The Dozer that Stood the Test of Time

Fifty years is a celebrated anniversary, from birthdays to anniversaries. And for good reason. Fifty years is a long time—it’s a half century! Five decades separates the first successful heart transplant to the miracle of modern medicine today. The Rolling Stones and The Bee Gees were chart-toppers and gas was 34 cents a gallon. And mock turtlenecks were a thing.

Some things like The Rolling Stones passed the test of time, while other things fell to the wayside (like mock turtlenecks, thank goodness).
 
One of the things that has stood the test of time at Titus Mountain, and is still kicking, is our DH8 Caterpillar Bulldozer. This summer we celebrate the 50th birthday of a piece of machinery that helped shape Titus Mountain into what it is today (literally if you think about it!).

Short Live the Mock Turtleneck!

After Paul Augustine purchased Moon Valley in 1980, he figured it was a great time to start adding trails to the mountain, install new chairlifts, and expand the trail network. And it would be mighty hard to do without the use of a powerful piece of machinery. So, in came the DH8. Titus Mountain procured the dozer in 1981, which had worked on the Seaway in its previous life.
 
For the past 37 years, the mountain’s only dozer has touched every single trail and has been used to install Lifts 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and the Tubing Tow and Magic Carpet. It leveled the foundation for the Upper Lodge in 1989 and the Chalets in 2017. And when lift maintenance is required, the trusty dozer is right there to hold tension on the cables—a luxury that not a lot of other ski mountains have.
 
A lot of miles have been put on the dozer—it has gone through 4 undercarriages in the 37 years on the mountain. Machinery fans know… that’s a lot. But as Zach, our GM said, “She runs as good today as she did in 1981. It’s a testament to what America was able to build.”

Our Trusty DH8

It takes a village to create a mountain like Titus—from our staff, some of which have been here since “Titus Mountain” became a thing, to our guests, some of which have skied us since Moon Valley, to owners and locals who put faith in the concept of a true locally owned and operated ski resort, to a little old bulldozer that still putters along.
 
A little thing such as the birthday of the DH8 Caterpillar Bulldozer can sure make us nostalgic, can’t it?