Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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The Manistee Ski Area lay off M-55 about 16 miles east of Manistee, in the Udell Hills of the Manistee National Forest. In 1957 its manager told the Ludington Daily News it was in its third season, which puts the opening in 1954–55.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe slopes are part of the Big M cross-country ski and mountain bike trails, a volunteer-run network in the national forest, where old rope-tow poles still stand.3
Timeline
7 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Manistee / Big M, 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 Manistee / Big M
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1964–1984 · 47.1 mi away · MichiganA ski area in Elmwood Township near the south end of Lake Leelanau, northwest of Traverse City, that ran from 1964 to 1984 with a break in the late 1970s.
- 1947–2000 · 51.1 mi away · MichiganA ski hill near Cedar, Michigan, that opened to the public in 1947, became Sugar Loaf Mountain Resort in 1964 and closed in 2000.
- 1968–1977 · 52 mi away · MichiganA small county ski hill on M-37 near Newaygo in west Michigan, listed as a new ski area in 1968 and closed in 1977.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 4 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
The Manistee Ski Area lay off M-55 about 16 miles east of Manistee, in the Udell Hills of the Manistee National Forest. In 1957 its manager told the Ludington Daily News it was in its third season, which puts the opening in 1954–55. Sports Illustrated counted 7 miles of trails and 9 rope tows in 1958, and a postcard of the time shows a $50,000 lodge with a lounge, restaurant and ski shop.1,2
The area was later known as Big M, and readers who skied it say the Udell Hills listings were the same place. Skiers remember fast rope tows on runs such as Vista, Sun Valley and the steep Oh Me, a T-bar called Christie, and the Big Chief double chairlift, added around 1967. A 1968 guide listed 14 runs, a double chairlift, a T-bar, 11 rope tows and snowmaking, and MWLSAP gives 400 feet of vertical. MWLSAP lists 1973 as the closing year and notes a report of it closed by October 1975; readers place the end in the early 1970s.1,3,4
TodayThe slopes are part of the Big M cross-country ski and mountain bike trails, a volunteer-run network in the national forest, where old rope-tow poles still stand.3
Timeline
- 1954Manistee Ski Area opens for the 1954–55 season1,2
- 1958Sports Illustrated lists 7 miles of trails and 9 rope tows2
- 1961Big-M hosts the Sea-Ski Trophy slalom race in spring3
- c. 1967Big Chief double chairlift added3,4
- 1968Guide lists 14 runs, a double chair, a T-bar and 11 rope tows3
- 1973Still open, per MWLSAP's newspaper sources; MWLSAP lists it as its close1
- 1975Reported closed by October1
Sources for this history (4)
- 1Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Michigan lost ski areas: Manistee Ski Area (later Big-M, also Udell Hills)
- 2Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project · Manistee Ski Area – Manistee
- 3Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project · Big-M Ski Area – Manistee National Forest
- 4Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project · Udell Hills – Manistee
Photos
No photographs of Manistee / Big M 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 Manistee / Big M, in their own words.
Facts
Location
44.1930° N · 86.0676° W · Michigan
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
from 1954 · the year it closed is not yet collected
Closed for good; the year it closed is not yet collected. 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