Tanglwood, PA – Recycling, or more accurately “repurposing,” is an economic buzzword these days, and is something that the ever resourceful Laszlo Vajtay, owner of Plattekill ski area in New York’s Catskill Mountains, practices regularly.

It is with this principle in mind that Vajtay traveled to Pennsylvania and acquired substantial equipment being auctioned off at the defunct Tanglwood ski area in the Poconos, including a Hall double chairlift, a Bombardier groomer, two snowmaking fan guns and 80 snowmaking hydrants.

The liquidation auction on April 26 was the final step in the dismantling of Tanglwood, a more than 40-year-old ski area which was last saved from an auction by a sale just last summer. Representatives from Plattekill, Thunder Ridge, Kissing Bridge and Mount Peter, all in New York, Little Switzerland in Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania’s Big Bear and Camelback were all on hand looking to score a deal.

At Plattekill, the new chairlift will replace the ski area’s existing handle tow on its beginner slope to better accommodate a burgeoning lesson business. In addition, parts of the new lift are compatible with the resort’s other chairlifts made by Hall, a Turin, N.Y.-based company that merged with the Swiss ski lift manufacturer Von Roll in 1984. Replacement parts for Hall lifts are getting increasingly difficult to find.

Vajtay, however, is most enthusiastic about the 1996 Bombardier MP Plus with only 11,000 hours on it that he picked up at Tanglwood. Vajtay indicates that the machine is only about halfway through its expected life span and has been meticulously maintained. The new groomer will alleviate pressure placed on Plattekill’s winch cat after its other front-line groomer’s torque hub broke during the winter season.

Plans for the new snowmaking equipment involve new coverage on Plattekill’s Plunge and Freefall trails, neither of which have snowmaking currently.

In other purchases at the auction, Tanglwood’s other chairlift, a Borvig double, is going to Kissing Bridge, while a 7,500 cfm air compressor was snatched up by Camelback and snowmaking pumps are headed to Little Switzerland.