There is a vivid memory that sticks out in my mind. I remember bundling up and heading outside immediately after hearing the news from my mother. "School is closed because of snow."

Then I remember going to our local hill, building jumps, and bombing down the hill with snow tubes. Snow tubes were a good time. They always seemed much more comfortable than plastic sleds or wooden toboggans. Because of their cushioning, we were always able to pounce on them with a running start and shoot down the hill with climbing speeds.

Although we weren't going all that fast, it makes me wonder, with all the local mountains around the North Country, wouldn't it be great if there were a snow tube run on one of the ski mountains? Well, the search ends here, for Titus Mountain in Malone, New York, offers such a thrill.

Snow tubing isn't necessarily for kids anymore. An ongoing trend to build snow tube courses at local ski resorts has been snowballing in recent years.

Titus Mountain has an 880-foot run with a 55-foot vertical drop that pushes tubers beyond 20 mph. At the bottom of the run is a handle tow with a lanyard that hooks to the tube and tugs the riders back up the mountain while they sit comfortably on the snow tube.

The course was built in the summer of 1999 because snow tube courses on ski mountains are "the up and coming thing," as Titus Mountain General Manager Zachary White puts it. "Everyone is starting to do it, so we figured we'd give it a try."

There are no day passes for snow tubing at Titus. "Usually after two hours of tubing, you've had your fill," White explains.

The only provision is that children must be at least seven years old. But it's not just children who tube. White says they've had people from seven to seventy years old take the run.

Is an 880-foot run too small? Then try Mount Pisgah in Saranac Lake, New York. Pisgah boasts a 1500-foot snow tube course, which was built in 2000. "We wanted to give the kids something else to do," concedes Pisgah Mountain General Manager Andrew Foster.

The hill is a gradual decline with a small gully at the bottom that slows the tubes down. There is also a handle tow like Titus' that brings the riders back up.

The run is not restricted to kids. According to Foster, people of all ages ride the course. "The results have been very good-they keep us busy." He also says they are pretty lenient as far as how young the children are who want to ride. Foster explains if a child seems too young, they will ask their parents to ride down with them.

At Pisgah, the only restrictions are one person per tube and people cannot wear their ski boots. "We don't want kids kicking each other in the head with those things," Foster declares.

If you want to rejoice in a childhood pastime this winter, put cocoa in your thermos, don your new snow suit, stock up on your thermal underwear, and go tubing.

Any questions? Email us.

 

Titus Mountain, 215 Johnson Road, Malone, New York The rates for snow tubing are $10.00 for two hours, or $12.50 Canadian. The hours of operation are on the weekends, starting Friday afternoon from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mt. Pisgah, Saranac Lake, New York Mount Pisgah's tube hours are only on the weekends where it is busiest. It begins Friday at 6:00 p.m. and it ends at 9:00 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And there is a four-dollar per hour fee.