started to take a turn.
Some of the lift and equipment were sold to operators at Mount Watatic in Massachusetts and Temple Mountain in New Hampshire. And then in 1982, Diamond Hill closed.
After it closed, the state gave the land to Cumberland in 1988 to use as a park. It's a popular spot for hiking, and the old ski lodge was used for community purposes for years.
But just last week, work began to demolish the ski lodge, according to The Valley Breeze, to make way for a new community and event building. The new center is part of a $6.7 million project that includes trailhead work, improvements to athletic fields, upgrading the amphitheater, public art, pond work, and a new asphalt pump track.
Ski Valley in Cumberland
Opening in 1961, Ski Valley opened on the eastern slope of the same hill as Diamond Hill, but by 1984 business was hurting.
"Sure, I've had second thoughts," Dennis Egan, who took the business over from his father told The Journal after two lean years. "But I just can't give it up. A good winter is just what I need to get back on my feet. If we have a halfway decent year this year, I think things will start going my way next year. If everything goes right this year, I can pay for everything I've done."
That winter wasn't a very good one, though, and by the next season it was gone.
Neutaconkanut Hill in Providence
One of the early ski slopes in the state, Neutaconkanut Hill was home to the first official ski jump in the state. In 1936, after a particularly bad ice storm, a crew of 307 Works Progress Administration workers were tasked with chipping all of the ice off the jump.
The ski slope was popular for years, with tow ropes that started to break down in the 1950s, according to Journal archives. It's unclear exactly when it closed as a ski area, though people still use it as a sledding slope.
Today, the area is a park.
Pine Top Ski Area in West Greenwich
In 1965, Pine Top Ski Area opened in West Greenwich, with Olympian Bill Beck taking the first run down the ski slopes. On that debut run, there was so little snow that grass peeked through, an omen of what was to come.
After years of fickle weather, Pine Top Ski Area closed in 1980.
“I don't think the Rhode Island area is conducive to skiiing,” former owner Vin Zarella told The Journal.
Since then, the area has become a hiking trail.