The mandolin player greeted us at the doorway, strumming Lara's theme from "Dr. Zhivago." He probably should have been playing a balalaika, the triangular-bodied instrument used in the old David Lean movie starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. But the fire was warm. The flavored rum was hot. The snow was deep. I wasn't going to argue.
We were attending Zhivago Night at Garland, a luxurious resort near Lewiston in north central Michigan. We began with a 45-minute sleighride through the woods to Buckhorn Lodge, a former hunting cabin that now specializes in gourmet food.
The table was set for 10 couples and, during a meal that lasted four hours, we savored caviar, acorn squash soup, an avocado salad, and Roasted Saddle of Wild Boar with Granny Smith Apples and Wild Mushrooms. Our musician, moving effortlessly from mandolin to guitar to fiddle, played every song by Jimmy Buffet and Carole King asked of him. We sang along and sipped fine wine. It was an evening that would remain in our memories long after the taste of the climactic Double Chocolate Brownie Tort with Fresh Strawberries had faded. After all those calories, you knew you better get up to ski in the morning.
Zhivago Night is the piece de la visit when you sign up for a weekend at Garland, perhaps better known as a golf resort (63 holes) during the summer, or as a center for conferences any time of year. It took us five hours to drive there (mostly Interstate) from Michiana. The cost of $118 per person per night for a ski weekend sounds high at first, but that's about a third less than the golfers pay summers--and they don't get a sleigh ride. Also included are ski rentals, trail fees, gourmet meals, gratuities and taxes. A bargain. Zhivago Night costs $75 extra--unless you sign up for a special package.
All of the above would be superfluous, of course, were it not for snow. And the Upper Midwest has ample snow this winter. "Isn't this snow marvelous?" gushed our nordic instructor. No arguement there. As we glided across meadows that serve as fairways other times of the year, marvelous seemed an understatement. When the temperature is in the 20s with no wind, and your skis skim silently through powder, you don't need Wild Boar to make your weekend memorable.
"When we're finished, I'm going to make every one of you a better skier," our instructor promised. I was skeptical. I've cadged tips from some good instructors: Jana Hlavaty at Keystone; Pierre Harvey at Mont-Sainte-Anne; Bill Koch in the Cascades. What more could I learn?
Then the instructor asked us to remove one ski, place hands on bent knee, and push off like kids with our first scooter. "That's the secret of the glide." Gosh, I did seem to ski better! Maybe it was the venison the night before at dinner that made me ski like a deer. Dr. Zhivago never ate that well, nor did he have waxless skis when he was staggering through the snow wondering whether Lara was still waiting after two years' absence.
I can tell you all about the David Lean movie, which I rented from our video store as preparation for Zhivago Night. (Four stars.) Can I tell you also that we went ice fishing on Saturday and curling on Sunday after a morning of skiing on immaculately groomed trails? (Four more stars.) Mike was playing "Lara's Theme" on his mandolin again as we bundled ourselves in scarves and parkas and climbed into the sleigh for the ride back to the main lodge.
As we returned, the snow glinted like diamonds in the sleigh headlights. There were fresh tracks darting all over the woods. Deer, though we saw none. Maybe our singing scared them away. The sky was clear. The stars were out. That meant clean roads for our drive home. I'm sure Garland is great during the summer, but those golfers don't know what they're missing.
Copyright © 1996 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved. Requests to reprint will be considered.
HAL HIGDON, a freelance writer from Michigan City, Indiana, was the 1995 winner of the North American Ski Journalist Association's Harold S. Hirsch Award for Excellence in Ski Writing. Hal can be reached by email at: higdon@adsnet.com