By Dr. Dan O'Keeffe and Mary C. Moro As Told to Toni Anderson-Somme
The first rope tow ever in North America was assembled in Shawbudge, Quebec. Not to be outdone by the Canadians, it was readily copied by Woodstock, Vermont, where it was seen and admired by Carl Schaefer, younger brother to Vincent Schaefer. Carl had, in his brother's words, a "very inventive and mechanical attitude toward things," and as soon as he clamped eyes on the Woodstock Tow, which consisted of an endless belt of rope powered by an automobile engine, his mind started whirling. After all, this contraption hauled skiers to the top of the hill! Being of a mechanical mind, Carl realized immediately that he too, could build that very same "mousetrap," or maybe even a better one, and set out to do just that!
NCNE reported that in 1933 Bill Guesing gave Carl Schafer and Gene Morehouse of Bakers Mills $100 to build a "ski tow" at the McMahon Bowl. "They bought a 1929 Buick for $25 and a rope for $36. Gordon Alexander fabricated the main pulley as his contribution. The remaining money was used for odds and ends and to feed the men during the two weeks it took to complete the project..."
Dan Baroudi, just thirteen years old at the time, operated the tow for Carl Schaefer. The gross receipts for the opening weekend were $364, at 10 rides for a quarter! No doubt highest one-day return on investment ever recorded by an Adirondack based business. And it wasn't just the ski center that profited. The local youngsters made out like bandits as well. With the combination of mittens and frozen fingers, the skiers, fumbling for their quarter fee would often drop change into the snow. Every spring, we local kids would scurry over, at first thaw, to retrieve the lost change. We felt like miners discovering the Mother lode!
Dr. William Alexander recalled his father, Guy Alexander's, reflections on the creation of North Creek's first ski tow, which was the second ski tow in the U.S.A.
"The creation of our first ski tow evolved through North Creek's adoption of the Schaefer boys - Vincent, Paul and Carl - and Bill Gluesing's creation. These four plus several other "flat landers" out of Schenectady, N.Y., had discovered our humble and promising village in the early thirties...[and] sought challenging mountainous areas in the Adirondack Mountains on which they could cross country ski, toboggan and ultimately gravitate into downhill skiing... Vincent Schaefer, as my father tells it, appeared at the garage early one morning seeking help in pursuing the ski tow project.
Both Dad and his brother, Gordon, talked at length with Vincent. It seems that Bill Gluesing had given Carl Schaefer and Gene Morehouse one hundred dollars to build a ski tow at the Ski Bowl. If I recall my father's comments about this development, he and Gordon (Bucky) contributed a used vehicle, a Buick, toward the venture. A portion of the money was used to cover the cost of designing and revamping the used vehicle as a power plant and to procure sturdy poles and numerous automobile wheels, bearings and sufficient rope, all of which constituted the makings of a ski tow. As Dad put it, as he recounted this inventive and creative project, with the completion of this first rope ski tow, the Alexander boys had invested heavily in time and money to bring the tow to fruition.
I recall how he chuckled as he described the efforts and frustrations attendant to getting the cut down, redesigned and operational power unit to the summit of the very first ski hill in the eastern United States...its astounding success on the opening weekend in 1933. The gross receipts totaled $364. And get this! That figure was achieved by selling tickets at 10 rides for a quarter.
One interesting account focuses on one of the "Ski-nectadians," as they were affectionately nicknamed, a General Electric draftsman, Ed Bunkoff who seemed to have been born to ski but was more than aware of the countless hours necessary to enjoy the sport as they ascended the numerous upstate New York trails known as "walk-ups." When the ski trains began to roll into North Creek, Bunkoff and his buddies became a familiar site on the local trails.
The "truck" up to "Cloud" and "Pete Gay" offered large vertical without the climbs they had come to expect, but in 1935, the account tells us, Ed Bunkoff witnessed the first New York rope tow running off the rear of an old Buick, near the North Creek Train Station in the original Ski Bowl and realized the possibilities of more skiing without the climb. A winning combination!
Dr. Thomas Cunningham reminded me that the cover of one of my earlier books - Growing Up In The Crick - shows the lower tow on its cover.
He recalls:
We called the open slope next to it, The Face. It was steep, had a few terrain changes and was a great place to ski. The current tubing slide uses the lower 2/3rds of this hill. The best part was above this. It was fast down the face next to the tow. There was an easy trail to the far right, lower slope which is served today by the village chair lift. On the south side of the tow the remains of an old, obsolete ski jump could be seen. I remember you could go quite a distance in the air. We often went to the top to start our day of skiing.
After Grandfather, PJ Cunningham, dropped us off at Barton Mines and we had completed our ski run down to Ives Dam, Roaring Brook Trail and the climb up the height of ground to Rabbit Pond Trail and into the Ski Bowl, we spent the rest of the day on the rope tow. My brother, Dick, was a better skier and was allowed to make a few more runs from the top of the mountain. Bucky Burns ran the rope tow. You got a card filled with rides for 5 cents, which he punched each time. However, he only punched our card once a year. That made it pretty easy to become a good skier!
