It's not the end of the Earth -- but maybe you can see it from there

Today I was at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport when I heard the "last call" for a flight to Hancock, Michigan.

"Hancock, Michigan? There's no such place," I thought, drawing on my nearly 30 years of living in the state. Then I realized my mistake: There certainly is a Hancock, and it is the second city in the twin cities of Houghton-Hancock. It's a small combination, to be sure, with a combined population of less than 15,000.

Houghton is known for two things. One is a state university. The second is that it's the closest "big" city to Mt. Bohemia, a sparse "resort" yet another 40 miles north. In Michigan, the Upper Peninsula (UP) is remote. Jutting into Lake Superior from the main part of the UP is the Keweenaw peninsula. More remoteness. Bohemia is about 12 miles from the end of the Keweenaw--literally, the end of the road. Still more remoteness. By car, it's about 8 hours from both the Saint Paul-Minneapolis and Chicago metropolitan areas, and 5 hours from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Ordinarily, ski areas in this part of the country live and die by their ability to make snow and groom it well. Bohemia does neither. Destination ski areas such as Boyne Mountain or Crystal Mountain build spas and fancy hotels. Bohemia doesn't. Further, its "slopeside lodging" resembles a cross between a hostel and camping out, and the on-mountain dining facility resembles a factory lunchroom more than a fancy restaurant.

On the other hand, Bohemia claims "triple black diamond" lines with cliffs and chutes, as well as significant powder and tree skiing.

Now I'm telling you all this based on what I've read in various publications. I haven't been to Mt. Bohemia but if you head to company web site, you can find a collection of some of the reviews.

One of the active participants of the Grays on Trays discussion board went there last season. He wrote, "The real reason to head here is the trees .... I would guess 80+% is all covered, some gladed, some not." He's on the younger side of our board membership (about 30), which probably means that he fit right in.

Still, you don't have to be a hard-charging youngster to enjoy Bohemia. That's what I take away from an article by a middle-aged skier who wrote about Bohemia in MyNorth.com. After reading about Bohemia's business model, I'd have to say that it just might make sense.

Last call for Hancock? Maybe I'll be on that plane myself sometime, just to check it out.

Snow, Snow Everywhere, but No Riding

I came home today after a long weekend trip to visit family in Michigan, which is home to over 30 ski areas. Skiing and riding in the Great Lakes state isn't about epic terrain; it's about enjoying the winter and doing so close to home.

It's a sad irony, then, that even though I lived in the state for 30 years, I never stepped into a pair of skis or onto a snowboard until I was living elsewhere.

Since moving away, I have gone riding at three ski areas in the state. Two, Indianhead, and Big Powderhorn, are in what residents call Yooperland (the Upper Peninsula) while a third, Boyne Mountain, is in the Lower Peninsula (that's the part of the state that looks, from space, like a mitten).

Whenever I visit my Michigan family in the winter, I think of going riding. But so far, I've never combined a family visit with a ski area visit. The time that I have in the state is typically too short, nobody in my family who lives there skis or rides, and I don't feel comfortable going by myself. Doing so strikes me as rude, or at the least, passing up some more valuable opportunities for sitting around the table playing Euchre (a popular pastime in Michigan), enjoying a chilled beverage over conversation, or taking in one of several activities together.

My total days spent riding this season has been, so far, a stunning number: Zero. If my Thanksgiving Day vacation had been longer, I might have thought of making the 1.5 to 2 hour drive to visit some of the better-known areas. But it wasn't, so I didn't.

Today I had to fly back home to cold but snowless Minnesota. Wouldn't you know it? Michigan experienced a snowstorm overnight, and I had to drive through 6 inches of snow to get to the airport. (OK, I had to drive through 6 inches of the driveway; the highway department did a good job of clearing the major roads.)

Though Michigan is nothing like Aspen, the day did remind me of Aspen in one respect: The best snowfalls usually come on the days that I'm leaving down.

The Midwestern Connection

The Midwest has plenty of good qualities, but great snowboarding terrain is not one of them. Even so, the region develops plenty of skiers and riders, as the Chicago Tribune describes ("Midwest resorts excel in ski lessons," January 20, 2008)

It mentions that there are “more than 100” ski resorts in the region. You can, by the way, see the web site of all of them through GraysOnTrays: see the Great Lakes page for Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and the Midwest page for Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and the Dakotas.

According to one official of Vail Resorts (which owns Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Beaver Creek resorts), Chicago is once again the second city—this time in providing the most number of customers to the company.

The Tribune article describes regional ski areas, including Wilmot (Wisconsin), Grand Geneva (Wisconsin), Shanty Creek (Michigan) and others.

If you’re interested in a long-weekend getaway to introduce your children to skiing or snowboarding, the article is especially useful, because it describes the children’s programs at various resorts.

Did you ever wonder how the number of snowboard instructors compares with that of ski instructors? Wilmot has 240 instructors, of whom 60 are snowboarders. Assuming that nobody among the 240 teachers both skiing and snowboarding (most likely an invalid assumption, but close enough to the truth), that’s a ratio of 3 ski instructors to every 1 snowboard instructor. That sounds similar to industry averages for the customer base, but I digress.

Are you ready for a magic carpet ride? The director of the snowsports school at Grand Geneva says they "have really revolutionized the learning process" for helping students—especially children—spend more time trying to make turns and less time grappling with the rope. I certainly would have benefited from a carpet too, as it took me quite a while to handle a rope tow during my early days on a board.

Boyne Mountain Report

I recently spent some time at Boyne Mountain, Michigan. Boyne is one of the premier Midwestern resorts. And by resort, I mean that there's a lot more to do than ski or snowboard. I'll have more to say later.

But for now, I'll say that heading to the slopes at night can, under the right conditions, be great, and put snowboarding in a new light, figuratively and literally.