Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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The area sat on a hill about three miles north of Buchanan, west of the river, with its lodge at the top. Albert and Sybil Rottmann opened it as Royal Valley in 1972 and ran it from then on, according to a 1985 newspaper report and MWLSAP, though MILSAP cites a report on Royal Valley from as early as January 1965.1,2,4,5
Read the whole historyTimeline
5 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Ski World, 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 Ski World
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1969–1986 · 14.4 mi away · IndianaA small rope-tow ski hill near New Carlisle, west of South Bend, that ran from 1969 to 1986.
- Years not yet collected · 28.7 mi away · IndianaA small upside-down ski area west of LaPorte, by the Indiana Toll Road, with rope tows and a T-bar; it closed around 1992.
- 1962–1987 · 39.2 mi away · IndianaA ski area on Buzzard's Hill near New Paris, among Indiana's first, that three South Bend couples opened in 1962 and that closed in 1987.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 5 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
The area sat on a hill about three miles north of Buchanan, west of the river, with its lodge at the top. Albert and Sybil Rottmann opened it as Royal Valley in 1972 and ran it from then on, according to a 1985 newspaper report and MWLSAP, though MILSAP cites a report on Royal Valley from as early as January 1965. The 1977 AAA guide listed two T-bar or J-bar lifts, two rope tows and 12 runs, and a 1978 count gave seven rope tows, a T-bar and two chairlifts. MWLSAP lists 210 feet of vertical.1,2,4,5
In October 1985 Ski World, Inc., an Indianapolis company, bought the resort as the Rottmanns planned to retire, kept the Ski World name and planned 15 slopes and trails on three lifts for a Thanksgiving opening. Warm winters followed. In December 1989 the majority stockholder said Ski World would stay closed that winter and perhaps much longer, after a season that had not paid its way. MWLSAP gives 1989 as the year it closed.1,2,3
Timeline
- 1965Royal Valley appears in a January ski report, per MILSAP5
- 1972Albert and Sybil Rottmann open Royal Valley1,2
- 1977AAA guide lists 12 runs, two bar lifts and two rope tows5
- 1985Ski World, Inc. buys the resort and runs it as Ski World1
- 1989Majority owner keeps Ski World closed after warm, unprofitable winters2,3
Sources for this history (5)
- 1The Herald-Palladium · Buchanan Ski Resort Sold To Indiana-Based Firm (Scott Aiken, The Herald-Palladium, October 12, 1985; scan on MWLSAP)
- 2Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project (MWLSAP) · Ski World (formerly called Royal Valley)
- 3Niles Daily Star · Warm winters close Ski World (Gregg Dunn, Niles Daily Star, December 2, 1989; scan on MWLSAP)
- 4Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project (MILSAP) · Ski World – Buchanan
- 5Michigan Lost Ski Areas Project (MILSAP) · Royal Valley – Buchanan
Photos
No photographs of Ski World 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 Ski World, in their own words.
Facts
Location
41.8577° N · 86.3715° W · Michigan
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1972–1989
Closed after the 1989 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