As we turned into Crystal Mountain Resort, the lights still were strung in the trees to guide our way. Snow was gently falling, an even friendlier greeting.
This was last winter. There was plenty of snow on the ground already: 62 inches packed on the downhill slopes, more than enough on the nordic trails. Northern Michigan was experiencing a bonanza winter for skiers. Indeed, when I phoned Crystal Mountain earlier in the week for reservations, I learned the resort was 100 percent booked.
"Usually the week after New Year's is dead," explained Nancy Story in Crystal's marketing department, "so we offered a bargain package. That plus the snow sold us out." On Thursday, Crystal had received 115 calls from skiers looking for rooms.
Some of them may have been from Washington state which also has a "Crystal Mountain Resort." Skiers in the Pacific Northwest surfing the Internet landed on the Midwest Crystal Mountain web page by mistake and were surprised to discover more snow in Michigan than in the Cascades. "We told them we'd trade some of our snow for some of their vertical feet," said Story. (You can reach Crystal Mountain on the Internet at: http://www.crystalmtn.com)
Vertical feet was not my need. On a long weekend, I planned to explore some of the cross-country trails in the area around Traverse City and above. My wife Rose and I had snow-sculpted a nordic Grand Tour from Crystal to Grand Traverse Lodge to Boyne Mountain to Lake View Hills to Garland. I hoped to do some downhill skiing too.
Travelling with us were Kyle and Wesley, the oldest of our six grandchildren. We have promised each that we will take them skiing after they reach the age of five. For the last two seasons we had skied with Kyle, now seven. This greatly offended Wesley, younger by two years, when we would leave on ski trips with his older brother.
"When you turn five, you can ski too," we promised Wesley. After that, it was like counting the days to Christmas.
Wesley did not don skis until the morning after our arrival at Crystal Mountain. I decided to go skiing on Otter Run, a lighted loop for beginners just outside the door of our condo. In addition to new downhill skis purchased for Christmas, Kyle had second-hand cross-country skis and boots purchased for $20. While the two of us went out to test the trails, Wesley pouted inside.
Despite all the snow on the ground, there had been little new snow most of the week before our arrival. Icy conditions can be a problem, particularly at night, but Crystal does probably as good a job as anybody tilling and grooming their nordic trails. That plus a dusting of fresh snow made for ideal conditions on Otter Run, flat and forgiving.
Starting with Kyle, I began to offer instruction on how to shift weight from ski to ski, then realized I was probably confusing more than helping him. Without poles, he strode purposely along in the tracks. I would ski ahead, then double back to make certain he didn't get lost. Usually, I didn't have to come back too far. Little legs churning, he stayed close. I wondered how long it would be before Kyle would be doubling back for me.
A full moon shone over open areas that during the summer are golf fairways. Clumps of snow fell from the trees. In the distance, we could see the lights on the downhill slopes.
We had taken Kyle out of school and one of his assignments was to keep a journal for his teacher. He wrote: "I am at Crystal Mountain. I went 4 Kilometers on x-country skis with my grandfather."
By morning several more inches of dry powder had fallen. After breakfast, we dropped the boys to ski school. I left for some cross-country skiing. (See: "Screaming Eagle" elsewhere on my home page.) Rose lingered a while to watch them ski before heading to the trails herself.
Afterwards, she reported that Wesley was spending a lot of time falling down and waiting for the instructor to pick him up. Kyle had resumed skiing where he left off the season before.
Toward the end of the day, however, we peeked again at the pair. By then, Wesley had figured out that he could ski more if he picked himself up. Kyle was off on another area of the mountain.
After the day's skiing, we headed toward Grand Traverse Resort, whose glass-faced tower dominates the shore of the East Bay. Other than a half dozen kilometers of gently rolling cross- country tracks set on its golf course, the Resort has no skiing of its own. Instead, it serves as a central point of housing from which you can access the many ski areas surrounding. (See my stories on Traverse City ski resorts elsewhere on my home page.)
Grand Traverse Resort is particularly hospitable if you have children in tow, because of an attached sports complex that in addition to tennis and racquetball courts offers two large swimming pools: one for playing one for lap swimming. New this season is a children's play area, but by the time the boys came out of the water, they were ready for bed. (So was Grandma.) Kyle wrote his teacher: "I went downhill skiing with an instructor at Crystal Mountain, then we moved to Grand Traverse Lodge, and went swimming after dinner."
