Northern Michigan

Treetops Resort – Twelve Days of Christmas

The following items will be available on any given weekday commencing December 5th and wrapping up just before Christmas. A perfect opportunity to do your Christmas Shopping.

An item will be announced daily via an e-blast and will be available for sale beginning at 12:00am on the morning it is announced and available until 11:59pm the day after it is announced. Some items have a limit on the number we will sell, so act quickly!

Please Like us on Facebook as we will tip our facebook fans off as to the following days item the evening before so you’ll have first crack at purchasing.

Here are the items in no particular order:

1. Season Ski Pass at Fill A Triple Pricing ($177) without having to Fill A Triple (save up to $22 per skier/rider)

2. Lift Ticket and Lesson for $79 (save up to $29 per skier/rider)

3. Weekend Lift Ticket at the Midweek rate of $29 (save up to $20 per skier/rider) – limit first 20 sold.

4. New and Improved Ladies Golf School during the 2013 season at the 2012 price – $599 (save up to $50) – limit first 10 sold and this package is based on double occupancy.

5. Spectacular Ski Package including one night lodging (based on double occupancy) in the best available hotel room, day of arrival lift ticket and the full following day lift ticket, one hour ski clinic, one breakfast and a commemorative Treetops Cup – $79 – limited to the first 20 sold (must buy this package in groups of two as it is for double occupancy. Cannot be used on New Years Eve 2012 or the nights of February 15 and 16, 2013.

6. Golf Academy Specials – Including winter programs in our state of the art Academy Building and Summer 2013 programs. Perfect for the golfer on your Christmas list.

7. Round of Golf on the world famous Threetops – $35 (save up to $14 per round).

8. Golf Apparel and Accessories Blowout – check out our online store and we’ll blow out some of our golf apparel and accessories with discounts up to 60% off. Limited merchandise available.

9. Unbelievable Ski Package for two – $99 includes overnight lodging for two in the Inn or Chalets, 1 day lift ticket for 2 and a 1 hour clinic. One low price for two people sharing a room. Date restrictions apply for this package (value of over $200).

10. Couples Spa Package – $200 (save $42) includes Couples Massage and Couples Pedicure (fellas it’s awesome!). limit to the first 10 sold.

11. Memberships – Golf Memberships of all kinds for the 2013 season for less. Many options to choose from.

12. Purchase a Gift Certificate for $100 and receive $125 in value – Treetops Gift Certificates can be used for any amenity at Treetops. As an added bonus, one lucky purchaser of this special will receive a $200 gift certificate for their $100 purchase.

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Boyne Highlands Resort Celebrates 50 Years – January 31 – February 2, 2014

The 1963/64 Season – Today

Since opening for the 1963/64 winter season Boyne Highlands Resort has maintained a rich tradition of providing guests with a timeless retreat, to which they are warmly welcomed to an uncomplicated and positive sporty experience.

Join us for a full season of special events and treats including our 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend, January 31-February 2, 2014. The weekend begins on Friday with a special welcome, night skiing, classic movie, horse-drawn wagon rides, and musical entertainment. Saturday evening highlights include a tribute dinner party, live music, fireworks, and much more.
A special lodging package with a commemorative gift will
be available.

The Story of Boyne Highlands Resort

With skiing on the upswing and Boyne Mountain doing well, Everett Kircher, founder of Boyne Resorts, figured it was time for another move.

The Harbor Highlands ski area in Harbor Spring was founded by 27 stockholders from Petoskey, Harbor Springs, and area resorters, and started in 1955 with an expansion in 1958/59. A total of five runs had been cut which extended less than halfway to the top of the ridge and uphill transportation consisted of a pomalift and four rope tows. A small day lodge with a bar and restaurant had been built at the base of the hill. But soon the owners ran out of money, amassed considerable debt and were forced to close down. After being closed for two seasons, the ski area went up for sale. When Kircher decided to buy the property, he insisted on paying off the creditors as well as making sure that all the shareholders recovered their full investments. He said at the time, “I’d like to go into the area with everybody feeling happy about the deal and about Boyne.”

Kircher committed the next year to planning and went on to purchase and additional 2,900 acres of land adjacent to the Harbor Highlands ski area in order to create his vision of a large year-round ski and summer resort. During planning, Kircher, his wife, and six-year-old son, John were squeezed together on a double-place chairlift at Boyne Mountain when Kircher thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a three-passanger chairlift instead of just a two? A triple?” And so the phone call was made to chairlift manufacture, Riblet, and they agreed it could be done. When Boyne Highlands opened in the winter season of 1963/64, guest were greeted to not one, but two, of the first triple chairlifts ever built.

