Chronicles of the Tucker County Highlands History and Education ProjectA project supported by the Friends of the 500th, the volunteer organization of the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

No. 18 April, 2008 Canaan Valley, West Virginia

The Early History of Skiing in Canaan ValleyDave Lesher

“We have been told that the site of the Cabin Mountain ski slope, ten miles from Davis, Route 32, wasdiscovered in 1954 by an airplane pilot, a member of the Washington Ski Club. He reported it to his skiclub, and in cooperation with the Blackwater Civic Association and a Davis Ski Club Council, Ed Filler,Gerald Parks, Belmont Cleaver, Ralph Good, H. A. (Jim) Meyer, and William Miller, made plans to leasethe Cabin Mountain area and develop a ski slope. Belmont Cleaver stocked skis, boots, and poles for rent athis department store, where he also had a repair agency. Frank Roby operated equipment for beginners. EdFiller who had ski training while in the army, was administrator and engineer of this ski area.”“The first skiing week was January 23-29, 1956, at Cabin Mountain, altitude, 3,600 feet, and at Weiss

Knob on Lindsey Reed farm, 3,900-foot altitude, one-half mile south of Cabin Mountain under themanagement of Robert T. Barton III, who developed and operated this area. Thus began the coming ofwinter tourists, the forerunner of the great Canaan Valley State Park development. The Winter Carnivalwas a success. Canaan Valley is the only skiing resort south of the Mason-Dixon Line. When weschoolchildren waded the deep snows in the 1890s, we never thought snow could bring a blessing to thepeople who would be living here eighty years later; and that many would be coming here to enjoy skiing,tobogganing, and ice-skating.”

- History of Davis and Canaan Valley by Pearle G. Mott,pp 519-520, McClain Printing Co., 1972.

he two paragraphs above appear one after theother, just two pages from the closing of PearleMott’s landmark book, considered by many to

be the most exhaustive history ever written of thisarea. Among its hundreds of pages, these are heronly substantive remarks about skiing in CanaanValley. But despite her meager recognition of thebudding ski industry and several minor errors of factwe have subsequently discovered, she also recognizesits economic potential for the future. Now, a half-century after its small beginning on a hillside cowpasture, Canaan Valley skiing has matured to a huge

industry, probably even exceeding her vision of it.As Mott states in her brief narrative, the story is

often told that in the early 1950s, pilots sawsnowcovered ground on Cabin Mountain in thespring which led the Ski Club of Washington DCto come to Canaan Valley to look for a place toenjoy their sport. While there may be someuncertainty about the authenticity of the story ofskiers discovering Canaan Valley from the air,there is no question that the club was the firstorganized effort to experience it here on theground.

A 1950s photo postcard showing skiers posing forthe camera along the rope tow at Cabin MountainSki Area, located on Route 32 in the southern endof Canaan Valley. This first commercial skiingenterprise on the Mauzy farm in Canaan Valleyenjoyed great popularity from the early 1950s tothe early 1960s, then closed when the land wasacquired by the state to become part of CanaanValley State Park. Note the long line of skiers atthe base of the hill waiting to use the rope tow.Postcard provided by the author.

The Ski Club of Washington DC was formed in1936 by a small group of pioneer skiingenthusiasts who traveled to nearby hills inPennsylvania, “herringboned” up, skied down, andbought coffee and sandwiches from locals. In1951 the club made its first visit to Canaan Valley.A fascinating account of those earliest years of theski club in the Valley is contained in a collectionof home movies made by club member, Joe Gray.In that account, it’s stated that two members of theclub toured the highlands of West Virginia,including Canaan Valley, in February, 1951,searching for a suitable place to ski that waswithin a reasonable driving distance of the DCarea.A slightly different version of events that led to