The Upper Tow serviced a wide slope, currently the best hill on the Moxom Trail, and a narrow trail called the Fool Killer. Based on the name, you can understand why only the best skiers could manage that particular trail.
When a rain or freeze would cause an inch thick crust of ice, we were sent to The Face to stomp and break it up.
We could ski on the ice without breaking it though, even though we knew it was in our best interest to do the job demanded of us.
By the time my father came to get us for lunch, we boys had better have broken all the ice on the top of The Face. We skied down to the car but the ice wasn't as thick in the flat. I broke through at high speed one time, and remember significant bleeding. When it warmed the Oliver Tractor Packer finished the job.
Another important "Alexander Brothers' Garage" connection was an air-cooled, 25 horsepower engine which could drive an endless traction belt, propelling toboggans used to transport victims down the mountain. The toboggan attained speeds of up to 40 mph. This solved the problem of the many miles of ski trails that the ski patrol had to oversee. They also experimented with drag and rollers to break trails and crusts.
Thanks to the Alexander brothers, the safety of our local skiers greatly increased with their inventions.
In 1934 Burt (Bucky) Burns and Emmett Higgens built a longer and more powerful tow. It was approximately 550 feet long. This tow consisted of a revolving drum from an automobile, which was operated by a V-8 Ford engine. Burns and Higgens also built another tow that began just above the first and was about 700 feet long. NCNE said the second tow could not operate without at least 18 inches of snow, but when both were in operation the ride was over a mile long. It also proclaimed "last year's short tow...will be no comparison to the new one." These tows were sponsored by the Gore Mountain Ski Club, but owned and operated by Burns and The Alexander Brothers' Air-Cooled Toboggan with Arnold Alexander driving and Lillian Draper "hitching" a ride.
Before long there were five local tows, two at the Ski Bowl, and one each at the Straight House, Garnet Lodge and the Log House. Eventually, a third tow was built at the Ski Bowl bringing the total to six.
Later, in 1938, Carl Schaefer built a ski tow on the slope of land he and his wife bought just off the North Creek - Sodom Road. (Today this is known as Peaceful Valley Road). This became Ski Land. Margaret and Carl Schaefer lived in North Creek on this land until a fire destroyed their home. Shortly after the fire, World War II was declared and they returned to Schenectady where he worked at General Electric. Their ski tow and Ski Land continued to operate for friends and family for over fifty years. When Gore Mountain Ski Center was built, the access road cut across the best part of his slope. FROM GREG SCHAEFER'S HISTORY OF SKIING AT GORE
Not all of the skiing in the Snow Train era was off the top of the mountain. In 1934, my dad, Carl Schaefer, took a trip to Woodstock, Vermont to look at the rope tow that had been installed as a ski lift there. Apparently, he liked what he saw, and carefully observed the construction. In 1935, Bill Gluesing, my dad’s friend and mentor, gave him $100 and told him to go to North Creek and build a tow in what is now the Ski Bowl. With the aid of his friend Eugene Morehouse from Bakers Mills, a little “engine-uity” and a ’29 Buick as he said, and some material from the Alexander Brothers garage, he had the first rope tow in New York running by December 20. The tow was extremely successful. He let local youths ski for free but asked them to “back off” on busy weekends. Rides were 10 for 25 cents. The following year he bought property outside of the Village and moved the tow there. The operation was named Skiland, and included the rope tow, ski instruction, a youth hostel and other amenities. Skiland operated into the late 1930s. A house fire in 1938 was a huge setback for Carl and his ski business.
The Ski Bowl was often referred to “Over the Hill” in that era, as one had to go over a hill to get there. Those familiar with the Gore Region know that the current Route 28 runs near the Ski Bowl but now totally bypasses the village of North Creek. The by-pass was built in the 1960s, reconfiguring access to the Ski Bowl and what eventually became “Little Gore.” The Ski Bowl was a natural recreation area where trails converged. The Ski Bowl owes its existence to Fr. McMahon, pastor of St James Church. In 1934 he purchased 430 acres for the town to use for recreation. He later “sold” the Bowl to the Town for $1.00. Ever since the Ski Bowl has been a valuable recreational resource for the Town of Johnsburg, with Alpine and Nordic skiing, sledding, skating, hiking, and mountain biking. The Ski History Room in the North Creek Depot Museum is dedicated to Fr. McMahon.
More Rope Tows
As the popularity of skiing grew in North Creek, so did the number of rope tows to aid in the uphill transport of skiers. Larry Wilke, a local ski historian, wrote about the tows that came in the “Snow Train” era. After Carl Schaefer moved his first tow to Skiland, Messrs. Higgins and Burns built a new tow in the same location in the Ski Bowl.
Another tow above that one was soon added.
A third tow (approximately where the Village Chair is located in the Bowl) was added by 1941. The Barton Tow opened in 1938 near the Garnet Lodge at Barton Mines. From the tow it was a short distance to the trails that radiated down to town from Ives Dam.
The Log House Tow was built next to what is now Garnet Hill Lodge in 1938. This was an 800 ft tow powered by a Buick. Skiers could ski the slopes there, or head out on any of the trails toward North Creek or the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.
