Ski areas can be scary for Halloween

October 29, 12:49 AMSkiing ExaminerEric Wagnon

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Skiing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

 Portions of "The Shining" were filmed at the Timberline
     Lodge, an Oregon ski resort.      Photo: Timberline Lodge

---

15 Spooky Ski Run Names

• Snow Ghost: Schweitzer, Idaho
• Thirsty Vampire: Mount Bohemia, Mich.
• Black Magic: Whistler Blackcomb, Canada
• Mogul Monster: Cascade Mountain, Wisc.
• Devil's Crotch: Breckenridge, Colo.
• Spook: Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
• Screamin Demon: Okemo, Vt.
• Here Be Dragons: Solitude, Utah
• Hell's Bells: Angel Fire, N.M.
• Troll Road: Sugarbush, Vt.
• Shadows: Steamboat, Colo.
• Goat Haunt: Whitefish, Mont.
• Slasher: Sugarloaf, Maine
• Hangman's: Big Sky, Mont.
• Taxman: Snowbasin, Utah

'The Shining' goes skiing

To horror movie fans, the fictional Overlook Hotel is the terrifying setting for the 1980 film, "The Shining" starring Jack Nicholson. To avid skiers, however, the film's hotel exterior shots are recognizable as the benign Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon.

Serving a 1,415-acre ski area in real-life, the Timberline Lodge was used only for some of the movie's hotel exterior shots.  Other exterior shots and all the interior scenes were shot by director Stanley Kubrick on huge soundstages in England.

Notably, the hedge maze that plays a prominent role in the film has never existed on the grounds of the Timberline Lodge.

In a sense, Kubrick saved the lodge by changing the plot from the novel in which the hotel explodes at the end in a boiler accident.

Click here for more ski features

The film's plot centers around a family living in the sinister hotel that has been shuttered and snowed in for the winter months. Ironically, the Timberline Lodge is renowned for its year-round activity. The ski area is one of the few in North America that also stays open throughout the summer.

The original novel by Stephen King was inspired by a personal stay at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo. King reportedly wrote much of the book during his stay at the hotel that has its own share of ghost tales. When King was much more directly involved in a 1997 ABC mini-series adaptation of his novel, he chose to film at The Stanley Hotel. 

Do ghosts take ski vacations?

Aside from Hollywood ghosts, a few ski-town spots have alleged paranormal activity. Old, iconic hotels are particularly fertile territory for ghost stories.

At the historic Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colo., Room 310 is supposedly haunted by a young boy who drowned in the pool that has since been covered over by an addition including the infamous room.

Connected to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire's largest ski area, the Mount Washington Resort was featured on the television show, "Ghost Hunters." The best-known stories involve the wife of Joseph Stickney, the wealthy industrialist who built the hotel.

For not-so-scary Halloween fun such as family costume contests, the resort is hosting its 13th Annual Hallow-Brew Weekend, Oct. 30 - Nov. 1. The ski area, however, will not yet be open.

In Stowe, Vt., the Green Mountain Inn is actually rather proud of Boots Berry, a tap-dancing ghost who in life fell from the icy roof in the early 1900s. The sound of tap dancing can supposedly be heard on some stormy days.

Cranmore Mountain Resort hosts a haunted attraction during
the Halloween season.
          Photo: Cranmore Mountain Resort/Bill Lee Photography

Ski areas host haunted attractions

Other ski areas that have not yet started for the season are bringing in guests by building elaborate haunted attractions. Spring Mountain in Pennsylvania has been transformed for the Halloween season into Scream Mountain, featuring a haunted ski lodge and haunted hay ride.

Gunstock Mountain Resort in New Hampshire turns into Morbid Mountain on Friday and Saturday.  The area is also hosting an adult costume ball on Halloween.

Cranmore Mountain Resort, another New Hampshire area, hosts The Ghoullog through Halloween. The Ghoullog actually includes a chair-lift ride to the summit of Cranmore in the middle of the haunted tour.

Magic Mountain Resort in Idaho welcomes visitors to its Haunted Forest Fridays and Saturdays in October. The attraction also includes an indoor carnival for children.

Crystal Mountain in Michigan has set up its own Haunted Forest event for Friday night. Tickets for visitors in costume are just $5.

Mount Bohemia in Michigan offers legitimate advanced terrain
in the Midwest.                                        Map: Mount Bohemia

Mount Bohemia features 'Haunted Valley'

Skiers wanting to extend the Halloween theme into winter can head to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Considering the European region of Bohemia rivals Transylvania for vampire legends, the Haunted Valley portion of Mount Bohemia ski area seems rather appropriate.

The double-black runs in this area are named The Bad Seed, Cursing Werewolf, Thirsty Vampire and Raging Goblin. Surprisingly for the Midwest, all the terrain at Mount Bohemia is actually rather scary in that it caters solely to advanced and expert skiers.

The area has just 900 vertical feet, but it receives an average annual snowfall of 273 inches. Much of the snow is generated by nearby Lake Superior.