For Marnie Golden, having the steepest ski slope in the state just 20 minutes away from her house is a point of hometown pride.
Golden, 17, of Ligonier Township was 9 when she started skiing at Laurel Mountain. Lower Wildcat, the steepest slope in Pennsylvania, is her favorite there.
“I think it’s just the challenge of it, and I think it’s just being able to ski it and ski it well,” Golden said.
Driving the winding rural roads up Westmoreland County’s Laurel Ridge to ski the Ligonier Township slopes is a winter tradition for her family — many of whom learned to ski there.
“I love not having to wait in line. I like how it feels very like you’re in nature and it’s a very natural feeling,” she said. “Just the community of it. Just families and good people. It’s so cozy here.”
Golden was one of dozens of skiers who flocked to Laurel Mountain ski resort for its opening day Friday. Snowflakes danced through the air and lined icy tree branches as skiers donned multicolored jackets, goggles and boots before slipping over the edge of the mountain.
This is the first year in more than a decade that all of Laurel Mountain’s slopes have been available to skiers on opening day, general manager Brett Cook said.
“When you can have this much terrain at any time in the season, it’s really nice,” Cook said. “But then to start the season at this point in December, it’s pretty special.”
Laurel Mountain across the decades
Pittsburgh financier Richard King Mellon opened a private skiing facility at Laurel Mountain for members of the nearby Rolling Rock Club in 1939, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The skiing area was opened to the public following World War II.
Mellon later gave the property to the state in 1964.
The skiing area was closed from 1989 to 1999. It reopened and closed several times until 2005 because of mild winters and financial hardship.
Seven Springs Mountain Resort signed a 10-year lease with the state to operate Laurel Mountain in 2008.
The family of Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting purchased the long-closed Laurel Mountain Ski Resort from Somerset Trust Co. in 2016.
Vail Resorts purchased Laurel Mountain and two Somerset County ski resorts — Seven Springs Mountain Resort and Hidden Valley Resort — in December 2021 for $118 million.
Steepest slope in state a draw
The resort is launching its first group lessons this winter, along with a steep slope training program on Lower Wildcat — which averages a nearly 60% slope, according to Laurel Mountain’s website.
The program will focus on adapting typical skiing practices to steep slopes — including balancing, rotary movements and pressure management.
“It’s the same … fundamentals of ski training, but it’s on a different pitch,” said ski services director Brett Lesnick. “Things fall apart. People try to ski upright when they’re on flat land, and they try to still stand upright when they’re on steep terrain. You actually have to match the inclination of hill and angle your body.”
For Robert Conway, the Upper and Lower Wildcat slopes are the perfect challenge for the start of the ski season.
“They’re very wide. There’s not a lot of skiers. The snow is usually quite good,” said Conway, 69, of Zelienople. “And they’re gentle. They have enough of a slope, enough terrain to give you a few challenges but nothing that’s going to suddenly make you lose control.”
Although Ron Gardner will ski Lower Wildcat, it’s not his favorite slope at Laurel Mountain.
“It doesn’t hold the snow good, and it’s almost always icy,” said Gardner of Blairsville. “When there’s good snow on it, you can’t beat it. It’s great.”
Gardner grew up skiing at Somerset County’s Hidden Valley Resort, but he enjoys the longer slopes of Laurel Mountain. The biggest draw to the Ligonier Township resort for Gardner is the low-key atmosphere.
“Everybody seems to recognize each other around here,” Gardner said. “And they’re friendly.”