Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Mt. Maria stood at the south end of Hubbard Lake, about 10 miles north of Lincoln, on the west side of a hill it shared with the Timberline ski area.1,2,3,4
Read the whole historyTimeline
6 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Mt Maria, 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 Mt Maria
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1956–1998 · 30.5 mi away · MichiganA rope-tow ski area on the southwest edge of Mio, above the Au Sable River valley, that Charles Budesky opened in 1956 and that last ran in January 1998.
- 1948–1997 · 36 mi away · MichiganA ski area seven miles northeast of Lewiston in northeast Michigan that ran from 1948 until it shut down in 1997.
- Closed 1971 · 48.2 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 5 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Mt. Maria stood at the south end of Hubbard Lake, about 10 miles north of Lincoln, on the west side of a hill it shared with the Timberline ski area. The site was still woods in September 1964. Bulldozers graded the slopes that fall, and it opened to skiers just after the holidays, early in 1965. By 1968 it had five slopes, a Poma lift, two rope tows, snowmaking and night skiing. A double chairlift later replaced the Poma, and a 1978 count listed three rope tows and one chairlift on about 300 feet of vertical.1,2,3,4
Readers on MILSAP recall skiing there through the 1970s and into the early 1980s. MWLSAP found no news of it after the 1984 season, and a trail map dated 1985 survives on Skimap.org. A commenter recalled the rental storage building burning in the early 1990s. The land became a resort and real estate development, and in July 2014 it sold at auction together with the neighboring Timberline acreage.1,3,5
Timeline
- 1964Site still wooded in September; bulldozers grade the slopes that fall2,3
- 1965Opens to skiers just after the holidays2
- 1968Five slopes, a Poma, two rope tows, snowmaking and night skiing1,4
- c. 1970A double chairlift replaces the Poma lift1
- 1984Last season MWLSAP found in the news3
- 2014Property sells at auction with the neighboring Timberline acreage1
Sources for this history (5)
- 1Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project (MILSAP) · Mt. Maria – Lincoln, MI
- 2The Bay City Times · Before Construction Started (photo caption, The Bay City Times, February 28, 1965; scan on MWLSAP)
- 3Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project (MWLSAP) · Mt. Maria (Mt. Mariah)
- 4Michigan's Forgotten Ski Areas · Mt. Maria-Lincoln
- 5Skimap.org · Mt Maria
Photos
No photographs of Mt Maria 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 Mt Maria, in their own words.
Facts
Location
44.7571° N · 83.5490° W · Michigan
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
from 1964 · 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