Mont Ripley is the school-owned area of Michigan Technological University. It stands on an escarpment across the River from the campus on the Hancock (north) side, a propitious location if you wish to avoid snow-melting sun. The location gives skiing students a great view of the buildings on campus where the classes they are cutting are being held and gives students on campus a great view of the slopes they could be skiing if they didn’t have to attend those pesky classes or study so much. Hancock brags about their rating from The Weather Channel as the 3rd snowiest city in America.
Mont Ripley in 2010 claimed to be the oldest ski area in Michigan, having been founded 75 years before in 1935. The school says their ski patrol was formed in 1938, the same year as the National Ski Patrol System itself. (You may have to click the More Articles link at the bottom of the page a few times to get to page 24.)
On Jan. 4, 1968, The Cass City Chronicle printed the “AAA Michigan Guide to 1968 Winter Sports Fun.” It listed Mont Ripley, in Houghton-Hancock as having slopes up to 2000′ long, 1 T-Bar and rope tows.
The Midwest Ski Areas Association reports that Mont Ripley currently has 24 slopes and trails, the longest at 0.2 mi., a 420′ vertical drop, 2 double chairs and a surface lift, ski school, night skiing, half-pipe and terrain park.
Bob Sisco sent along this picture of the Mont Ripley T-Bar.
MILSAP 
I’d like to ski Ripley again for old times sake. But after the too long drive it is bypassed for Mt Bohemia. We used to call it Mt. Rockley, as it ruined many a ski. Too much time spent there probably had a role in my ultimately dropping out of a BSEE at MTU after about two and a half years, though trying to do a Summer term to catch up really sealed my fate, the beauty of the Copper Country in thy Summer made staying inside and studying nearly impossible for me.
Since I last skied it in ’80 or ’81, they have added snowmaking and some of the places we’d sneak off to are now official runs, like The Trestle and Hernando’s. I was fairly impressed with the place back then, though a Canadian friend, used to mountain skiing, only went there once before branding it not worthwhile..
Mt Ripley
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T Bar Mt Ripley taken 10/08
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Hall t bat sign for Mich Tech
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I never skied “Mount Cripley”, even though I graduated from Tech. Never really had the time and when semesters were over, I was outta there, headed home.