Boyne Highlands was instantly praised. The New York Times said, “The new development underscores the fact that Northern Michigan, once known only as a summer resort area, now attracts sports enthusiasts and vacationists on a year-round basis. Winter sports, in fact, have grown phenomenally in this region.”

Visit Boyne Mountain Website >>>>

More News From Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands

Crystal Mountain Resort Ski Package

Ski and ride from the moment you arrive.

Package Includes:
• Nightly lodging
• FREE skiing on arrival day with open-to-close downhill lift tickets through departure day

For families staying at Crystal Mountain:
• Kids 17 and under Sleep FREE ANYTIME
• Kids 17 and under Ski FREE SUNDAY-THURSDAY*
• Kids 6 and under Sleep, Ski and Eat Breakfast FREE ANYTIME

*Free Skiing is only valid if you are on a Ski Package and excludes peak season dates.

Package Available: December 4, 2015 – April 5, 2016

Check Rates & Reserve Online » or call (877) 767-0204 for reservations.

Package Terms: Rates based on double occupancy in standard hotel accommodations, unless stated otherwise. Rate is subject to taxes and service fee; not valid with any other discounts, special offers or group rates. Rates and dates are subject to availability and may change without notice. Reservations may be subject to minimum night stay requirements on holiday and peak season dates. Downhill rental equipment not included with lodging package.

Lift Hours

With the exception of Christmas/New Year (December 21-January 3) and President’s Week/Mid-Winter Break (February 15-21), lifts will close at 4:30pm on Monday and Tuesday nights. Crystal Mountain will be open seven days a week with night skiing and riding Wednesday through Sunday (conditions permitting).

Slope hours are reduced in early and late season. Lift hours are subject to change based on weather conditions. Check our current Snow Report >>

Lodging & Package Details » – View terms and conditions of lodging and packages.

Houseguest Perks at Crystal » – View our houseguest perks and recreation amenities.

Houseguest Discounts » – Reserve your Crystal Spa services early to save!

Visit Crystal Mountain Website >>>>

Boyne Snowmaking: Making Winter When Mother Nature Fails

Sure, Mother Nature can make beautiful stuff.

She’ll wow you when you wake up to a lovely few inches of glittering flakes as rare and precious as diamonds. But Mother Nature is an unpredictable and sometimes temperamental creature. She’ll tease you and taunt you with a mid-October four inches of surprise powder that will urge you to trade your shorts and t-shirts for snow scrapers and ice melt. And then she’ll follow up with a November that feels a little more like a June, leaving you sweating in your preemptively-donned snowsuit.

But, when Mother Nature fails to provide, it is mankind that steps in.

Man, coupled with machine, tames and harnesses Mother Nature’s processes to create winter. He utilizes the same raw ingredients as Mother Nature–water, air, and energy–to produce a winter that he can rely on. After years of growing frustration with Mother Nature’s untimeliness, a tool was invented to control what no man previously could.

Invented in 1950, the snow cannon could blast a mid-February sized supply of man-made snow. Soon after, Boyne Mountain began experimenting with the snowmaking process, even patenting their own Boyne Snowmaker which was six times more energy-efficient than most systems. While other snow guns could make snow at 28°F degrees, Boyne could make snow at 30°F.

Like mathematicians correcting a difficult equation, the Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew has perfected the process of snowmaking over many years to reach more complex, precise and efficient capacities. Boyne recently unveiled a new and improved snow gun called the Boyne Low-E Fan, which makes better snow, is easier and less expensive to use, and makes more snow faster with little water wasted in the process. The crew starts the process with a reservoir of water which is then forced through a pipeline up the mountain. The water is allotted to a series of valves and pipes to the areas where snow is needed.

Next, the Boyne Mountain crew adds air. In the old days, Boyne added air to their snow guns with a huge, military-grade compressor, affectionately known as “Big Bertha,” that could be heard all over Boyne City. However, today the Boyne Low-E Fan Guns take air from twin screw style compressors which save energy and completes the perfect formula at a much quieter level. Now that the process is complete, the Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew steps back to let the magic happen. Heavy duty snow flies through the air and falls to the ground, piling up on those dainty little flakes that Mother Nature left.

While Mother Nature can gift us with unique, magical flecks that float down from the sky, she does not always supply enough to feed the hunger for hefty loads of snow that winter-lovers require. It is then that the Boyne Mountain crew steps in heroically to rescue the season. Thank you, Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew!

Visit Boyne Mountain Website >>>>