the ski club coming to Canaan Valley is provided

Club member Hal Leich had a friend who was apilot who had flown over and seen snowcoveredhills in nearby West Virginia. He suggested theclub look there for a ski slope. On Feb 23, 1950,Hal Leich and Gorman Young drove west fromDC, reaching the Seneca Rocks area where theyfirst observed snow on the Allegheny Front. Fromthere, they drove to Harman, WV, then north intoCanaan Valley via West Virginia Route 32. Onlya short distance into the valley, they saw abundantsnow on hills to the right of the road. Theystopped and asked the land owner (the Heitzfamily) for permission to ski there. Permissiongiven, the two men skied that hillside the rest of

the day, spent the night in Davis, and skied thereagain the next day.The club members who came to Canaan Valley at

that time found a place vastly different than it istoday. The beginning of tourism was still yearsaway. Landowners were mainly farmers who made avery modest living in beef or dairy cattle or a varietyof other small enterprises. Crops were grown to feedlivestock and fill family larders. Unfortunately, coolsummer weather with the threat of frost even in Julyand August discouraged the cultivation of anysignificant cash crop. Canaan Valley peopleexperienced mixed results over the years in makingtheir livelihood growing cauliflower, sellingChristmas trees, raising turkeys, or trapping smallgame. When the Ski Club of Washington DC startedlooking for a place to ski, the realities of life here

would probably have made any land owner eager torent them a hill.The Heitz farm seemed to be an ideal location for a

ski slope. It was on the north-facing flank of CabinMountain and the main road through Canaan Valley,Route 32, passed close to the base of the hill. This60 acres of Cabin Mountain hillside was owned byIrene Heitz Mauzy and her sister, Christina HeitzHarman. (Heitz rhymes with “pets”; Mauzy ispronounced “moe-zee”.) After some negotiations, anagreement was signed between the ski club and theHeitz sisters on October 14, 1951 allowing the clubto have access to erect facilities needed to operate aski slope. They called it Cabin Mountain Ski Area.

by Bob Jordan in a video heproduced for the TimberlineResort ski school in 2005. As herelates in his narrative, theWashington, DC area wasexperiencing a “green winter” inthe winter of 1949-50, andseveral ski club members weretrying to locate a ski slope innearby Virginia or West Virginiathat might be suitable for them touse. The story of Washington’s“green winter” is credible; thewinter of 1949-50 is only winterin the city’s history in which nomeasurable snow was reportedby the US Weather Bureau.

This 1945 aerial photo of the location ofCabin Mountain Ski Area is annotated toshow the dashed-line boundary of theMauzy farm, elevation contours, and thelocation of the ski slopes. Photo courtesyCanaan Valley Institute.

The site chosen on the Heitz farm was ideal.Two small streams had shaped the hillside into abowl, a “spoon” as some of the early skiers calledit, that collected two monster snowdrifts in thewintertime. With a few exceptions, thosesnowdrifts lasted well past the time in the springwhen most snowcover elsewhere in Canaan Valleyhad disappeared; they resembled small, temporaryglaciers left behind after each winter, sometimesmore than 12 feet deep. In the early years, some ofthe skiers called their new ski slope “Driftland”

On July 3, 1954, the club signed a new leaseagreement, inked by Hobert and Irene Heitz Mauzyand ski club president, James L. Bostick. Theagreement was for a period of ten years calling forpayments of $100 per year plus 15 percent of theclub’s annual net income from operating the skislope.

As word spread of this new ski slope south of theMason-Dixon Line, more and more skiers begancoming to Canaan Valley. The success achievedafter only a few years was even more than the clubhad hoped for. The tradition of holding a WinterCarnival in the nearby town of Davis started in1955, bringing new prosperity to lodging andrestaurant businesses in the wintertime. Worden’sHotel in Davis became a favorite overnight anddining stop for skiers. In Canaan Valley, localresidents rented rooms to skiers, just as they haddone for years for visiting hunters and fishermen.

