One could easily say that I had some strange hobbies as a child. One of these hobbies was my obsession with maps. It was likely that I could read a road map long before I ever finished my first story book. Most of these maps came from my father’s old collections which were stowed away in some forgotten junk drawer. As I would day dream and wonder what all these far off places like “Marquette” and "Traverse City” were like, I noticed many little symbols of little men skiing. The northern half of Lower Michigan seemed to be littered with these ski areas.
Unfortunately, when I picked up up the sport of skiing at the age of ten, I learned that these maps I explored so extensively were from the 1970s and even 1960s. Many of these ski areas had silenced their lifts and closed the doors. This didn’t stop me from wondering what it would have been like to spend a day on these now defunct slopes.
As I grew older, my desire and need to ski bigger hills grew more and more. Alpine Valley was no longer satisfying my needs. I pursued bigger and more challenging hills. First it was the slopes of northern Michigan. Then it was Colorado followed by Wyoming and Montana. I then would ski places in Washington, California, Utah and British Columbia. In September of 2008 I rode the world’s longest cable car from Chamonix France to the Summit of Aguille du Midi just a few thousand feet short of Mt. Blanc, the highest point in all the Alps. This was truly the top of the world and there was nowhere else to go.
After I had “met all my heroes”, I decided it was time to regress into my childhood and come face to face with these old ski hill that I once imagined were mountains as high as the moon.
My mission is to locate and explore all of these old ski hills that once dotted the Michigan landscape. I welcome anyone’s suggestions for hills or resorts that they remember as well.
So please, feel free to join my family and I in exploring Michigan’s lost ski hills of yesterday.
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Looking for info and vintage pics. of teeple hill @highland rec. recently walked the hills found remanants lights, telephone poles,tow rope wheel hub buired 1/2 way in tree. Inever skied there but heard stories closed sometime in the late 60s or yearly 70s??
ReplyDeleteAs a child in the 1970s, I used to go with my entire school (Kingsbury) to Mt. Grampian every Friday in winter. It wasn't very steep, but a lot of fun to a 6-year-old with its classic tow ropes and old-style chair lifts, and I still remember the appearance and fireplace smell of the lodge. These days Kingsbury's ski days are at Mt. Holly, but I still remember Grampian most fondly.
ReplyDeleteTeeple Hill was actually open into the early 1980's. What a great, affordable place to learn to ski! The giant barn at the bottom of the hill just caved-in a couple years ago after a failed attempt at raising funds for restoration (the barn pre-dated Highland State Park). They ran the ski rental right out of the end of the barn, along with hot cider and hot chocolate. It was a mini-version of something right out of New England! I believe there were two tow-ropes in the late 1970's, but there may have been a third one before that.
ReplyDeleteYou can still see the north-facing main run that ran down to the old barn. It's gone wild, now. Cross-country, horseback riding and mountain-bike single track trails (more to the west) are all that exist, now. On the internet, it's as if Teeple Hill never existed! Highland/WhiteLkTwp libraries may have pic's.
I have done some investigations on old ski closed down ski resorts in Michigan. Let me know where I can send this information before I lose it on my old computer.
ReplyDeleteSal Caruso scaruso@ford.com
My first ski experiences were at Michaywe ski hill in Gaylord MI. Open and closed a couple times before finally closing approx 10 yrs ago. I've always been curious of these by gone ski hills of old. A more natural and less restrictive time when all a person w/ land having a decent hill on it was a tow rope and customers willing to clamp down some boards without release bindings! Anyway there is place in Mancelona MI that I believe was called Mount Bundy. I believe it closed before I was on ski's. That's all I've got. Great site and good luck in finding this old ski hills. Thanks. Pete
ReplyDeleteI grew up in South Bend, IN. I regularly skied at Royal Valley (near Buchanan, MI), Swiss Valley and Bendix Woods. Only Swiss Valley is still in operation. I believe Royal Valley became Ski World in the late '80s or '90s, and was affliated with Ski World in Nahsville, IN. Both are now closed. Any info on Royal Valley, including pics and pamplets would be great to see!
