The Lost Ski Area of Sudbury

SUDBURY, MA — Was there a hill in Sudbury that was originally intended to be a ski slope? According to several Sudbury residents - both former and current - there was, and it was located off Concord Road at Featherland Park.

According to information submitted to the New England Lost Ski Areas Project by Scott Melick, there once was a ski slope located about an eighth of a mile south of the Lincoln-Sudbury entrance, that entrance to the base next to the town's recreation building.

Melissa Emerson recently posted in the Facebook group "I Grew Up in Sudbury," stating that she didn't "remember a ski area in Sudbury." Many commenters did remember the hill, and said it was a popular spot to go sledding back in the day.

Bill Bitter, who moved to Sudbury in the summer of 1969, added to the New England Lost Ski Areas Project that he used to ride a mini-bike from his home along the horse trails in the woods.

"That emerged at the backside of the area that’s known today as Featherland Park," he wrote. "The trailhead was in an area near the town recreation department garages along the far backside of the property. The southwest-facing ski slope was on the right side and about ¼ mile down the trail. The ski area comprised of a single, straight wide slope perhaps 75’ wide and a curved trail of about half that width to the left of the main slope forming a backwards capital letter D."

Bitter wrote that the hillside slope didn't exist until the summer of 1971, and watched loggers removing trees to make way for the area. "I can tell you with complete certainty that from 1969 to 1978 no manner of mechanical lift ever installed on that hill," he wrote. "If you wanted to ski it, it was strictly walk up and ski down."

He reported that the slope was never used for its intended purpose, and that it is believed that the reason was that there was a lack of financial funding and also liability problems that "sank the project before it could be completed."

"My father was park and recreation commissioner in the early '70s and had made a scaled model of the slope with skiers and a ski lift," wrote Gary Carter on Facebook. "It was for he project proposal. Remember him working on it for quite a long time in our basement. I took many a ride with him to go look over the area. I remember him telling a story about going to look at site after it was cleared and seeing 4 or five guys limping out of the woods with a toboggan in 5 pieces. I can't remember why it was never completed and my father has passed. I'm guessing liability issues and possibly the recession of the '70s."

Do you remember this "ski slope?" Did you go sledding or hiking there? Share your memories with us in the comments section.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons