But most skiers and snowboarders will find its slopes more than adequate. “You’re going down a 500-foot hill instead of a 3,000-foot mountain.”įor a dyed-in-the-wool mountaineer, Michigan might be a tough sell. “It’s a different type of skiing,” Fanning said. Altogether, Michigan resorts have more than 200 chairlifts, 840 runs and 40 terrain parks. Michigan has 42 downhill areas, more than any state except New York. But they’re big enough to accommodate a thriving ski industry. No one will mistake these hills for the Rockies or the Smokies their vertical drops mostly run between 200 and 600 feet. The glaciers that scraped vast flatlands across the state’s midsection also fashioned some pretty good-sized peaks before melting to form the Great Lakes.
Yes, Michigan has downhill skiing and snowboarding. He simply drives north a few hours to Boyne Mountain, one of the best-known resorts in his home state.
For most of his 66 years, Tom Fanning has been an avid skier, relishing the challenge of steep mountainside runs in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.īut the investment adviser from the Detroit suburb of Birmingham doesn’t have to jet to the Rockies for an enjoyable weekend on the slopes.
