Hard’Ack History
There once was a time when most small towns in Vermont had a ski hill, unfortunately those days have long gone by. Despite all the challenges of having a local ski hill, Hard’ack has survived and continues to keep that Vermont tradition alive in St. Albans. The primary purpose of Hard’ack Inc. is to provide recreation to Franklin County residents through alpine and nordic skiing, snowboarding, sliding, ice skating, snow shoeing, mountain biking, cross country running, wilderness trails and youth sports on our sports fields.
Hard’ack, Inc. is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization lead exclusively by volunteers. After a number of years of being shuttered we re-opened Hard'ack Hill in 1999-2000. In 2001 we created a golf outing as a way to raise money to keep Hard'ack open free of charge to the public and to make various improvements each year. This outing is the primary fund raising event for Hard'ack and has been a tremendous success over the years. This event, the sponsors and volunteers are what have allowed Hard’ack to be open free of charge to the public every year since.
Hard’ack needs the help of the community to survive and continue its tradition into the future. The Hard’ack Board continues to make improvements having added: expanded skiing; terrain parks; snow making; cross country and snow shoeing trails; modern snow grooming equipment; expanded snow making; new lighting for night skiing, a bicycle pump track and a dog park. Hard'ack also hosts countless recreational activities put on by the St. Albans Recreational Department, serves as BFA Alpine Skiing and XC Skiing Teams home training grounds, has hosted countless high school skiing meets, has also served UVM and Collegiate Level XC Running Events and is the home of the Annual St. Albans Winter Carnival.
We haven’t ever really been able to get a firm answer as to when Hard’ack Hill officially opened or was cleared. But stories go way back to the early 1900’s to horse drawn sleigh and buggies and kids sliding down Congress Street. It was decided this was no longer safe and so Hard’ack hill was cleared or became the designated place to go sledding or tobogganing.
Skiing has roots that go back thousands of years starting in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia when it was mostly used for transportation. Modern Alpine Skiing roots begin in the 1850 and in 1936 Skiing was first introduced to the Olympic games. It was around this time that skiing as a sport and for recreational purposes was first introduced in Vermont with country’s first Rope Tow at Big Bromley in Manchester Center.
We’ve been told mixed stories of when Hard’ack got it’s rope tow till some say in the 1940 and others say the 1960’s. But one thing certain, Todays’ Rope Tow is still in the same place it always has been. At some point in the mid 1960’s Hard’ack got it’s “fabled blue chicken coop warm up shack.” Which remained on sight and in use till 2017.
Many people ask where did the name Hard’ack came from? Hard’ack is a type of tree, often called “Iron Wood” due to how hard the wood is. It can dull a chain saw very quickly. The hill just happened to have a strong “orchard” of hard’ack trees and so it is said that is how the hill came to be known as Hard’ack.