MNSurfer Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 What was the name of, and where exactly was the ski resort, near Flying Cloud Airport? Anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 http://mwlsap.org/https://milsap.wordpress.com/resources/other-lsaps/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted March 16, 2021 Report Share Posted March 16, 2021 8 hours ago, MNSurfer said: What was the name of, and where exactly was the ski resort, near Flying Cloud Airport? Anyone know? there might've been two of them Moon Valley Cedar Hills i never knew of there existence. i started looking into defunct ski hills along the Minnesota River Valley. i thought someone told me about one in Bloomington which i probably mis-remembered but it lead me to Moon Valley, and then Cedar Hills. Cedar Hills is directly west of Flying Cloud. it looked like it was just a small ski hill with snow making equipment. now its a small park. https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8296256,-93.4830369,896m/data=!3m1!1e3 Moon Valley is the one that intrigued me the most. My brother lives in Chanhassen and said there used to be a ski hill just across from city of shakopee. He thought it was off of Bluff Creek road or Hesse Farms. https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8149145,-93.5465906,1066m/data=!3m1!1e3 some links: https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2018/01/reflections-vintage-skier/ https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950s-Moon-Valley-Ski-Resort-Drive-In-Shakopee-MN-FULL-30-STRIKE-Matchbook/293330247657?hash=item444bd85fe9:g:OVAAAOSwoahdzT1T scroll through the photos https://www.ci.chanhassen.mn.us/1348/50th-Anniversary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted March 16, 2021 Report Share Posted March 16, 2021 just looked at cedar hills again. this one is adjacent to Flying Cloud. it was up the road from Lions Tap. and there's a facebook group but its private. https://www.facebook.com/groups/49645772880/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted April 4, 2021 Report Share Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) @MN Surfer i was out in eden prairie near the defunct Cedar Hills Golf/Ski checking out Cedar Hills Park for ... other reasons. its just up the ways from the original Cedar Hills Golf/Ski hill. the whole area is developed with large houses. going back and forth between google earth and old map archives. i believe the Cedar Hills Golf Course club house was located off Prospect Road what is now Sohm Court. in this map view the location of the clubhouse would be the fourth house from Eden Prairie road.https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8265033,-93.4848019,377m/data=!3m1!1e3 if you go to the Google Earth app, slide the timeline back to 1991 and you can clearly see the golf course. i'm not sure when skiing closed. probably early 1970's.https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8265603,-93.4844586,377m/data=!3m1!1e3 i found a vintage aerial map of the area from December 12 1967. there's a white rectangular area that looks like snow? might even be man-made snow. the club house is at the bottom of this area. there's a faint thin line on right side of this white area that might've been a rope tow? the terrain is somewhat flat when you drive around. not much of a run by itself. maybe this place was just for cross-country skiing? http://geo.lib.umn.edu/Hennepin_County/y1967/BDR-7-207.jpg disclaimer: i am almost always wrong. Edited April 4, 2021 by bobble 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwskier Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) Minnesota is done on the MidWest Lost Ski Areas website Check it out. Let me know if you have any corrections, additions, or comments Email: mark@mwlsap.org http://mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm MWLSAP - Minnesota Edited April 26, 2021 by mwskier update 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted April 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 Thank you for preserving this fascinating history. I will definitely be checking back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted April 25, 2021 Report Share Posted April 25, 2021 @mwskiernot sure if this qualifies defunct ski hill but early 1900's there used to be a small ski hill in Savage. the location is Hidden Valley Park but not sure what it was previously called... maybe Egan's Resort. according to historical articles there were two runs. i've been to the park and seen one of the runs but not sure where the other was located. at the south east side of Hidden Valley is a steep hill. i couldn't say what the vertical drop is but the hill is not that long. it would've been difficult to climb back up. there are houses at top of the hill and no trespassing signs. Quote "and in the winter for its ski hill, which emptied at a lodge where you could warm yourself by a grand fireplace and get an adult beverage or perhaps feed the slot machines." https://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_lake_american/news/opinion/columnists/history-new-savage-resident-discovers-old-history-of-his-backyard/article_71785d19-f551-5078-b400-b24c8005b5e4.html