the whitecap mountains

We like many others there this past weekend used a Groupon. For someone who has skied the Midwest 3 times in over 30 years, but has skied the Rockies and Northeast mountains I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the skiing. The runs were far longer than I imagined, the terrain was challenging enough albeit in short spurts and the conditions were fabulous. I was able to ski with my girlfriend, who is a blue run max type skier. Once we got to know the mountain we would meet at the bottom of the designated chair lift and we were both happy. The rest of the stay......We found out the property opened in 1963 and was purchased by the current owner in 1966. It looked like that was the last time anything was updated on the property. The chairs on the lifts were still wooden and boards have been replaced and more needing to be. There were no safety bars which only caused some consternation when we went from one peak to the next and were up int he air quite a ways. There is the wine hut at the bottom of one hill accessible from two lifts, but no bathrooms on the hill and no other food or refreshment. The "lodge" at the top was very old and not open. The Lodge we stayed in was similarly old décor. The television was out of the stone age. A 19" tube! The hot tub wasn't hot at all. They claimed the same part failed twice. We got there Saturday morning and found out that night. The others who were there the day before said it was broken then too. Whatever effort was made to get it fixed did not happen over the weekend. I am not sure it hasn't been broken down for some time. It was very large and the pool was nice as well, but without hot water.....The food was certainly ok, but did suffer from some inconsistency. The included breakfast was usual fare/mix of hot and cold. The dinner we had was good and ok. My girlfriends filet was perfectly cooked, but my 18 oz porterhouse was not 18 ounces and overcooked. It was paper thin. The salad bar and soup were ok. It was better then the one we had the night before in Hurley which is about a 20 minute ride. The staff for the most part was very friendly and helpful. The owner, well into his 80's, works very hard. He was delivering wood to the lift operators via snow mobile and then ran the groomer all morning Monday. It is obvious they keep the payroll down. One employee was the server and cook for dinner. He was also the person who opened the pool at 4 and was a lift operator as well. all of the lift operators sans one was friendly, cracked jokes, etc. again making the skiing the most enjoyable part of the trip.To give you an idea on how the place is run I never saw thinner toilet paper in my life. There were no tissues in the rooms. Our room did not have a fridge although some do. Wer ewere given 2 bath towels, one face cloth and one hand towel. The pool towels were the thinnest towels I have ever seen. it took 3 of them to dry me after my swim. Thankfully there were plenty of them. There are newer looking condos and one that was recently upgraded according to staff. If you want to go there, book one of them and you will have a much better experience. I would only consider going back there if we stayed in one of those. All in all we had a good two days. There were no lines even though the place was packed for the weekend. One Monday I was told by one operator I was the only person skiing that part of the mountain. The weather was great both days we skied and we did everything we wanted to from a skiing standpoint. If you want what has to be the best or one of the best in the Midwest, head there and rent a condo! Also bring your own skis. My skis and boots were at least 15 years old.

Spent the whole week here as a 6 bedroom, ski in/out (Hander House) is hard to find. As we had little ones, we spent most of our time on the beginner and intermediate hills. They were groomed daily, but the most used run, Davos, was a bit icy in spots. The easiest hills had flat spots that required x-country type skiing. Diamond hills were relatively short, but challenging. Only complaint is that the runs were not well marked, causing some confusion. Very much enjoyed the wine hut on the hill. Lodge at top of the hill caused a little flashback. It has changed very little since the early 90's, although food is no longer served up there. Food is available in the main lodge...snack bar during the day, and dining at night. From the guys who handled the rentals, to the instructors, to the people at the chair lifts, EVERYONE was funny, friendly and helpful. Prices from lift tickets to rentals to food were very economical compared to the more spa-like resorts. We have already made reservations for next year.

Even though there wasn't much snow initially, we were still able to do runs with man made snow. Our last day it snowed and there were many more runs open. Few lines and beautiful scenery

Best kept ski area in the upper mid-west. Finally a place to ski that isn't groomed to death. Just outside the lake effect snow but still gets plenty of powder. Best lifties in the business as well. On a sunny days you get views of Lake Superior.

