Lost ski area in Crab Orchard

[Alex]

Is there anyone on here who is old enough that remembers Renegade mountain ski resort in Crab Orchard near Crossville?  It's right off 1-40 and is now a golf club.  I can't seem to find alot of info about the history of it but supposely it operated from 1969 to 1979 and had 1 chairlift, a t-bar, and a rope tow.  I heard you use to be able to see the remnants of ski slopes but now it is overgrown.  The mountain has an elevation of 2800 feet which is about the same as Ober Gatlinburg in east tn so I imagine it could be at least as good as that.  I just find this really interesting and was wondering if anyone knows anything about it.

[Coach B]

I don't remember the ski area, but I remember people talking about it after it had already closed.  Seems like a relative or friend had learned to ski there.  Probably as good a location as you could get on the Plateau for natural snow.  Good elevation at 2800 feet, I think a northwest facing slope for good upslope snows, and right off the interstate.  I would venture a guess that it would outproduce Ober on annual average snow.

[Susan]

I remember it!  Never skied there but had lots of friends that did.  It wasn't open very often.

[joemomma]

I remember it too, but never skied there.  Church youth trips abounded there!  I have golfed there, and it is beautiful up there.  Can't say much for the course or how it's run though, pretty shabby best I remember.

[Nashville_wx]

I ski locally here.  Temple hills golf course has a couple nice runs.... Last march I made a couple....   I measured over 4" there. 

[lyngo]

I remember it.  It's still hard to believe they actually attempted to have a "ski resort" there.  I imagine the decent winters during that time frame gave them false hope that a ski resort would do well in that area.  Of course being on the plateau and having that much elevation helps but you know as well as I do that even in that area, you can't count on enough snow to operate a ski slope.

I think that area now is home to a golf course, at least it used to be.  I think the course has changed hands a few times.  When I played up there, it was called Cumberland Gardens and it was definitely pretty high up.  There was one par 5 that had a very elevated tee box and you could see for days (if there wasn't any fog around).  It was absolutely beautiful to play in the fall.  I haven't been up there in quite some time though.

Anyway, that's my 

[dapig]

It was still open in the 1980's. My neighbor taught me to ski up there. I got to go up there about 5 times one year. they had a rope tow, a Tbar, and a chair lift. I think they had one long run with 2 or 3 smaller runs off of it. If I remember correctly they were limited on their snow making ability which is what hurt them alot.

[Coach B]

With the improvements in snowmaking technology that we have today I think a ski area there could be viable long term.  Being right off the interstate and having as good a location as possible on the Upper Cumberland Plateau they could potentially have plenty of business.  If they made the investment in the snowmaking they could have all the snow they need.  Some of the resorts in NC that have the best snowmaking like App and Cat usually have lots of snow left even when they close their slopes around the first of April.

[Thundersnow]

The question for snowmaking, though, would be whether there are enough days in the winter cold enough at that location for snowmaking to be a viable process and worth the costs of operating it.

Is there a certain temperature required for snowmaking?  I assume that it would have to be well below freezing.

[StormNine]

  i wonder if the big time snow drought is really hurting any possibility of ski resorts in the Plateau a lot of those areas average 15 to 20 inches of snow and the past winters haven't gotten have of that.

[Coach B]

They can make snow at just under freezing, however, it becomes more efficient at lower temps.  The smaller ski areas can put alot of snow down in a hurry if they have the equipment.  Paoli Peaks, which is outside of Louisville in southern Indiana, claims they can cover all of their area with 12 inches a night.  Most of the resorts in the Southern Apps make snow like crazy thru the mid-point of the season as temps allow, then often only add it when and where its needed later in the season.  Even without much natural snow many didn't make any snow at all in the last couple of cold snaps because they had such a large base built up.

IMO, with a good investment in snowmaking, a ski area on the Plateau would rarely have problems having snow for most of the season.

[dapig]

You can make heavy wet snow with a wetbulb temp of 28. The colder the better your snow quality. Also with colder temps you can you can bring your air to water ratio down almost to a 1:1. Last year in Lebanon there was 32 days i could have made snow but I only made snow 4 different times but I did have 1 run where we made snow for 60 hrs. made a nice sledding hill that run about a foot deep.

[mempho]

IMO, with a good investment in snowmaking, a ski area on the Plateau would rarely have problems having snow for most of the season.

I've actually run a simulation with actual hourly weather input and hydrological snowmelt calculations for west Tennessee...and we had only 2 days of being closed for low base for the whole season.  We had a December 5th? opening date, too...which is fairly good. 

[CookevilleWeatherGuy]

Is there anyone on here who is old enough that remembers Renegade mountain ski resort in Crab Orchard near Crossville?  It's right off 1-40 and is now a golf club.  I can't seem to find alot of info about the history of it but supposely it operated from 1969 to 1979 and had 1 chairlift, a t-bar, and a rope tow.  I heard you use to be able to see the remnants of ski slopes but now it is overgrown.  The mountain has an elevation of 2800 feet which is about the same as Ober Gatlinburg in east tn so I imagine it could be at least as good as that.  I just find this really interesting and was wondering if anyone knows anything about it.

I went up there several times as a youth and remember the great, big lodge and fireplace....it has had a history of owners and no one could seem to make a go of it..the golf course has suffered from the same thing....

Back in the old days, the road going up the mountain was quite interesting...the new owners who built the golf course spent a TON of money putting in the new road....

I may run up there very soon and take some snapshots....

Also, there are people in Crossville and Crab Orchard who know the history...will try and run it down for you all.