Excerpts

from

A Chautauqua County Tradition

Winter Sports Tied Closely to Local History

by 

Jack Dean

March 17, 2012

We assume the first settlers in the area did not have much time for idleness or winter sports, but we do know they had occasional wood-chopping contests.  In the 1890s, they had horse races on Findley Lake in January and February.  The horses had special cleats on their shoes to prevent them from slipping on the ice.  Residents ice skated on Findley Lake, Cassadaga Lake and Chautauqua Lake as well as on frozen ponds throughout the county.  Chautauqua Lake had ice boats with sails where ice boat races were held.  In the 1930s and 1940s, sledding and tobogganing parties were popular in many communities.  

Skiing became popular in the deep snow on hilly terrain.  In the 1960s, Dunkirk resident and engineer Leo J. Veneko operated a factory making skis out of plastic rather than wood.  He experimented with grooving the bottoms and attached a narrow metal band to the edge of his skis to make them work better on crusty or icy snow.  He patented the idea, moved to Jamestown and set up his manufacturing plant in the old Broadhead Mills furniture factory believed to be titled Veneko Products, Inc., but his new idea was adopted by a large ski manufacturer in Austria which became a strong competitor.  

In 1935, Westfield Mayor W.B. Crandall along with a gentleman by the name of Jack Robinson, who owned the Gorge golf course, south of the village, went to Cleveland and made arrangements with the Cleveland Travel Bureau to run weekend excursions over the New York Central Railroad to Westfield from Cleveland, Erie and Buffalo.  Robinson had made arrangements with Dr. Cobb to start his ski run and jump 300 feet above the fifth fairway and down to a jump off the third green and over the Tee Off the Top of the World hill past the eighth fairway. Unfortunately, some years the weather didn't cooperate producing very little snow. Over time, the ski excursions faded away.  

Eventually, other ski ventures appeared in the county which included Eagle Ridge Resort on the higher elevation, south of Westfield on Route 394. It was in operation for several years, but it became handicapped by being too close to Lake Erie with its warmer weather which resulted in a lack of deep snow.  Some of the principal investors were Murry Price, Dr. Robert Horsch, James Mead, Dr. Donald Eno and members of the Nixon family.

Another ski resort appeared called Ski Cockaigne with 2,300 acres of land in Cherry Creek, NY.  The unique building at Ski Cockaigne became the Austrian pavilion from the 1964/1965 World's Fair in New York having been moved to Chautauqua County.  Ski Cockaigne was successful for many years as it was located at a high elevation in what is known as the "snow belt".  There was a good student program with several local schools participating with a well organized ski patrol.  Sadly, on a cold night in January 2011 the beautiful Austrian pavilion/ski lodge caught fire and was completely destroyed in spite of heroic efforts on the part of several area fire departments.  

In 1979, a new idea in winter sports came to Chautauqua County in the form of the Chautauqua Ski Marathon.  Approximately, 200 volunteers organized and ran a 55-kilometer (34 mile) marathon run.  The course began at the Pennsylvania stateline near Clymer and ended at the Mayville Conservation Club. It was classed as the longest ski marathon in New York State.  Entrants began at 400 and increased from 800 to 1,000 skiers by 1986.  The course was divided into three sections and each skier could choose how many to attempt.  Refreshment stands were set up by volunteers in each section for water and food.  In locations where the trail crosssed a highway volunteers flagged cars to let skiers cross at those locations.  A cannon, borrowed from the Sea Lion, was used to fire the starting shot.

The Chautauqua Lake Snowmobile Club was founded in 1968 for the purpose of making a local trail system that was both safe and enjoyable.  In the beginning at least three membership clubs were formed plus well-groomed trails in several parts of the county.  Located in the western-most part of New York State where the average annual snowfall exceeds 250 inches (during a good year) its volunteers maintain over 200 miles of scenic trails.  These are linked to local service businesses and other clubs in the county.  The CLSC's clubhouse is located on Hannum Road in Mayville and is available to all 2300 plus CLSC members.