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to Snow is available on holidays and weekends. Spring Mountain’s most popular and innovative program however, is the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania. Kids ages six to 12 can participate in the Kids After School program. This four to eight week progressive program focuses on developing the skills needed to ski or ride on any slope. Another program that is exclusive to Spring Mountain is the Four for Free Program. This gives local fourth graders an opportunity to participate in a winter sport. Just bring in your child’s current fourth grade report card and your child can receive a free season pass. Group and private lessons are also available for anyone wanting to learn to ski and Spring Mountain also offers an adult progressive program to help skiers hone their skills and advance their ski level. This year, Spring Mountain is also offering a Saturday Night Out Program. Kids from age six to sixteen can practice their skills on the mountain while parents can enjoy dinner and drinks in the pub. Spring Mountain does a great job of creating a place where people of all ages can begin their family tradition of skiing and snowboarding. In fact it was on Spring Mountain that owner Rick Buckman learned to ski and where his family’s tradition started. This past March marked fifteen years since Spring Mountain met it’s current owners, Rick and Jeff Buckman, and Lori Buckman Webster. And yes. That would be Buckman, as in the Buckman’s Ski Shops that pepper Eastern Pennsylvania. In 1999, the resort came close to meeting a fate of high-density residential development. Previously known as Spring Mountain Ski, the resort was put on the market with buildings in disrepair and malfunctioning equipment. Rick Buckman and his siblings Jeff and Lori, Skippack natives, wanted so much to see Spring Mountain survive. “We all learned to ski there," he said. "We heard rumors developers were going to buy it.” The Buckmans approached the previous owners but couldn’t come to an agreement. After that deal fell through, they were approached by Upper Salford Township. The Buckman’s came to an agreement for a three way, public/ private purchase where they bought the 19 acres that make up the ski area. Montgomery County bought nearly 83 acres to preserve the land, and Upper Salford Township bought the remaining land, including the slopes which are leased by the Buckmans. Fifteen years ago, Rick didn’t have any clear expectations when it came to Spring Mountain’s future. “I tend to not look that far ahead,” he said. They knew that they would be undertaking an expensive renovation but they have made quite a few additions going above and beyond since they bought the resort including installing the first fully automated snowmaking system in the United States. Regulated by the Delaware River Basin Commission, it borrows water from the Perkiomen Creek. This also extends the season, Rick points out, “With the old snowmaking machines, it needed to be in the low 20s to make snow where now, we can make it at 30 degrees. With the successful flurry of visitors at Spring Mountain, Rick and his wife Gayle decided to invest further and buy a little piece of local history. In 2011, they bought Woodside Manor, which is on the other side of the mountain. It is the last standing Inn that once provided accommodations to summer visitors nearly 100 years ago. With all the requests for overnight lodging from guests, the manor seemed like a good fit. Now called Woodside Lodge, the renovated building has a restaurant, banquet room, eight suites and features Buckman Tavern, which is a nod to the original tavern in Lexington Common, Massachusetts. Best known as a gathering place for the minutemen of the American Revolution, one of Rick’s ancestors, John Buckman was once proprietor of the original tavern. It’s these improvements that make Spring Mountain an all-inclusive destination. Après ski, you can head over to The Woodside Lodge for cocktails and a steak, or you can stay at the mountain and relax in the Powder Pig Pub with a beer and a pulled pork sandwich. Forty-some years ago, Rick’s father Leon opened the first Buckman’s Ski Shop in Perkiomenville because he had grown tired of paying retail prices for his children’s ski equipment. In 2015, thanks to Leon’s children, Spring Mountain is now a Montgomery County gem, a perfect destination in your own backyard. We didn’t buy it to sell it,” Rick Buckman said in a 2000 interview with the Times Herald. “We bought it to be here and be a part of Spring Mountain.” And that is what they have done. Spring Mountain Adventures is located at 757 Spring Mount Road, Spring Mount, PA 19478. For more information, call 888-305-5044 or visit www.springmountainadventures.com. Maura McCormick is a freelance writer and blogger who is the creator and publisher of www.playpen-ipg.com. W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 65