the fireplace is still standing with a plaque. Quote "In the late 1800s, Michael Egan settled in Glendale Township along the Credit River. The town of Savage did not exist at that time; it was part of a settlement called “Hamilton”. Over the years, the land was developed into Egan’s Resort which included a lodge and two ski runs" https://www.cityofsavage.com/Home/Components/News/News/44/1088 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawax Posted May 1, 2021 Report Share Posted May 1, 2021 The old ski area near Flying Cloud Airport was Cedar Hills, and it was right where Bobble above points out. In Bobble's linked old photo you can see the artificial snow on what was called the "intermediate expert hill", and that was the tow rope leading back up. Bobble was incorrect in saying the chalet (in winter called chalet and club house for golf in summer) is at the bottom of the hill - it was at the top and can be seen in the photo. Ski slopes went down in all directions from that chalet, plus there were was an area north of Riley Creek simply called the North Hill. That old photo must have been taken early in the year as most of the runs did not have any snow yet. You can see several other two ropes. I know there were at least 7 tow ropes, but maybe as many as 9. None of the houses scene now in that area were there then - just a small ranch across the road to the north. In fact, many of the roads in that area were not there then. I learned to ski there, then several years later became a Ski Patrol there at age 16. I worked there for two years until it closed. Winter '78-79 was its last year in operation for skiing, though golfing remained open for several more years. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 On 4/30/2021 at 7:15 PM, Jawax said: The old ski area near Flying Cloud Airport was Cedar Hills, and it was right where Bobble above points out. In Bobble's linked old photo you can see the artificial snow on what was called the "intermediate expert hill", and that was the tow rope leading back up. Bobble was incorrect in saying the chalet (in winter called chalet and club house for golf in summer) is at the bottom of the hill - it was at the top and can be seen in the photo. Ski slopes went down in all directions from that chalet, plus there were was an area north of Riley Creek simply called the North Hill. That old photo must have been taken early in the year as most of the runs did not have any snow yet. You can see several other two ropes. I know there were at least 7 tow ropes, but maybe as many as 9. None of the houses scene now in that area were there then - just a small ranch across the road to the north. In fact, many of the roads in that area were not there then. I learned to ski there, then several years later became a Ski Patrol there at age 16. I worked there for two years until it closed. Winter '78-79 was its last year in operation for skiing, though golfing remained open for several more years. that's awesome. thanks for correcting me. did you ever go to moon valley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwskier Posted September 12, 2021 Report Share Posted September 12, 2021 On 4/25/2021 at 12:36 PM, bobble said: @mwskiernot sure if this qualifies defunct ski hill but early 1900's there used to be a small ski hill in Savage. the location is Hidden Valley Park but not sure what it was previously called... maybe Egan's Resort. according to historical articles there were two runs. i've been to the park and seen one of the runs but not sure where the other was located. at the south east side of Hidden Valley is a steep hill. i couldn't say what the vertical drop is but the hill is not that long. it would've been difficult to climb back up. there are houses at top of the hill and no trespassing signs. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_lake_american/news/opinion/columnists/history-new-savage-resident-discovers-old-history-of-his-backyard/article_71785d19-f551-5078-b400-b24c8005b5e4.html the fireplace is still standing with a plaque. https://www.cityofsavage.com/Home/Components/News/News/44/1088 I added Egan's Resort to the MWLSAP website. http://www.mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm Thank you for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted October 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 Just dropping-in, after the summer, and man, are my fingers tired from all the clicking! Great info @mwskier ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhealyski Posted November 14, 2021 Report Share Posted November 14, 2021 Does anybody have any information on a ski area near Pipestone, Minnesota? http://mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm#pipestone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted December 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2021 Are 'Mt Normandale' and Hyland Hills one-in-the-same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhealyski Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Yes. http://www.mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm#mtnormandale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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