ReplyDeleteThere was a defunct ski hill just a few miles from the Otsego Ski Club near Gaylord. A friend of the family, who was a member at Otsego in the late 70's, had nearby A-framed chalet. I think it was originally part of a planned ski community for this resort. Anyway, I remember snowmobiling there and taking the sleds to the top of the hill. As I remember, it was steep and had some gladed runs. The lifts were in place and there was a nearby lodge and barn. It seemed like it was out in the middle of the woods. I don't think it had been closed too long. Does anyone know the name of this hill?
ReplyDeleteWhat a hobby! I, too,have visited some of these old places that no longer operate.Born in 1951, started skiing at age 6.My grandfather owned a nice place called Mio Mountain just west of Mio,michigan.Made it easy and cheap for me to learn.I am posses alot of info and pics of the place. He closed in the '90's.Email me at bellco2007@hotmail.com for info or questions. It was alot of fun learning back then before things went hi-tech!
ReplyDeleteDo you have an email or contact info where I could get ahold of you? I am doing research on lost ski areas in Michigan and would love to talk with you
ReplyDeletebayley@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThis is Mickey MacWilliams from the Michigan Snowsports Industries Association. I happened upon your blog today and thought you shoud have a scan of a map I have from the 1960s, showing all Michigan's ski slopes. If you want it, send an email to info@goskimichigan.com.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at Kandahar in the 80's. I spent two winters dragging kids up those tow ropes and nearly froze to death. This sure brought back some memories. It's too bad the go-cart track doesnt show up on google earth.
ReplyDeleteI might be able to answer some questions if you have any.
Unclebud1@gmail.com
do you know of the closed ski hill on the west end of Crystal Lake in Benzie county? It is (or was) behind Chimmey Corners on M-22. It closed when Crystal Mountain opened up (Buck Hills)
ReplyDeleteI think that Teeple Hill may have had 4 or more rope tows at one time, say around 1970. I have found some additional info on it on Milsap. http://milsap.wordpress.com/regions/southeast-lower-peninsula-areas/milford/teeple-hill-_-highland-state-recreation-area/
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to find anyone who knows when the former surface lifts that used to be on Franklin Hill in Franklin were ever open, or what that ski hill was called. I went sledding and tobogganing there several times in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, and at that time there was an abandoned t-bar or j-bar that went up the left (or east) side of the hill, as well as at least one rope tow that went up the right side. Franklin Hill is south of the baseball diamonds west of Franklin Rd and south of Wellington Rd, south of 14 Mile Rd. The hill faces north- northwest.
Milsap also has several other ski hills in southeast Michigan listed, and if I am not mistaken, Silverbell and Mt. Christie were actually two separate ski areas, as I recall Silverbell being east of M-24 whereas Mt. Christie was west. Silverbell had several rope tows on a hill that faced east as I recall, and it was a little bit south of where Mt. Christie was too.
I used to ski Alpine Valley a lot when I was a kid. When we first started skiing there they only had 2 chairlifts, 2 t-bars, and some rope tows. The third chairlift was built east of the old double t-bars, and then the t-bars were replaced with two double chairlifts side-by-side. My junior high school ski club used to ski at Mt. Holly too.
Like the author, I moved also moved west, where I worked as a lift operator at Beaver Creek, Colorado in the 1983-84 ski season. Today I'm in my mid-50s and still try to get uphill to Eldora Ski Area west of Boulder a couple of times each year as it is only an hour drive from where we live now. I still remember the good old days of skiing in Michigan and in Vermont too, in-fact I first learned to ski on the Stowe, VT Toll House t-bar and on Okemo's old pomalifts back in the 1960s too, as Okemo was near an aunt's place.
Nothing like the good old days, having a rope tow rip your gloves up or having to hang-onto a pomalift after the thing slipped-out from between your legs, though when we were kids we used to have fun skiing outside the prepared track as the t-bar or poma dragged us up the hill too!
Yeah, look on Milsap as they already have done an extensive history on as many as 10 southeast Michigan abandoned ski hills, and maybe you will find the information or the memories that you are looking for there!