Scotch Valley Ski Area
Stamford, New York1962-1998
Shop Scotch Valley Ski Area tees, long sleeve tees, hoodies and crewnecks. Avery Robinson opened it in 1962 on Route 10 near Stamford, with a 3,300-foot chairlift, a T-bar and a lodge with a ten-lane bowling alley. A 150-foot ski jump was built in 1965, and later trails carried Scottish names such as Highland Fling, Bagpipes and Rob Roy. Pick a style below, then read the full Scotch Valley history further down. Down Home Apparel is an American small business remembering the best places and teams of yesteryear, and every shirt is printed to order in the USA.
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Scotch Valley Ski Area History
Scotch Valley Ski Area in Jefferson, New York, sat on Route 10 in Delaware County, about two miles east of Stamford, and almost everything printed about it at the time said Stamford. Avery Robinson opened it in 1962, at first as a joint venture with Fred Murphy and then on his own. A 1962 brochure sold it as a place with plenty of room, a 3,300-foot chairlift, an 1,800-foot T-bar, snowmaking, a chalet lodge with a restaurant and a fireplace, and dog sled rides.
By the early 1970s a guide listing showed two double chairlifts on the main slope, a third double chair on a 1,600-foot beginner line, the T-bar, and a 300-foot rope tow for novices. The base sat at 2,000 feet with a vertical drop of about 750 feet on a northern exposure. Stan Czarniak ran the ski school, and a 150-foot ski jump he designed was built in 1965. The lodge had a cafeteria, a bar and lounge and a ten-lane bowling alley, and the area skied two nights a week. A local history says Robinson ran the place until 1981 and that it made a profit in only one season.
In the early 1980s the area was sold and became Deer Run, with condominiums and a motel added at the base, and a 1987 trail map carries the Deer Run name. A 1998 trail map went back to the Scotch Valley name and gave the trails Scottish names such as Highland Fling, Bagpipes and Rob Roy. One site counts four separate managements over the life of the area. Most sources say it closed in 1998; a 2008 newspaper report says 1999.
In 2008 a New Jersey nonprofit bought the closed resort and its condominiums for a summer camp. A 2008 report said the buyer might lease the slopes in winter to an experienced operator, but the property now runs as a summer camp. The camp has since restored the Deer Run chairlift and runs it in summer.