The Straight Farm was on the east side of Peaceful Valley opposite current Gore Mt. A Chevy truck powered the Straight Tow that was built around ’38. Besides skiing, the Straights offered full room and board for skiers. The White Horse Ranch south of nearby Wevertown had two rope tows built in the 1930s. The “Ranch” still exists, but is now a Bed and Breakfast under a different name.
Note: Bill says he has a Schenectady WinterSports Club video that shows the first tow in operation.
Carl Schaefer, Vincent's younger brother, built a rope tow in the fall of 1935, using a six-cylinder engine from a 1929 Buick and 700 feet of hemp. It was installed on the village slopes, land donated to the hamlet of North Creek by St. James Catholic Church, and is considered the first known ski tow in New York.
This is from Sebastian Czechowski: In 1935, Skiing was changed forever in the Adirondack Park. Carl Schaefer, the brother of Vincent who ran The Schenectady Winter Sports Club, was credited with building the first ski tow in the Southern Adirondacks and, indeed, in New York State . . . located on what was called ‘Over the Ridge,’ on property previously owned by Reverend McMahon of St. James Roman Catholic Church. The property was then purchased by Butler Cunningham and donated to North Creek to be used as a park. Permission was obtained by Schaefer to construct a tow”.
Schaefer’s rope tow became the precursor to today's North Creek Ski Bowl because it was located in the same location. The rope tow was 700 feet long and powered from a 1929 Buick Engine that cost $25.70 Now, more people could ski as, “tickets for the tow were quite affordable, at only twenty-five cents for ten rides. Many runs could be made in a day and the tow was a huge success”.
Instead of riding trucks and hiking up the mountain, people could take multiple runs, closer to the bottom of the hill. Schaefer has also stated that he allowed local kids free access to the rope tow, which gave them the opportunity to try a form of recreation which only park outsiders had been able to do for so long.
Because of the easy access to ski mountains this new technology gave people, not only did they begin to spring up throughout the Adirondack Park, but they also brought more people to North Creek keeping the area on the forefront of skiing advancements. RAW TRANSCRIPT
Greg Schaefer [00:52:41] So do you know Bill is going to certainly piggyback or jump on whatever he would like to do, but we figure was probably in 1934, maybe in thirty five. My father, Carl Schaefer, our father, took a trip to Woodstock, Vermont, to see the rock tow that had been built over there. And you know, my father was a pretty clever guy like all these Schaefer people. He probably did some sketches or whatever. But he came back and that the year of 1935, Bill Gluesing, who was a friend of my father's, but he was also a mentor.
[00:53:30] This was 1935. My father was born in 1912, so he was twenty three years old in July of that year. Bill gave one hundred dollars, but Carl go to North Creek and build a Rope Tow, so that's what he did. And by December 20th, he had the rope tow running. He had some assistance. He had a friend over in Baker's Mills, where the family camp still is over there, and friend Gene Moorhouse and he used the services of Alexander Garage, which is was in North Creek at that time for welding and that kind of thing because they had to put together pulleys and that kind of thing. And he got a 1929 Buick. And it was moved into the now historic Ski Bowl, and he had his first rope tow running by December.
[00:54:27] And I do have a an accounting, I guess you'd call it. It was like a small pages out of a small accounting book where he kept his notes. And somewhere, I hate to even say the amount, but a couple of the books up here quote that my father was making beaucoup bucks off the first rope tow, and I have absolutely no idea where those figures came from. Looking at the notes I got, it looks like he was averaging like forty dollars a weekend, which is, you know, it's not bad money in the middle of the depression. And it was all come in and quarters, pretty much because I think it was 10 rides for a quarter, if I'm not mistaken. So he had a nice little business going on, but that was on. It was not on his property that was at the old ski bowl. And Father McMahon, who was the the pastor of St James Church in North Creek, he purchased the Ski Bowl property and he ended up donating to the town for a dollar. And when that exact transfer happened, I'm not sure, but my father wanted to purchase his own property.
[00:55:46] So if any of you were familiar with the North Creek area, you may be familiar with Peaceful Valley Road. His property was out that way, although Peaceful Valley Road in the 1930s did not go exactly where it goes now. But regardless, he purchased what eventually was about one hundred and forty acres of land, and he moved the tow over there and he reconstructed it. So beginning in thirty six, he had his operation there and once again is quite successful. And if you look at his one of his promotional cards, once again, it wasn't just skiing. He had a toboggan hill. He had a ski jump. He had skating and he had a youth hostel, so he had fairly complete ski business. Besides his ski school and cousin, Jim mentioned Dan O'Keefe. Dan O'Keefe was a terrific guy and native of North Creek, and I had the pleasure of, you know, talking and meeting with him several times also. And, you know, he talked about how he was an instructor for dad and his and his ski school. And he was also a patroller, and he was he was a great skier and enjoyed skiing very much in the North Creek Depot Museum in our ski room, which we have was named the father McMahon ski room. . There is the Saks Fifth Avenue trophy, which Dan won. I want to say, like in 1936, and he said when I got that trophy, I thought it was three feet high, but it's now about a foot. So if you ever want to see the trophy, it is in the Depot Museum.