 Several communications and broadcast towers are located on the top of Laurel Mountain, which serves the eastern Pittsburgh area and Greater Johnstown.The park was opened as a private ski area in 1939 by General Richard K. Mellon and the Rolling Rock brewery from nearby Latrobe.It was one of the first ski areas in Pennsylvania and although World War II caused the ski resort to be temporarily closed, in the years following the war, it was the "Ski Capital of Pennsylvania".