Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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John Bintz came home from the armed forces to an apple farm near Freeland, where he and his wife Joan added a cider mill, bakery and shops and then looked for a winter business. The land was flat, so in 1960 he began building a hill with a D-8 tractor and an earth-mover.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe restaurant, golf course and conference business carry on without skiing.1
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Apple Mountain, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Apple Mountain
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1958–2002 · 45.2 mi away · MichiganA ski hill at Farwell that opened as Mott Mountain in 1958, closed in 1995, and ran again as Silver Ridge from 1997 until 2002.
- 1949–1995 · 53.4 mi away · MichiganA small ski hill on Foley Road in Fenton that opened as Summit in the late 1940s and ran as the Kandahar Ski Club from 1965 until 1995.
- Closed 1971 · 58.6 mi away · MichiganA winter sports park three miles west of West Branch in northeast Michigan, skied by 1942 and closed in 1971.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
John Bintz came home from the armed forces to an apple farm near Freeland, where he and his wife Joan added a cider mill, bakery and shops and then looked for a winter business. The land was flat, so in 1960 he began building a hill with a D-8 tractor and an earth-mover. Bintz Apple Mountain opened for the 1961–62 winter with 30 feet of vertical, raised to 150 feet for 1964–65 and 201 feet in 1968. By the early 1980s it drew 20,000 to 25,000 skiers a season. Nearly 800,000 students went through its learn-to-ski program between 1961 and 1994, and it said it was the first Michigan area to offer skiing as a college course, through Delta College.1,2
Around 1998 the Bintzes sold to Mike Bierlein of Midland, who kept it running and added a golf course and conference facilities. The 2016–17 winter was its last for skiing. A plan to rework the snowmaking for a reopening came to nothing, and in October 2018 the owners announced that winter operations had ended; MWLSAP lists 2018 as the closing year. At the end it had 220 feet of vertical, 12 slopes, a quad chairlift and four tows.1,3
TodayThe restaurant, golf course and conference business carry on without skiing.1
Timeline
- 1960John Bintz starts building the hill with earth-moving equipment2
- 1961Bintz Apple Mountain opens for 1961–62 with 30 feet of vertical1,2,3
- 1964Hill raised to 150 feet of vertical for 1964–652
- 1968Hill raised to 201 feet of vertical2
- c. 1998Bintzes sell to Mike Bierlein, who adds golf and conference facilities1
- 2012John and Joan Bintz enter the Michigan Ski Hall of Fame1,2
- 2017The 2016–17 season is the last for skiing1
- 2018Owners announce in October that winter operations have ended1,3
Sources for this history (3)
- 1Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project · Apple Mountain – Freeland
- 2Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project · Bintz Apple Mountain
- 3Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Michigan lost ski areas: Apple Mountain
Photos
No photographs of Apple Mountain we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Apple Mountain, in their own words.
Facts
Location
43.4701° N · 84.1085° W · Michigan
OpenStreetMap still maps 7 downhill runs here; OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1961–2017
Closed after the 2017 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 3all 3, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain