From its humble beginnings as farmland a few miles outside of Plattsburgh in the town of Beekmantown, Beartown Ski Area was a “field of dreams.”
Under the direction of what was called the Council of Community Services, and through the work of many local supporters, Norris Reyell sold 99 acres of his land for a dollar and became the first manager of Beartown when the slopes were cleared and ready for skiing in the winter of 1958.
Now more than 50 years later, residents who grew up skiing at Beartown are bringing their children to the hill. The family-oriented environment is at the core of the not-for-profit ski area’s mission. Go out on any given day and the hill will be covered with children, some barely out of the walking stage, whizzing past on skis and snowboards.
If you are driving on Route 3 between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, you have passed through Coreys, perhaps without even knowing it.
Located in the southern part of Harrietstown, Coreys is best known for its access to the Seward Range in the western side of the High Peaks Wilderness. Coreys Road, found on the right hand side of Route 3 a few miles from Tupper, heading toward Saranac Lake, serves as a starting point for multiple recreational uses: Horse riding trails, canoe routes, hiking and mountain biking.
Turn onto Coreys Road and the first mile or so of the road is lined with cabins and some year-round residences, some of which border the Stoney Creek Ponds. Most notable of these homes is that which belonged to Clarence Petty, noted wilderness guide, pilot and conservationist, who died at the end of 2009 at the age of 104.
Learning to ski or snowboard is an adventure likely to provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Unlike some athletics, theses skills and experiences often transcend the various phases of life and provide an enduring desire to slide down snow covered mountains with family and friends.
The Napper girls are no strangers to adventure. Growing up on the shores of Chazy Lake has exposed them to a wide variety of outdoor thrills and perhaps a few spills. Actually, they are both accomplished water skiers, swimmers and all around athletes, supported carefully by their fun loving parents. As is often the case when you hang around with our family, discussions about the slopes are common, even during the summer while cruising the lake. The interest of teenagers Kristen and Kayla grew steadily and culminated in a plan to learn skiing on the majestic slopes of Whiteface Mountain. Outfitted with leased equipment from Viking Ski Shop, courtesy of their generous neighbor and water sports mentor, Bob Jessey, they met us on a bitter cold morning recently to begin their new adventure.
PLATTSBURGH — One is the site of a $2.3 million luxury home. One was used for tracking cosmic rays and has now been historically restored into a state-of-the-art residence. They’ve been used for businesses, town highway garages and envisioned as refuges for the doomsday set.
They’ve caused headaches for municipalities and insurance companies and have been magnets for trespassers and vandals. Multiple lives were lost in their construction and reclamation.Their coming to the North Country was first announced in January 1960, the era of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For a brief time, they waited for a nuclear attack that never came.
They’re the 12 Atlas-F missile silos of the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron of the Strategic Air Command. Built for $18 million each in 1960 dollars in a 22- to 44-mile ring around Plattsburgh Air Force Base, they took 2,000 workers nearly three years to complete. Obsolete, decommissioned and abandoned practically before the last nuclear-capable projectile was lowered into its shaft, they form an increasingly forgotten link to a very historic and unsettling time.
If you build it, they will ski
From its humble beginnings as farmland a few miles outside of Plattsburgh in the town of Beekmantown, Beartown Ski Area was a “field of dreams.”
If you are driving on Route 3 between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, you have passed through Coreys, perhaps without even knowing it.
Learning to ski or snowboard is an adventure likely to provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Unlike some athletics, theses skills and experiences often transcend the various phases of life and provide an enduring desire to slide down snow covered mountains with family and friends.
PLATTSBURGH — One is the site of a $2.3 million luxury home. One was used for tracking cosmic rays and has now been historically restored into a state-of-the-art residence. They’ve been used for businesses, town highway garages and envisioned as refuges for the doomsday set.
Name: Aimée (pronounced ah-may) Wheaton