Eagle Mountain

Eagle Mountain sat on 168 wooded acres halfway between Grey Eagle and Upsala, in Todd County. Others started it as a ski area in 1968, and Bob and Ursula Lanners bought it in 1972. They found two runs and added eight more, a 10-kilometer cross-country route and a tubing slope, doing most of the work themselves with neighbors' help. Most skiers came from within about 50 miles, along with church groups, and a bunkhouse took overnight guests. MWLSAP lists five rope tows and a Poma lift in 1978 and a vertical of 200 feet.^1,2,3

The area nearly failed in late October 1976, when an uninsured pole barn burned with its new snowmaking machines, two grooming tractors and 150 rental skis; neighbors, the Upsala Lions Club and the Grey Eagle Jaycees helped it recover. The Lanners ran downhill skiing until 1990, then stopped, finding it hard to compete with areas that had longer, steeper runs. They kept four lit runs with tow ropes and snowmaking for snow tubing.^1,2,3

TodayThe former ski hills served snow tubers, about 10,000 a winter, beside the owners' farm. (1997)¹