Abbey Hill

Abbey Hill was a small rope tow area that operated about 1 mile north of Great Barrington. It was first a hike up and ski down area in the 1930's, and was floodlit at night. Then, after WW II, a rope tow was installed, which operated until at least 1953. The area likely closed at some point in the 1950's.

I tried finding the area in March, 2001 with my family. We found the hill, but was totally overgrown, and no signs of the ski area could be found. Houses were also built in around the base. I'm guessing based on tree growth that the area was simply a large field. We did find Abbey Hill Road which goes up the hill, here's a street sign from that road.

Year	Lifts	Trails	Other Info	Source
1939	None	Moderate grades, east exposure	Night Skiing	Skier's Guide to New England
1947-1948	1000' tow	1300' wide slope,, 160' drop, NE exposure	Needs 4" of snow to ski, novice and intermediate, operates weekends, holidays, and Sat nights	Skier's Guide to New England
1949	1000' tow	Not listed, 125' drop served by lift, 160' drop total	Located north of town on Housatonic Road, take Rte 7 North to 41, 1 mile, operates weekends, holidays, and Sat nights, canteen	MA Ski Guide
1953	Unknown	Unknown	Area in operation, night skiing	Where to Ski