Sweatt Hill

Sweatt Hill operated during the 1960's and into the early 1980's in the town of Wrentham. It was operated by the town and had a j-bar, a wide slope, and several woods trails on a 200 foot drop. A view of the area is on the right.

Robert Montanaro has some more information and directions: In the 1970's and 1980's the town of Wrentham, Massachusetts had a small (maybe a 200' vertical) hill with a J-Bar and night skiing. It was called Sweatt Hill recreational area (known as Knuckup hill on a USGS map). It closed in the early 1980's, maybe 1981 or 1982. The area was owned and run by the Town of Wrentham recreation department.

The location of this hill is near the intersection of Route 1A and Route 140 in Wrentham. It is located at the end of Randall Road near the elementary school, new library, and baseball diamonds.

NELSAP reader S. Rumba remembers Sweatt Hill opening in the 1960s. Here is what he has to say:

"I lived near Sweatt Hill in Wrentham until I was seven years old. The ski area opened shortly after my family moved from Wrentham in 1963. I used to walk the hill with my father and remember that an old toboggan run ran down the face of the hill where the ski trails were built."

Above is a Google Earth image of the lost ski area. Note how all trails and slopes are still quite clear.

Jeremy and Betsy checked out this area in 2000. Lots to see! And totally open to the public too. Here's a view looking up the steep main slope.

David Sumner has some more information: Your information on Sweatt Hill in Wrentham, MA brings back pleasant memories. During the late 60's and throughout the 70's I was a member of the National Ski Patrol at Sweatt. I taught at the King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham and was advisor of the Ski Club at the time. Several students were also members of the Ski Patrol and it was an inexpensive form of recreation for all students in the King Philip District. A student could ski after school or during the evening hours for only a quarter for a lift ticket. I believe that an all-day ticket on the weekend for a student was only $1.00. Pre season Ski Club meetings were often held in the warming hut with a roaring fire in the fireplace at the base of the hill. Many students learned to ski here and it was a friendly, family oriented place to ski.

Bob Parsons was a patroller at Sweatt Hill: I was a junior ski patrol member when the area first opened and become a senior patroller when I tuned 18 back in '67. Several of us helped setting up equipment at the Klein Innsbruck area at this time. I remember a warm cold spell that turned the area into one big sheet of boiler plate. The town brought in a big diesel cat to try to break up the surface.

The fireplace at the burned out base lodge.

Bill Albert: Sis and I learned to ski at Sweatt Hill. Well, that was after a few days at the old chicken farm off of May Street. The face of 'Mount Sweatt' was brutally steep, or so it seemed at the time. There was a cool jump on one of the side trails, Tomahawk Cut I think. I remember walking to the hill after school and skiing for less than the cost of a school lunch. Lunch was 35c at the time. I can't be that old, can I?

After the blizzard of '78 I hiked up the J-Bar trail with a friend and we skied the main slope. The snow was wicked deep and we were climbing in ski boots. I think it took an hour to get all the way to the top. Bob broke a ski on the way down. I think the ski was Jeanne's. The flue in the chimney for the hut fireplace must have been faulty. The place was always full of smoke. We didn't care because the hot chocolate was always at least luke warm and our friends were there.

Joe Photo visited the area on April 9, 2004 and took the following pictures, along with his memory of the area:

I noticed your site on the web one day and thought I should shoot the Sweatt Ski Area in Wrentham. I went for a little hike today (April 4, 2004) and made these photos. The first one here shows the J-Bar someone spoke of. I didn't notice it being attached to the cable but it's still there.

The engine for the J-bar at the summit.

I skied there in the early 70's and my parents ran the snack bar in the lodge for a few years. The lodge burnt down and the chimney shown on your site is still there. As was mentioned on your site, all of this is still there and open to the public. You might warn your readers that the overgrown areas of the slopes and the woods between are loaded with poison ivy. I found this out about 5 years ago when I was whacking golf balls up the hill (before that ball field went in). I gave up on the golf balls when I saw the ivy.

The last photo is of the base of the hill showing one of the ball fields which was being worked on today with front end loaders. There are already four of them and someone who wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be a ski area here again made sure they put one right here.