Even though the Chedoke ski hill has been closed for six years, the steel ski lift towers remained -- for skiers, a reminder of the way things used to be, and might still be in the future.

The green-painted, aging towers and light fixtures offered the possible: skiing might return to a spot that was hailed 45 years ago as "Hamilton's own Sun Valley."

But that dream is being demolished and trucked away in pieces. The job has already begun, and will be likely finished this week. The towers are gone.

While diehard local skiers already knew it was unlikely the ski hill operation would return, the symbolism of ripping down the lifts was tough to take.

"It's heartbreaking," said Sandy Schwenger, who learned to ski at Chedoke and who is now a ski instructor and fundraising chair for the Chedoke Ski Racing Club. Their annual ski swap sale was held in the old Chedoke clubhouse over the weekend to raise money to support the club.

"The ski environment was fantastic here for families, a local place you could take the kids to," she said. "So many people in Hamilton learned to ski here."

For golfers, on the other hand, the removal of the towers seems long overdue. The 18-hole "Beddoe" course at Chedoke is one of the prettiest around, a classic layout by the famous designer Stanley Thompson that opened in 1942. No doubt Thompson did not account for ski lifts plunked in the middle of his escarpment jewel

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Chedoke lifts come down