Shu-Maker Mountain

Shu-Maker Mountain Ski Area in Little Falls, New York, sat on Cheese Factory Road, off Route 167 a few miles south of town, on a hill that drivers on the New York State Thruway could see between Exits 29A and 30. A local history credits the construction firm of John and Frank Talerico with building it and running it from 1972 until the early 1980s. The hill faced north over the Mohawk Valley.

By the 1994-95 season the area listed a 750-foot vertical drop, with a base at 500 feet and a summit at 1,250 feet, 22 trails on about 90 skiable acres, and snowmaking on half of them. Two double chairlifts of 3,800 and 3,000 feet, a 1,200-foot T-bar and a 300-foot rope tow served it, and 13 trails were lit for night skiing. The brochure rated 6 trails beginner, 13 intermediate and 3 expert, and gave the longest run as 5,800 feet.

The trails were named for shoe parts: Bootie, Sole, Heel, Toe, Arch, Moccasin, Sneaker, Loafer, Shoestring and Eyelet among them. The steep slope under the main chair was Hi-Top, and the lower slope it fed into was Lo-Top. The logo followed the joke with a black work boot and a tiny skier on its cuff. Lettering on the lodge gable read Shu-Maker Mt.

The local history says two groups of investors and ski enthusiasts ran the area between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, without naming them. Bob McEvoy and his family operated it from 1991 until 1998, when it closed. His son remembered his father's pride in teaching local kids to ski, and the history adds that the lodge barroom once had live music and a regular after-ski crowd. It blames the end on warmer winters and less snow, which left the snowmaking unable to produce good snow. Other sources give the closing as around 1999.