In the mid-20th century, small ski hills popped up throughout Connecticut for people to get their skiing fix in without having to travel up to Vermont or New Hampshire. There were over 60 of these ski hills around the state, including one in Glastonbury.
Located within JB Williams Park, the ski hill was a simple tow rope with one main slope along with some bushwhacked woods trails. The tow rope was powered by an old Willis Jeep parked at the bottom of the hill which ran the rope off its rear tire.
Information in this paragraph provided by nelsap.org. They’re the best source for lost ski hills in CT and have some great photos and stories from people who used the ski hill.
According to a man who built the hill, it was easy for people to access it off Neipsic Road because there was an empty lot at the top of the hill. But in 1973, 911 Neipsic Road was built, thus cutting off access to the hill. Since people were less inclined to carry their skies and boots in through the woods, the hill closed shortly after.
Today, the poles and wheels that carried the tow rope still stand, along with a path where the tow rope once carried skiers up the hill. At the top of the hill, a larger contraption still stands where the rope likely fed into the Jeep, which is no longer there. However, the concrete slab that it sat on is still visible The slope can’t be seen anymore as trees were likely planted when the hill closed to discourage skiing but the top where the skiers got off the tow rope is still open.
Lost Glastonbury 
I learned how to ski on this very slope in 1967. I was 3 years old!
LikeLike
That’s very cool! Would love to talk about what it was like!
LikeLike
I used to come here in my GHS years. (1977 graduate). In the early years of high school we went to ski. On late weekend nights, after everyone was gone, its possible a few cold ones for Perry’s package store were consumed. One memory that comes back every time I drive by…I crashed my car into the second telephone pole on the left as I rounded the curve to head up the hill. Fortunately no one hurt other than the car.
LikeLike
I was GHS 1976. I would come here anytime I could get my mother to drive me. We’d get dropped off where Neipsic levels out at the top after passing the JB Williams entrance. Nature really has taken over because I would describe skiers left off the lift as a wide open area (wouldn’t call it a trail). I remember weekends could be crowded with maybe a 20-25 minute lift line. People would crash trying to grab the rope and that would slow everything down. The text above mentions bushwhacked trails from the top. At the end of the day (sometimes in the dark) we would ski an access road down to the main Park parking lot.
LikeLike