Pinnacle Mountain Ski Area

NELSAP strongly urges you to respect the property of the current owners and don't trespass.

Pinnacle Mountain was one of the more significant mountains to close in the state of Vermont. Opening in 1966, it offered skiing on a 550 foot drop served by two Poma lifts. According to the VT Tramway Reports, the longer base to summit Poma had a length of 2250ft, while the shorter Poma had a length of 689ft. They could pull 1800 skiers/hour up the mountain.

Here's the topographic map of the area. Notice the shorter poma which served beginner terrain, and the longer base to summit poma.

According to guidebooks, the area only had 4 trails and one slope, but this Terraserver image suggests that there may have been at least several more. As you can see, the area was quite large. The shorter Poma served beginner terrain, while the longer one served intermediate and expert level trails.

In its last year (1975-1976), only the shorter Poma operated, for reasons unknown. The area closed in 1976, never to reopen.

Here's a trail map, courtesy of the Vermont Ski Museum, showing the trails and slopes. The year is unknown. As you can see, the main lift was 2250' long, the baby lift 550', and the vertical drop 550'.

Note that a chairlift was proposed but never was installed. Also know that there were 3 trails, a wide slope, and a couple of glades.

Presently the base area has been developed into a home. Thus, the area is clearly on private property. Thus, NELSAP strongly urges you to respect the property of the owners and don't trespass. If the owners (or if you know the owners) read this and would like to permit some of us from NELSAP to check out the property, please let us know.

Steve Kijak, a NELSAP regular, checked out this area during the spring of 2000. Here are his pictures. The first one, on the right, is a view of the area from the distance.

The base area (taken from the main road). Notice that there still is a snocat! You can see the beginner Poma on the left.

A close-up of the main Poma lift, still standing even after 25 years. Taken from the road, not from the person's property.

Andy Dufresne: The Poma lift still stands and the lift line and trails are completely grown in. The base of the lift looks in good shape, and the old Tucker snow cat is there and in good shape also. I didn't take any pictures here because it is now someone's yard. There is a fairly new home and garage on the site of the old base lodge. They have a fence up with 'No Trespassing' signs up.

Kathleen Bauman: Pinnacle Mountain - I found it while working in the area. It can be found by traveling south on Route 12 from downtown Randolph, and turning right onto Pinnacle Road about a mile outside of town. The ski area is at the end of the road, and the base lodge has been converted into a private home. The ski area is visible on USGS topo maps, so I can say that it had a 600' vertical, and two lifts - a Poma which ran base to summit is still there, in rusty condition. There were about 5 main slopes and a number of smaller trails, which are overgrown now, but still recognizable.