Museum
Museum Locations
Camelback Museum Displays Include:
The museum's exhibits are located in the East Side Bistro Restaurant at the Camelback Ski Area.
Included among the memorabilia are vintage skis, boots, clothing and equipment, ice skates, sleds, and many photographs.
"Hall of Fame" members.
"One Hundred Years of Ski Equipment"
"One Hundred Years of Pocono Winter Sports"
"History of Sledding"
Click Here for Photos
Liberty Mountain Museum Annex
Pennsylvania Ski and Winter Sports Museum
Liberty Mountain Annex
Liberty Mountain Resort and Conference Center
Fairfield, PA
The Liberty Mountain Annex to the Pennsylvania Ski and Winter Sports Museum is dedicated to preserving our winter sports heritage and serves to supplement the primary exhibits located at the Camelback Ski Area in Tannersville, PA.
Plans for the museum annex began in earnest in January 2007 when Joe Painter agreed to a request from Liberty Mountain General Manager, Eric Flynn to serve as the museum’s curator. The management at Liberty Mountain was very supportive in quickly locating space and providing funds for cabinetry to house the exhibit. Bruce Kimball, a long time instructor for the Liberty Mountain Snowsports School, was chosen to design, build, and install the cabinetry. The museum opened in December 2007.
Located in the base lodge of the resort, the museum exhibits a wide variety of items that reflect the history and heritage of winter sports. Many items on display also serve to capture the local history of Liberty Mountain.
The current display is comprised completely of items on loan from private collections. The museum has enjoyed generous support from those who frequent the resort. To date the museum has on loan items from 14 different individuals. Plans are to periodically change the display as new items become available and to increase the space for exhibits in the future.
By Alice Swann
On Jan. 21, 2001 the sled exhibit opened in the museum at the Camelback Ski Resort. The renowned Flexible Flyer was one of the featured sleds. Albert Dowden, a founder of the museum, presided. Keynote speaker Joan Palicia signed copies of her book "Flexible Flyer and Other Great Sleds for Collectors." She explained how the Flexible Flyer, the first steerable sled, was invented and manufactured by Samuel Leeds Allen, a farmer and inventor of farm machinery and head of the S. L. Allen Co. in Philadelphia. Allen experimented with several sleds that were tested on the grounds of Chester County's Westtown boarding school, which he had previously attended.
Allen applied for the Flexible Flyer patent in February 1889, and began production in August of that year. He successfully marketed the sled to Wanamaker's in Philadelphia and Macy's in New York. The Wanamaker's Eagle and the shield and ribbon became the official Flexible Flyer trademark.
Other highlights of Palicia's presentation:
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Admiral Byrd took a Flexible Flyer on his famous 1928 expedition to the South Pole.
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The Flexible Flyer was mentioned in the original movie "Miracle on 34th Street".
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Bing Crosby called his Flexible Flyer "one of the sweetest of all memories" in a 1959 vignette that he wrote to Ed Sullivan.
Palicia spoke briefly about the themed Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck sleds and Rosebud, and the last words uttered by "Citizen Kane."
Toboggans, coasters, the Cannon Ball, Skee-Boband, and Skee-Boggan were also mentioned as different sled models. Palicia showed her ski sled, a device that one rides like a scooter on the snow. She also showed a huge revolutionary model sled presently called "The Captain Avalanche", which is capable of traveling up to 100 mph. According to Palicia, "The Captain Avalanche" can only be tested on an approved mountain that has been cleared of people. A rider on it would be required to wear boots with special bear claw attachments, enabling the rider to drag his/her feet to stop. The popularity of plastic sleds has caused a decline in the manufacture of wooden sleds. Palicia suggested that anyone who wants to retain the value of an old wooden sled should not clean it or have it restored before having it assessed. Clark Gable's 1899 wooden childhood sled recently sold at New York's Christie's Auction House for a reported $80,500.