(For Internet information on Grand Traverse Resort see: http://www.traverse.com/gtresort/)
In the morning, Rose drove the grandkids in our van north to Boyne Mountain for a day of downhill skiing. I caught the Resort's shuttle bus over to the trailhead for the Vasa Pathway, a dedicated, non-motorized trail for use by mountain bikers and hikers during the summer and skiers during the winter.
It is also the site of the First of America Vasa, the 27 and 47 kilometer cross-country ski race on February 10. I've competed in the Vasa on numerous occasions, but skiing it without having to worry about racing full-speed can be even more fun.
I met race organizer Steve Brown at the building that serves as race headquarters and storage room for equipment to groom the trails. Maintaining trails can be expensive. Brown explained that the race's board had just met and voted to purchase a $100,000 grooming machine that would till the trails (grind up ice) as well as set track.
Brown too was happy about the snow bonanza this winter. "We've got a foot of base beneath the soft stuff," boasted Brown. "We'll be skiing here into April."
Skiers can choose multiple trails of 3, 10 and 25 kilometers with an additional loop of double that distance added for race day. The trail is wide, which helps to take the terror out of downhills for beginners, yet technical enough to give the most accomplished nordic skier a workout.
(For Internet information on the Vasa on February 8, 1997 see: http://www.vasa.com. For the White Pine Stampede--a 20 and 50 kilometer race--from Mancelona to Shanty Creek on February 1.
Hitching a ride to Boyne Mountain, I found Rose enjoying lunch with Kyle and Wesley at the nordic center. The grandkids had taken two-hour ski lessons that morning for only $18 each. The snow was as deep at Boyne as further south. I had planned to do some downhill skiing with Kyle in the afternoon, but afternoon lessons were only an additional $9 each, so she signed Kyle and Wesley up for those.
Under the direction of Lew Awodey, Boyne's nordic trails are the match of those anywhere in North America, not merely in the Midwest. A flat trail out the door of the nordic center wanders through a pine forest and is ideal for beginners. Even on the most blustery days, you're protected from the winds.
Beyond that, the tracks head up into the hills and get progressively more difficult, offering a test for everybody. Or if you don't want to work too hard, you can ride one of the lifts to the top of the hill and cruise a back trail that is mostly downhill.
As a measure of the respect cross-country skiing receives at Boyne Mountain, owner Everett Kircher recently offered Lew Awodey a billboard along I-96 to advertise his nordic center.
That doesn't mean Kircher has forgotten the downhill skiers. The newest addition at Boyne Mountain is a gentlest of gently- dropping green trails for beginners. Earlier in the season Kircher wandered over to the trail and, after seeing the smiles on everybody's faces, said, "I should have done this 20 years ago."
(For Internet information on Boyne Mountain, see: http://www.boyne.com. See also the separate article on Boyne Mountain Nordic elsewhere on my home page.)
Following the day's skiing, we drove eastward toward the center of the state for a quick visit to Garland Resort near the town of Lewiston. Arriving at dark, we were stunned by the sight of trees decorated with red Christmas lights. Decorations within the lodge continued the Christmas theme. If you're worried about getting to Garland too late to see the lights and decorations, don't fret. Checking out the next morning, I asked and discovered they would remain up through March, when the Resort closes briefly to ready itself for the golf season. Because of all the snow in the Midwest this winter, golfers may have to wait.
We attended a reception later that evening at Lake View Hills, a nearby "Country Inn." An observation room atop the building offers a view of Twin Lake and surroundings. In the basement is a fitness room complete with sauna, whirlpool and pinball machine.
Both Garland and Lake View Hills offer cross-country skiing on the premises with more trails than you'll find time to ski on a single weekend. Garland offers gourmet dining including its special "Dr. Zhivago Night," featuring a sleigh ride and music. (See the separate article on Dr. Zhivago Night on my home page.)
Before going to bed, Kyle penned his final journal report for his first-grade teacher: "We got up early and we had to go to Boyne Mountain for skiing lessons. The first teacher I really liked and we skied high hills. We rode on a fast ski lift."
Sunday morning, we left for home after breakfasting on oatmeal laced with raisins and dried cherries. It's always sad for me driving home from snow country, but the expressways go both directions. I knew I'd be heading back north before the winter season is over. Maybe Kyle would have more to tell his teacher.
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