Resort Closing

The flakes won't be falling this season on New Jersey's first ski resort. A decade of financial debacles have taken their toll on Craigmeur Ski Area in Morris County's Rockaway Township. Vice president Raymond Schank tells The Star-Ledger of Newark changes in the ski industry and the Northeast's marginal weather are to blame for the shutdown. He added it simply doesn't pay for the resort to prepare its four ski trails on 35 acres. In some cases last winter, business was so poor it was cheaper to pay employees and tell them to stay home than to open, explains Schank, Craigmeur will remain open for picnics and conventions in the summer.