For others, just watching the skiers from theparking lot below was a favorite Sunday afternoonpastime.Of course, skiers always need a place to take a

break, eat, and swap stories with one another. ThePurnell family from the Parsons area struck a dealwith the Mauzy’s to build a refreshment buildingwhere they sold chili, hot dogs, coffee, and softdrinks to hungry skiers. For those looking for a bitmore life in their lunch, beer could be had with theusual fare of meals at a short-order restaurant justacross the road from the ski slope. Open sevendays a week and run by retired railroad conductor,C. B. McIntyre, this little eatery was part of a dancehall that had stood there for decades, locally knownas “the platform”.All in all, skiers were welcomed in Canaan Valley

as a new source of income for residents and a newvenue for entertainment for young people. In itsheyday, Cabin Mountain Ski Area boasted two ropetows, a ski run more than 1200 feet in length, andtwo warming huts. Daily rates were $1 for ski clubmembers, $2 for non-members, and 50 cents forchildren.

This photo shows a number of people standingproudly by a sign pointing the way to CabinMountain Ski Area. It appears the lady maybe wearing a headdress, perhaps indicating sheis a newly crowned queen of the WinterCarnival. Photo courtesy of Chip Chase.

In this 1950s postcard view of the ski area andenlargement, many buildings of the Mauzyhome and farm are visible, including severalthat were built in support of skiing activities.Note too the cars parked along Rt.32, said bysome to be a half-mile in length on weekends.All of it is totally gone today. Postcardprovided by the author.

Today we are very fortunate that there are still

some people in the Valley that vividly remember

Cabin Mountain Ski Area during these years.

Canaan Valley native Dick Harr is one of them. In

the 1950s, Dick owned a large farm directly across

Route 32 from the Mauzy place and was witness to

events at the ski area from the day it started. In

2005, Dick and his son Carl participated in an oral

history to record memories of their lives in Canaan

Valley. Among the many interesting topics they

touched on that day, one was the ski area. Dick

related how he had helped in the construction phase

of the ski slope by using his tractor to haul

materials up the hill used in building the rope tow

facilities and warming huts. Later on, he was hired

by the ski club to assist with slope maintenance

during the week and help out on weekends when

“big crowds were there.” He said sometimes the

parking lot was full and cars were parked for a half-

mile on both sides of the road. Dick and Carl made

a point of emphasizing that this ski area was the

very first in Canaan Valley and they were proud to

have been part of it.

Dick also recalled the Winter Carnivals that were

held each season. A formal ball was held in the

Davis High School gymnasium, attended by thegovernor and other state and local officials. Herecalled that on one occasion a party was held atthe Meyer House in Davis before the governor wasto crown the queen that evening. Dick and his wifeattended the party and it was a beautiful event inthat beautiful home. But, with a wink, he addedthat some of the guests partied a bit too hard andthe governor and a few others didn’t make it to thegym in time for the crowning ceremony.Unfortunately, the fun on the slopes and in town

didn’t last. By the early 1960s, the winds of changewere blowing as word spread that a state parkwould soon be established in Canaan Valley,including a large, modern ski resort. A tract of3149 acres of Canaan Valley land had been willedto the state of West Virginia by Sarah MaudeThompson Kaemmerling in the 1950s and actionswere now underway to obtain additional acreagefor the park through its power of eminent domain.The Ski Club of Washington DC knew the end wascoming for their little ski area and made thedecision to close it for good in 1962. It was theright decision; more than 30 properties werecondemned and taken by the state from 1964 to1970, including the Mauzy farm.

The story of the state’s actionsto obtain properties for the parkis one of shameful disregard ofthe financial and emotional toll itwould take on citizens of theValley. Landowners werestunned by purchase offers farless than true market value,forcing them to take the matter tocourt. At their own expense, ofcourse. The jury trials thatfollowed most often resulted insale prices of double what thestate had offered and sometimesmuch more than that. RuthCooper Allman, author of threebooks about the history ofCanaan Valley, took greatinterest in the proceedings duringthose years and has discussed herrecollections with this writer on anumber of occasions. The bitter

aftermath of that period of time has not beenforgotten over the past 40 years by many of thelocal residents still living today. Its legacycontinues to be a deep seated suspicion of local,state, or federal officials attempting to acquireCanaan Valley land from willing sellers orotherwise.

