Poland Spring Ski Area

This area, located in the famous bottled water capital of New England, operated during the 1960's. It had a T-bar, rope tow, and a few slopes and trails on a 350 foot drop.

Chris Bradford found this area during the spring of 2000, and his details best describe it. Definitely a "twist" on the TV commercials of people trying to find the source of Poland Spring and getting turned back by bears, etc. This time however, we weren't interested in finding the source of Poland Spring, but rather the source of the Poland Spring Ski Area. Anyways, here's his info.

"I drove up the hill and pulled into the resort... I then took a little nature walk around the golf course, down to the front side of the hill facing the lake... No ski area, only golf course. After hiking around a bit, and not finding anything, I decided to drive around the resort a bit... only because I was intrigued by the place! Its really neat... has lots of remnants of an elegant past... old buildings and old fixtures on the property. All the way in the back of the resort is a stone church and a WEIRD parking lot made from the foundation of a burned building... so I parked in order to explore an old narrow paved road that led into the woods near a water tower... walked in a bit... and BEHOLD!! Deep in the brush was a concrete pedestal that once was the upper t-bar terminal!

No lift left... looks like it was removed some time ago.. laying about were the remains of some small shacks, and some old "drag-behind" grooming equipment. The area is completely grown in, except for the lift line which is fairly clear, so I started hiking down... about 1/2 way down were 2 sets of wheels from the sheave trains... Ah HAH!!

Identical lift to the Agamenticus t-bar (a Hall). Definitely the same lift though... I remember certain sheave characteristics from the big A t-bar and the shape of the upper terminal pedestal. One of the trains is forever in its place...sticking out of a large tree that grew into it!

Further down the lift line is pavement and the bottled water plant... I actually drove around there after I hiked back up and the ski area is NOT visible (except for the lift line)... looks like they wiped out any and all remnants of the base area a long time ago building the HUGE water plant!

About the weirdness? Its in a very peculiar spot, wedged between a few big buildings, a road, a water tower, and a bottling plant, on the backside of a hill that can't be seen from the road... and there were all kinds of weird pieces of wood nailed to the trees in the woods around the ski area... the grooming equipment is almost completely buried in the topsoil ... and its nowhere near the lake!! The whole resort is bizarre... but a cool place to explore! Its a lot bigger than I thought (the resort), but the ski area is small."

Jon Rothenberg found this area too, and took some great pictures. Here's what he found:

My wife actually grew up in Poland Spring, ME and we go there to visit her parents often. I became aware of the former ski area from NELSAP. I visited the site last summer and had a suspicion as to the location of the area but because of the thick foliage I was not certain. After the last update from The Colorado Skier, I knew I was on the right track.

This picture is a view from the top of what is left of the t-bar line - very grown in.

This is a view of the area from the bottom. The t-bar line is to the left and you can see a slope that is grown in to the right.

Scott Andrews visited the area in the fall of 2013 - and you can view his report on his site here.

Gary Henault remembers this area: I also remember the Poland Spring Ski Area. It was unique in that after purchasing the lift ticket you would take your fist run down the hill to ride the T-Bar back up.

Poland Spring by the year in some guidebooks:
1966
(America's Ski Book)
T-bar, rope tow
350 foot vertical drop

1968
(Unknown Ski Guide)
Located on Rte 26
2000 foot T-bar
2 trails and 1 slope
Night skiing, ski shop, ski hut, snack bar, operates daily.

1969
(Eastern Ski Map)
T-bar lift, tow
4 slopes (novice and intermediate)
Packers, instruction