Powder Ridge Ski Area is a ski area located in Middlefield, Connecticut. It began operations on January 22, 1961, closed in 2007, and reopened in 2013 as Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort. It is located on Besek Mountain. Powder Ridge Park is affiliated with the Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park in the Portland Brownstone Quarries in nearby Portland, Connecticut. History Powder Ridge began operations in 1959 under the name of Powder Hill. It was started by brothers Louis and Herman Zemel, who had already operated a successful appliance store in New Haven, CT. It initially operated with only surface lifts, but constructed three new double chairs between 1963 and 1965. In 1970, the area changed its name to Powder Ridge; during the year, it was planned to host the Powder Ridge Rock Festival, which was later cancelled. The planners of the festival skipped town with the money, but thousands of young adults showed up at the ski area expecting a second Woodstock. Melanie Safka is the only performer who showed up and ignored the court injunction banning the festival (she performed on a stage powered by Mister Softee trucks). 1972, after resolution of local opposition and legal action, Powder Ridge embarked on a major expansion, which included the construction of the first quad chair in New England, dubbed the "747 lift." It was thus named for the slope it rode over, the 747, known to be one of the area's more difficult runs. The Zemel brothers also started a business called Fan Jet that produced and sold snow making equipment. However, this enterprise was shut down after a patent infringement lawsuit in the mid 1980s. When Louis Zemel died in 1981, his half of the business went to his children. His son and daughter in law took over the day-to-day management of the ski area and snow making business. Powder Ridge operated in the off-season by running a pool club that offered an Olympic sized swimming pool, kiddie pool, and tennis courts for members. The restaurant also hosted corporate outings, family outings, and the like in the summer to supplement the winter business. In the 1980s the ski area had a beginner slope that was 1/4 mile long, the Middlefield slope, running the full 1/2 mile length of the mountain and was perennially the first slope to open and the last to close each season, the Glade, which was