Name of Ski Area:	Ski Corner Rope Tow
Location:	Ketchikan, near the last turnoff before the final road into Harriet Hunt Lake.  About 16 air miles north of Ketchikan, about 7 miles northeast of Ward Cove.
Type of Area:	Ski Hill
Dates of Operation:	1970's
Who Built It?:	A group of Ketchikan fathers built this rope tow for local kids to have a place to ski.
Base/Vertical Drop:	Base: ~350' / Vertical: ~50-60'
Lifts:	Rope Tow
Facilities:	Unknown
History:	During the early 1970's this small ski hill was very popular.  At times it could be crowded with a couple of hundred skiers.
Sources of Information:	Gilbert Aegerter; Van Browne
Photos:	Does anyone have pictures of skiing at the Ski Corner Rope Tow (or current pictures of the vicinity) that they would like to contribute to ALSAP ?

I grew up in Ketchikan and learned to ski there -- but not at the Harriet Hunt site.

The first skiing was done way, WAY back when on Deer Mountain above town.  When she was a girl my mom and her friends would go up there. There was a log cabin set on a shoulder of the mountain overlooking the town, and folks would go up there, ski and spend the night. Eventually the cabin burned down -- not sure exactly when, but it was well before the 60s. You can still see traces of the foundation, though, just off the Deer Mountain trail.

When I was in high school in the 70s, a group of dads led by a guy whose name I'll have to dredge up later, put together a rope tow at what became known as Ski Corner, which was at the last turnoff before the final road into Harriet Hunt Lake. I can't believe there was more than 50-60 feet of vertical, but man we thought we were in the big time! On a good weekend, there would be a couple hundred people there! so it was extremely crowded.  People would be sledding on the road -- there was a long hill just before Ski Corner -- and snowmobilers would tow skiers back into Harriet Hunt Lake on long tow ropes. You didn't want to fall off halfway in deep snow!

The best year at Ski Corner was probably 72-73 -- just perfect snow and weather that year. Unfortunately, I broke my leg that February there going off a jump.

After that there was considerable pressure to provide a little safer area. The Ketchikan Ski Club moved the tow engine all the way out to Harriet Hunt and tried to set up a tow rope out there. I never skied in Ketchikan again -- college intervened. I think the area operated extremely fitfully in the late 70s, and I'm not sure which year it finally went kaput.

You might get more info from the Tongass Historical Museum in Ketchikan.
 

Here are some names for you.

Jim Martin: He was an Alaska Airlines mechanic who was instrumental in setting up the Ski Corner rope tow. I'm not sure if he got any money from the Ketchikan Ski Club to help with that, but he was the brains and much of the brawn for it.

Ed Browne, Mac Doiron: They were log scalers who had a hand in setting up the rope tow in the Harriet Hunt Lake ski area. I'm not sure if they were primary people, but they were involved.

Tim, you have the Ski Corner location nailed. Partway up the road to Harriet Hunt Lake you'll see a couple of ponds on the right. When the weather was right -- hard freeze without snow to cover the ponds -- we would skate up there. Also, when Harriet Hunt Lake itself was frozen over, the snowmobilers would pull us on skis across that huge expanse of ice. Those were the days.