Mmmmm, love those Bardenay gin & tonics. Especially in 100 degree temperatures and in the company of an old friend. Thanks, Susan, for jogging loose those old memories.
Speaking of old memories, the Statesman article about Pinto reminded me of something I've been meaning to let you in on.
Remember the old Elmore County "map" you posted a couple of years ago that showed a Bennett Mountain Ski Area?
Well, the day that Tim Woodward interviewed him to start the research for the article, I was talking with Pinto about the old days. I asked if he remembered anything about a ski lift at the old Dixie Inn.
He said that Bud Tarwater, who ran Dixie for years, did have an old rope tow, powered by a tractor, that would pull people up the ridge toward where the Andrson turn-off is now and they couild ski down to the bar.
I vaugely remember seeing people skiing on the ridge when we would go up and sled down the old Dixie Hill.
Anyway, that may have been the mysterious "Ski hill" on the placemat.
Actually Warren, I remember it well.
In the late 50's somebody talked my dad
into investing in the equipment and
labor to build a rope tow ski lift on
the hill behind the Dixie tavern. It
must have been 'ol Bud because Dad
mentioned he had a partner. Anyway he
ordered a big rope, 1000' of it, special
made into a loop with no splices. He
drove a steel piling into the ground at
the top of the hill and attached a big
pulley. They looped the rope around the
pulley and then looped the rope around
the wheel of an old tractor down at the
bottom of the hill that was up on
blocks. They ran the tractor in granny
gear.
Surprisingly the contraption worked. I
remember going skiing there several
times.
The partners in this big money-making
operation only charged $1.00 for an all
day pass.
It was a bunny hill for sure and drew a
few Mtn. Home patrons, but in the end
the expenses far outweighed the income.
I think it lasted one season and maybe a
couple weeks of the next, with many
breakdowns in between.
Dad admitted later it was the worst
investment he had ever made, but it was
OK because a lot of Mtn. Home kids
learned to ski there, including his own.
I've never run into anyone who has ever
heard of the "Bennett Mtn. Ski Area" so
I think you're right Warren.
I'm guessing the map was actually referring to the short lived "Dixie Ski
Hill".
The rope behind Dixie was also used by alot of us to go sleding with car hoods or inner-tubes. Also used the road at dixie hill to sled down and some people with 4-wheel drives would bring us back up to the top. Never heard of a ski trail at Bennett Mtn. We always called it that because the road headed that way but always stopped at Dixie hill.
