All Michiganders know that the Keewenaw region has great snow and plenty of cool trails. (Probably Wisc. and Minn. residents know this, too.)
But I’m getting the feeling that the Keewenaw is getting ready to bust out in terms of being a great ski epicenter for the nation. For the Midwest, for sure.
I’m getting various smoke signals and other drumbeats that are leading me to connect the dots and to realize that big crazy snow stuff is going down up there.
OK…when you look for driving directions to “Ski the Porkies”—I guess that would be the Porcupine Mountain Ski Area—you get a map that shows about, what, 75 miles of Hwy 26. The Porkies ski area is at the west end. Mont Ripley in Hancock is in the middle. Then 40 miles north of that you see a big “M” at the tip of the Keewenaw that stands for Mt. Bohemia. …So they give you directions to THREE ski areas not one.
Then I just googled the Telefest that was held in the Porkies last weekend. I’ve long heard about it. Downwind Sports out of Marquette seems to have a lot to do with it. To get the schedule of events I had to download a fairly big PDF from their site, but when I got it I saw that Friday’s events were at Mt. Bohemia and Sat/Sun was at “Tele Central” at the Porkies ski area. Why would one event tie together ski areas that are 70 miles apart? Hmmm…
Basically, it looks like a push to “Ski the Keewenaw.”
Now, ski areas are usually separate places with distinct styles. I used to live in Breckenridge, CO, and work at the Nordic Center. This was a region that had a big “push” on, with a big plan in mind. And the big perk was getting a free *Summit Pass* to all 5 major resorts in the region (plus all Nordic Centers). I think Vail was even on the docket. A free bus drove frequently to each resort. Now, there’s a plan…for ski bums! …Or weeklong splurgers. Yet these resorts all had very different cultures.
I’m sensing more of a cultural coherence emanating from the Copper Country and its plan for ski domination of the Midwest.
When you go to the Keewenaw you step back in time. Don’t forget that the northern Lower Peninsula is already one step back, then the UP is another step. Canada is a 3rd step back. The Keewenaw is 4 full steps back in time…to a supermellow 1800’s feel. Rasta Klondikers, as it were.
When you visit the Keewenaw, especially in winter, be prepared to be invited to a potluck and to a sauna with an apres’ plunge into a lake through a hole in the ice.
These yoopers don’t actually need to have a plan to rule skiing. They just do their thing. And let the word get out.
Here’s what I sense that thing to be:
No grooming.
One thing all these resorts seem to have in common is that it looks like they don’t groom. They’re BC heaven.
They also have rickety old snow-cats to take you even farther out into the bush.
For another thing, these resorts feel like they’re tele-oriented.
Take Bohemia. Their marketing campaign leads off with “Stay Away!”
Their catalog lists the top 10 reasons NOT to ski there.
Pretty funny.
I’ve heard that there’s another resort like it in Colorado, in Silverton. Home to the true freaks. Then there’s Bohemia. I bet it’s in good ski tradition company.
My hunch is that the other Keewenaw resorts catch this style, too.
Even Mont Ripley, where you ski with a view of downtown Houghton. That’s a city resort, run like a city park, I think.
Now we segue over to the XC trails. But is this really any kind of movement? I suspect that yooper skiing is all of a piece. It’s like snowmobiles—snow machines? snowsleds?—whatever the locals call em, they’re a part of life up there, too. They’re not “the others,” the enemies.
So ya got yer boonie tele. And ya got yer ski trails.
Michigan Tech in Houghton is one of the few colleges that have trails ON CAMPUS. They then connect to the big system right next door to campus.
But to really go all the way back in time, you have to cross the canal to the Keewenaw proper—now you find several trails that will have plenty of folks speaking with strong accents on em. There’s the Maasto Hiihto system on the edge of Hancock. Then there’s Swedetown up in Calumet, which hosts the Great Bear Chase 50k late each season (late for downstaters). Then the Brockway area has miles of BC trails.
Now, much of these trails will be groomed. And I’m sure some of the lift-served skiing is groomed, too. But I think this region offers an ungroomed ski CULTURE that stretches far and wide and would probably rock your world if you went up and explored for a week.
Here’s a buncha websites to let you know I’m not making it all up:
