Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Alex Ginter, who ran a sawmill and grew Christmas trees, bought land on the west side of Friendship Mound in the late 1950s and cut a run there. In the winter of 1960–61 he added a rope tow, and he and his wife Evelyn opened the hill to the public.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe chalet, restaurant and chairlifts remain on the property, which has been listed for sale.1,2,4
Timeline
7 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Skyline, 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 Skyline
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1941 · 38 mi away · WisconsinA rope-tow ski hill near Devil's Lake State Park outside Baraboo, opened as Alpine Hill in 1941 and later run by Chicago's Windy City Ski Club.
- Opened 1954 · 43.2 mi away · WisconsinA small ski hill between Sauk City and Baraboo, first called Suicide Hill, that opened in 1954 and was gone by about 1971.
- Years not yet collected · 47.9 mi away · WisconsinA small ski hill with a J-bar on the Lakeland Hills golf course in Lodi, which MWLSAP dates, with question marks, to about 1972–1974.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 4 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Alex Ginter, who ran a sawmill and grew Christmas trees, bought land on the west side of Friendship Mound in the late 1950s and cut a run there. In the winter of 1960–61 he added a rope tow, and he and his wife Evelyn opened the hill to the public. A double chairlift followed in 1968. Lightning struck the new chalet in the spring of 1969, and it was rebuilt before the next season. By 1972 Skyline also had a triple chair, which Relik Ragwear calls the first in the Midwest, along with three rope tows.1,2
SKI Magazine profiled Sky Line in spring 1974 as a Ginter family operation on the edge of Friendship, about 25 miles north of Wisconsin Dells. It had a 335-foot vertical, seven runs, snowmaking across the whole area, cross-country trails and night skiing on Fridays and Saturdays.2,3
The Ginters announced that it would not open for the 1990–91 season, but two Wisconsin Dells businessmen, Tom Lucke and Todd Nelson, bought the hill that year and kept it running. Skyline closed for good in 2003.1,2
TodayThe chalet, restaurant and chairlifts remain on the property, which has been listed for sale.1,2,4
Timeline
- 1960Alex and Evelyn Ginter open the hill with a single rope tow1,2
- 1968A double chairlift is added1
- 1969Lightning strikes the new chalet, rebuilt before the next season1
- 1972A triple chairlift joins the double chair and three rope tows1
- 1974SKI Magazine lists a 335-foot vertical and seven runs2,3
- 1990Tom Lucke and Todd Nelson buy the hill from the Ginters1
- 2003Skyline closes for good1,2
Sources for this history (4)
- 1Relik Ragwear · Sky Line Ski Area - Friendship
- 2Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Skyline (or Sky Line) — Wisconsin
- 3SKI Magazine (via Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project) · Sky Line, Wisconsin: Honest and friendly
- 4Boardwalk Investments · Skyline Restaurant & Ski Hill, 1900 13th Court, Friendship
Photos
No photographs of Skyline 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 Skyline, in their own words.
Facts
Location
43.9810° N · 89.8201° W · Wisconsin
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1960–2003
Closed after the 2003 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