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Harriet Hunt Ski Area Late 1970's to Early 1980's |
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~ PHOTOS ~ |
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Thanks to John Tribuzio of Reno, NV - we have these great 1999 shots of the Harriet Hunt Ski Area rope tow towers. If you zoom in on these shots you can notice some interesting points: The towers are rough hewn logs, not telephone poles. The tripod support is lashed together - spikes only rust in wet climates, like Ketchikan! You can see sphagnum moss hanging off a rope on the first tower (so you know this place is wet!) And it's interesting to see the 2 pulleys that are 90 degrees perpendicular to the rest of the pulleys that follow the rope line.
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(click on either photo to expand) [Photo credits: (left and above) John Tibuzio, Reno, NV] |
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~ MAPS ~ |
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This large scale topo map shows the location of the Harriet Hunt Ski Area relative to Ketchikan. (click on this map to expand it) |
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A 1955 topo map shows no sign of the current road to Lake Harriet Hunt. (click on this map to expand it) |
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However, a 1977 topo map shows a road to the west side of Lake Harriet Hunt. And uphill from the end of this road seems to be a new clearing could be the ski slopes. At this point this is a guess, confirmation of the ski area location is still needed. (click on this map to expand it) |
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Research Correspondence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[Bob Utterback - 14 November 2004 email ] Good afternoon, |
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[Eric Christianson - 18 October 2005 phone conversation with Tim Kelley ] Erik said that the Harriet Hunt ski area
started out as a rope tow, but it was upgraded to a T-bar. A
group of Ketchikan residents in the mid-1990s considered moving the
lift to a place with more vertical, on Mahoney Mountain. A
weather station was placed in the area to help determine the
feasibility. Avalanche danger would have been a concern at the
new site. A reason for shutting down the lift was that parts
were needed for the T-bar and the manufacturer had gone out of
business. The land the ski area was on was originally US
Forest Service land. But the property was transferred to the
Cape Fox Tribal Corporation. Erik also said that skiing was
still done on Deer Mountain, by hiking or skinning up and skiing
back down. |
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[Gilbert Aegerter - 04 November 2005 email excerpt] I grew up in Ketchikan and learned to ski
there -- but not at the Harriet Hunt site. |
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[Gilbert Aegerter - 06 November 2005 email excerpt] 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. |
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[Robert Gustafson - 22 November 2007 email] In the winter
of 1995 we took some of the last remaining grooming equipment to
Juneau from Ketchikan on the USCGC Planetree to Eaglecrest Ski Area.
I do believe the equipment was from Harriet Hunt and was in usable
condition. The old Log Cabin at Harriet has since been demolished
and a smaller cabin that was there had been remodeled for the people
that are part of a Snowmobile club here. |
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[James Dahl - 05 August 2008 email]
My name is James Dahl and I came to
Ketchikan in 1979 to work for the Cape Fox Corporation, a village
corp. for Saxman a small Tlingit community south of Ketchikan.
Cape Fox Corporation as part of it's Native Claims selections made a
selection called the Ward Creek Tract. It was land above Connell
Lake and included land that touched Lake Harriet Hunt and included
the "old" Ski Corners.
Malcom Doiron, Ed Brown and Duane
Sinclair we involved in handling the Boy Scout Troops in
Ketchikan at that time. They approached Cape Fox Management
and proposed to lease and operate a small community ski area
northwest slope from the Lake. They organized a community group
known as "Ketchikan Winter Sports". The main organizers were
Doiron and Sinclair and gathered some of the following people,
Aubre Stevens, George Tanino, Paul Jarve, Mark and Christine
Bergoyne were the major organizers of this effort. David
Benson did some engineering work and Ken Eichner flew volunteer
helicopter support for the group. I was assigned as the Cape
Fox Management representative. (James Dahl). This was in the
winter of 1979.
The group went to the State of
Alaska and procured a recreation grant for $100,000 to purchase
safety equipment and a sno-cat. The City and Borough
of Ketchikan was approached for a funding grant for rope tow
lift engine with supporting donation from local Caterpillar
dealer. A rope tow was installed and operational in 1979.
The Cape Fox Corporation funded a caretakers cabin and the group
built a small day lodge with donated timber and volunteer help
the summer of 1980. The area operated for a short time in 1979
and for most of the winter of 1980. The area operated a Mighty
Mite handle tow and a rope tow that exceeded 400 feet, with a
rise of approximately 150 feet. It was a gentle slope and
beginner hill. The area did not operate in 1981 due to lack of
snow. The winter of 1982 was also light on snow fall.
During the winter of 1980 there were
plans in place to erect a T-Bar and a surplus unit was secured
but was short of spring boxes. Towers were erected summer
1980 and the volunteer project stalled. With no to light snow
conditions the group flagged. Money ran short and the land
owner required liability insurance, which became unavailable.
The area was abandon by the Club and
disposed of equipment to cover costs and nature has claimed
back the land. The Cape Fox Corporation owns the land and has
made some attempt to trade it for other parcels, however none of
those trades have taken place and so the defunct ski area known
as "Ski Corners" and "Ketchikan Winter Sports" is only a
memory.
Thanks for the opportunity to share
this information.
Jim Dahl
Mr.Doiron still resides in
Ketchikan, carpenter, fisherman
Paul Jarve has a jewelry business in
Ketchikan
George Tanino is a retired school
teacher
James Dahl is an Investment Advisor
in Ketchikan
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Do you have further information, stories or pictures that you would like to contribute about this ski area? |
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