Name of Ski Area:	Cape Romanzof (Air Force Station)
Location:	Cape Romanzof, on the west coast of Alaska, on the Askinuk Mountains that jut out of the coastal edge of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, north of Hooper Bay
Type of Area:	Natural terrain for downhill and cross country skiing
Dates of Operation:	1953 to early 1980s (*downsized in the mid 1980s)
Who Built It?:	The United States Air Force built this Long Range Radar Station.
Elevation:	Bottom Camp: ~1000' / Top Camp: ~2300'
Lifts:	Tram from base camp to top camp (when it was working).
Facilities:	A full-service remote Long Range Radar Station camp that would support over 100.
Miscellaneous:	The only information known about this ski area is what is mentioned in the Cape Romanzof section of the 1962 "Guide to AAC Remote Stations" (see below).  Many of the Cold War remote long range radar sites offered skiing as a recreational activity for servicemen.  Other sites that have skiing mentioned in the 1962 guide have confirmed that skiing was popular at those radar stations.
Sources of Information:	The Online Air-Defense Radar Museum - www.radomes.org/museum/; Joseph LeClair; Dave Butler

 

~  PHOTOS and DOCUMENTS  ~ (All Courtesy of The Online Air-Defense Radar Museum, www.radomes.org/museum/) (click on any image to expand it)
The document on the left is from the 1962 "Guide to AAC Remote Stations".  This was a "promotional brochure" in helping servicemen decide what station to apply for.  It mentions skiing as one of the "recreational features" of the base. The Cape Romanzof AFS emblem, on the right, wed that the men stationed here had a quality needed to survive here - a sense of humor !!
The photo on the right shows the Bottom Camp, Top Camp on top of Towak Mountain and a White Alice station off to the right on the ridge top.  This terrain looks very skiable.
These winter shots show the rime ice encrusted top camp on the left (notice the tram tower).  To the right is a picture of Bottom Camp from Top Camp.
A great picture of the Top Camp entrance to the left.  And a recent (2001) picture of the current radar facility on the right.
Here is a good article about life at remote Alaska Cold War radar stations.  It appeared in a March 2003 Air & Space magazine and it is by Paul R. Cochrane.  The illustration on the right shows a typical long range radar site.  The radar and top camp on a peak, a bottom camp down below near an airstrip.  And a road and tram leading from bottom camp to top camp.

Just recently visited your lost ski sites web page relating to the old USAF AC&W station at Cape Romanzof, Alaska. I found the comments of Dr Joseph LeClair quite interesting. I was also stationed on "The Cape" with the 795th AC&W Sq many years after Joseph was there. I arrived on site in December 1969 and left in December 1970. As to skis and skiing on site, in my year out there on Cape Romanzof I never so much as saw a set of ski's let alone saw anyone go skiing. I was a General Purpose Vehicle repair tech and worked in the vehicle repair section, or "motor pool" as it was more commonly called. My workmates and I were one of the few personal on site with AFSC's that didn't have outdoors restrictions during winter months so if something was shaking outside I was either directly involved or knew about it and was in the shop monitoring the com base station. Our section also provided "taxi" support for Weather Shack and Top Camp. And of course our section provided mobile repair services for the engineering section when they were out working snow and ice removal on the roads and runway. The dozers and graders worked the roads and runway year around. We had to to stay ahead of the snow and chug hole build up as that runway and the road leading to it were our vital life line. Everything and everyone came into and off the Cape by air.

Of course the Cool Barge landed in late July with fresh winter and bulk fuel stores as well. As long as the weather was good and the seas were relatively light the cool barge operation was 24 hours a day until all supplies were off loaded. During my cool barge experience they brought us in a new crewcab 4x4 pickup, a new grader, and one new dozer. We shipped the vehicles they replaced out to salvage depot on the same barge the new replacements arrived on. The USAF was no longer allowed to abandon salvage equipment and vehicles on site by the time I pulled my remote duty in Alaska. I suppose one can reasonably say the runway at Cape Romanzof  is "close" to sea level. If you don't take into consideration the 130-150 foot sheer drop off at the bay end of the runway! The runway was large enough to land a C-130 when I was on the Cape but it really taxed a heavily loaded 130's capability to take off. They had to turn her around, reverse props and back her to the extreme eastern end of the runway with about a fourth of the aircraft overhanging that end of the grade, bring all engine to full rev's and set full flaps, then after a run-up to full power release the brake and "shoot" off down the runway. Even then the three 130's I saw roll off at the Cape just did go airborne within 100 or so feet of the bay end of the runway and it's abrupt drop off.

I was assigned extra duty as a site fire fighter augmentee so I luckily was on the strip in "Big Red" and helped to greet every aircraft that landed on the Cape in my time there. Most aircraft that landed were Alaskan Air Command C-123's or Munns Airlines Twin Otters out of Nome and Bethal. C-130 landings were not very common. The runway was cut out of the northern slope of the Towak Mountain and ran up hill from the bay toward the east. I am not sure of it's actual length but it wasn't far that I can say for sure. A half mile or so.

The road to top camp and White Alice site was only accessible by Track Master or dozer in winter months. And the tramway to top camp was pretty much a coin toss every time she was placed in service. If we were real lucky she worked. It was out of service most of the time I was there! I had to make several trips to top camp with the Sq. CO and medic in a Track Masters as a result. We had 3 Track Masters on the site and they were one of my primary areas of responsibility as the Squadron's only "GP" mechanic. All the other mechanics in motor pool were heavy equipment techs. I so disliked that ride to top camp in winter weather. Looking back today I dislike it even more!  Even though we all went about our duties on the Cape in a professional and proper military manner it did not take you long to reason that you had to take most things that happened on site with a grain of salt. Without a sense of humor you'd go off your gord in a place like Cape Romanzof!  A couple of the troops did just that too. Unless you have "been there and done that" it is hard to understand what these old cold war veterans experienced on these remote tours out on the "DEW Line". It was no where near the "easy duty" many who never went THINK it was that I have talked to about it. I have to be honest here and say there is nothing I miss about Cape Romanzof and I don't care to ever see the place again. That said I am very grateful to the Air Force for the experience and skills that tour of duty gave me.  Winter maintenance skills I still use to this day in fact. I have several scans of photo's I took on the Cap here, but none relate to skiing. If you'd like I will share them with you, just let me know.  Thanks for the site and keep up the good work. We really do need to keep a place for these old sites in our history. Some very good and honorable men, and women I am sure, pulled tours of duty on these sites.
 

Sincerely,  Dave Butler, Jonesborough, TN