F. Duncan
Case
Essex Junction, VT
1971 or 1972
According to the VT Tramway reports, a 300' rope tow, owned by F. Duncan Case, was inspected in Essex Junction in 1971 or 1972. As it turns out, this area never operated. Here are the details from the family that built it:
Leslie Case: F. Duncan Case was my dad. The 300' tow rope is what I would call another folly of a master Engineer. When we built our house on Sleepy Hollow Road in Essex Ctr, VT in 1969, my dad wanted us to have our own little ski slope. He searched through junk yards to find metal car wheels to use to pass the rope over. And an old Nash Rambler was placed at the top of the hill and the car motor used to drive the rope tow. We put in cement bases for the poles the rope would go on. By the time the project was completed, we discovered the hill was just too damn steep to traverse and by that time we were all into cross-country skiing. The U.S. National x-country ski team did however create some trails above our house which they trained on. Ironically, my brother, Colyn Case, now has two of his children training for the U.S. Olympics X-country ski team. I believe his daughter Christa is ranked # 5 and is headed to the 2002 Olympics in Utah. The sad truth is, we never put the rope tow into operation!
Paul Wintersteen discovered this area in 2009, and found the following remnants. Thanks to Andy Dufresne for sending them along!
| Overgrown trail at the base. |
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Grown in slope towards the base. |
| The lift line. |
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More of the overgrown lift line. |
| Fallen lift tower. |
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A still standing lift tower. |
| Rope for the lift. |
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Top of the lift, showing the Rambler. |
| Closeup of the Rambler. |
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Last updated: October 9, 2009