In the case of Hobert and Irene Mauzy vs. theState of West Virginia, their trial began onOctober 25, 1967 with Judge D. E. Cuppett, Jr.presiding. West Virginia was represented byattorneys W. Del Roy Harner and J. Pat Nichols,Tucker County Prosecuting Attorney. The Mauzyattorney was John P. Brown, Jr. A panel of 12jurors heard the case. After testimony waspresented by both sides, the jury rendered averdict of $32,000 to be paid to the Mauzy’s fortheir farm. The fee paid by the Mauzy family totheir attorney is not part of the public record butseveral local residents have reported it rangedfrom 20 to 33 percent of the court verdict.Assuming the $32,000 verdict was reduced by 25percent to pay their attorney’s fee, the Mauzy’sreceived $24,000 for their 60 acres. Adjusted for

inflation, that amount would now be approximately$160,000 in 2008 dollars. But if that property hadremained in the hands of the Mauzy family to thisday, its current real estate value might easily bemore than a million dollars.As we now know, the closing of Cabin Mountain

Ski Area and subsequent sale of the Mauzy farm didnot drop a curtain on the early skiing era in CanaanValley. Other enthusiastic and enterprisingindividuals had arrived on the scene at about thesame time as the ski club and built slopes nearbythat attracted thousands of skiers in the years thatfollowed. Most notable among them was Robert T.Barton III (1928-1991) who developed Weiss KnobSki Area in 1955 on the site where Canaan ValleyState Park operates its ski resort today. After thatland was taken for the state park, Barton leased partof the nearby Randall Reed farm on Freeland Roadin 1959 and opened a second Weiss Knob Ski Areaat that location. That endeavor ended around 1970just as the state park readied to open its new skislopes. In 1980, Harold “Chip” Chase, along withTom Preston and Winslow Ayer, reopened the siteof the Bob Barton’s Weiss Knob, naming it WhiteGrass Ski Touring Center.

Cabin Mountain Ski Area as it appears today. Gone are all the buildings, the Mauzy home and barn andany other evidence of posts that supported the rope tow. A very careful examination of the ground nearthe road shows a few remnants of building foundations, but time and vegetation have almost completelyobscured them. The lower half of the slope is now covered in hawthorn trees, easily visible in this photo.This view is from the Canaan Valley State Park entrance road. Photo by the author.

Under careful management and the use of snowfences to create continuous, linear snowdrifts forcross country skiing trails (Chip calls it “snowfarming”), White Grass has grown into a verypopular and widely known skiing destinationtoday.Hobert and Irene Mauzy both lived to witness

Canaan Valley skiing begin evolving into thehuge business it is today; each passed away at theage of 69, Hobert in 1979 and Irene in 1981. Atthe end of their lives, they saw what had begun intheir cow pasture 30 years earlier grow into theeven greater enterprises, first at Weiss Knob andlater at White Grass. Those accounts are alsocolorful stories in their own right and in the yearsahead we look forward to new narratives beingadded to the historical chronicles of CanaanValley.

GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO ASSISTED

The most important sources of information forthis history feature were the author’s personalconversations with people who were here whenthat history was being made more than halfcentury ago:

● Dick Harr ● Barbara Harr Alford

● Carl Harr ● Sharon Parsons Stavrakis

● Ruth Cooper Allman ● Dorothy Thompson

● Sarah Thompson Fletcher

The historical research of two other individualswas particularly valuable in assembling thechronology of events: Bob Jordan and JohnLutz. Their superb work in compiling the facts,dates, and locations in their historicaldocumentation was the principle frameworkaround which this history feature was built.

Finally, to Chip Chase goes the credit fordirecting this writer to the work by Messrs.Jordan and Lutz, adding his owncharacteristically colorful tales to the epic. Hiscontributions merit special recognition of WhiteGrass Ski Touring Center below.

A history feature such as this appears in everyTimberdoodle, the bi-monthly newsletter of theFriends of the 500th, the volunteer group thatsupports the Canaan Valley National WildlifeRefuge. To join the Friends and beginreceiving Timberdoodle, individualmemberships are $10/year and for families it’s$20. Mail your check to Friends of the 500th,PO Box 422, Davis, WV 26260. You’ll love it!

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