Which was the “first” ski area in Michigan? What is the earliest opened area to still be in business? Which area was first in the U.P? Down below? Give us your nominations and your PROOF.
The Case for Caberfae. According to a feature article on Caberfae Peaks by Jim and Ann Neff dated Feb, 2007 on the Michigan Skier.com site: Opened in 1938 as Michigan’s first ski area, Caberfae has a rich history. As joint project of the U.S Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, runs were carved out of the Manistee National Forest and skiers chipped in $5 contributions until there was enough money for volunteers to construct the first rope tow in 1940.
1938 sounds good, even if the first lift wasn’t running until 1940.
The Case for Mont Ripley. Mont Ripley is claimed to have been opened in 1935. By 1938, they had formed a ski patrol. That’s the same year the National Ski Patrol was formed by Charles Minot (Minnie) Dole at the request of Roger Langley, head of the United States Ski Association.
1935 beats 1938. It’s wonderful that both areas are still operating and still under the same name as when they opened.
The Case for Hanson Hills Recreation Area. This area opened in 1929 as the Grayling Winter Sports Park on land willed to the State of Michigan for military or recreational use. This area claims to be the first downhill area in Michigan and second in the midwest. Still operating in the 1960′s, local businessman and entrepreneur, Fred Bear of Bear Archery, offered to take over the management, rename it Bear Mountain, and make it into a competitive, commercial ski area to rival the big areas further north. He installed chairlifts, built and brought in buildings (a polyhedron hotel from the Montreal Olympic Village) and opened ancillary businesses. When the original family brought suit because the property was being used for profit, a judge had the area padlocked. Eventually the community took the area back, a disgusted Fred Bear moved his factory to Alabama, and the area was renamed Hanson Hills and is still operating as a community run winter sports park.
1929 trumps 1935 and 1938, and this area is still open, too, although it has been operated under at least three names.
However, skiing in Michigan began with schussing straight down a steep hill and often included a ski jump at the top of the hill.
The Case for Grand Beach Ski Club. Beginning in 1922 and running for several years, the Grand Beach Ski Club held an annual ski tournament (jumping?) attracting skiers from throughout the nation. Held on one of the dunes near the Hotel Golfmore, the skiers were served by a ski lift. The hotel burned in 1939, I don’t know when the tow was removed. The link above has a picture of the slope and ski jump next to the hotel and a brochure for the 1926 tournament.
The tournament ran from 1922 to at least 1926. I do not know when the hill was cleared and opened, when the tow was installed, when the jump was built, or when the area ceased to be used for skiing or jumping. But tow served skiing in 1922? Wow! Grand Beach is no longer open and may have ceased operating before any other ski areas opened in Michigan. Was this really alpine skiing or just tow-served nordic skiing? Was there a difference?
OTHER FIRSTS
Pando Winter Sports Park, near Rockford, was the first ski area in Kent County (1960), but more impressively was the first area in Michigan to allow “snurfers” and then snowboarders to have the run of the area, hosted the first ever snowboard competition (won by Jake Burton Carpenter) and was also the first area in Michigan to install a tubing hill.
In 1947, Boyne Mountain near Boyne Falls was the first area in the midwest to install a chairlift, a used one purchased from Sun Valley which had been, in 1936, the first chairlift ever constructed. The loading and unloading supports from the original lift are still installed and functioning. The area opened on New Years Day, 1948 as the Boyne Mountain Ski Club. Everett Kircher, the owner, modified the lift from a single to a double chair the year after he installed it. He also installed the first triple chairlift (Highlands, 1964), the first quad chairlift (Mountain, 1964) and the first 6-place chairlift (Mountain, 1992) and the first high-speed detachable quad chairlift in Michigan (Highlands, 1990). Not bad for a guy who bought the land for his first ski area (Mountain, 1947) for $1 and his first used chairlift for $2000.