There are 4 in our family. Our 2 sons are beginning skiiers and my husband and I are intermediate (we don't do double black diamonds!). This place offered a great ski time for us because the green and blue runs were perfect for our sons and the hills were long enough to have fun and explore skiing. We were there over Christmas week and there were no lift lines, and enough lifts to chose from to make the day interesting, not boring going down the same run over and over. All the staff was very helpful and fun (the lift guys were very nice and some were funny!) which made the experience even more enjoyable. We had Seize the Deal coupons, but didn't have them with us and the staff honored them for us (we did have proof that we bought them, but didn't have them...oops), which was VERY nice (they didn't have to do that). We will definitely be back. Thanks!

Don't let the seemingly lower verticle than some of its neighbors in the UP fool you, this place is massive and feels and skis much, much longer. All of the runs are very wide and split off numerous times giving you an infinite number of options for getting to the bottom. In addition, each lift serves runs of all levels of difficulty so families and friends of differing abilities can ride up together but find their own way down. Further, the level of challenge here with the single and double black diamonds is on a par (although admittedly shorter) with many areas out west and nobody in WI or Michigan (except maybe Mt. Bohemia) even comes close to the number of them. This includes serious steeps, bumps and cliffs, and these aren't just short 100' drops onto blue cruisers (i.e. Granite Peak), but full top to bottom runs. As for cruisers, the gooming is top notch and their widths and ability to link several trails together gives you a definite big mountain feel. Couple all of this with huge annual snowfalls, a wide variety of great value ski-in, ski-out accommodations and the nearby Hurley, WI, dining and night life, and you have possibly the best overall skiing experience in the Midwest (or at least a close second to -- yet more afforable than -- Lutsen).

Did the package stay deal with the lodge so it was very affordable for our family of four to ski for two days. Rental guys were great getting us geared up. Each lift worker said hi and have a good day. Wine hut was fun, kids loved it too. Met some nice people in there. Skiing was great for our level. Challenging runs and easy runs side by side. Our family could stay together or go out on our own and still meet up at the lift. Absolutely no wait and bottom. All lifts open on a Monday and Tuesday. Had the hills to ourselves. We drive 7 hours to ski here and will keep doing it year after year. Wish it would stay open another hour or so but 7 hours of skiing is probably enough. Hidden gem.

kiing is good, but the facility and customer service leave something to be desired. I saw two other raving reviews about the place and just wanted to add some detail to help you make an informed decision.Dining Room: You can only eat in the dining room if you purchased a package that includes dinners. Even then, I did not find the dinner options satisfactory. You are given a menu that says your dinner option includes soup (only one option), salad (very small) and your choice of the following: burger and fries, chicken tenders and fries, fried chicken sandwich and fries, fish sandwich and fries, fried chicken salad, or the "chef's special". The Chef's special for us was grilled chicken and rice, so it was the closest to an actual meal we could get. Lunch : The only option here is their snack bar which has your typical snack food and some hot items like hot dog, brat and chili. Not much to really be a full meal and definitely not many if any healthy items. I would recommend bringing your own food to replace or supplement their dining options. Breakfast : This is available with a package. It is held in the dining room from 8:30am-9:30am and is cafeteria style. You are allowed a small packaged juice (4 or 6 oz I think) and one beverage from the soda fountain and then for food you are allowed only one portion from the line (we did not find this to be enough to keep you full till lunch). They also had bread and two kind of dry cereal, 2% milk, and coffee available. If you want more to eat or what something healthier (like fruit) bring your own. So, we arrived to check in at about 8:30pm after driving a total of 7hours, 3 of which was through a snow storm. After we arrived and go to our room we tried to call our parents to let them know we were ok, and had no cell phone signal, couldn't connect to Wi-Fi and needed a calling card to use the phone.Other things to keep in mind: -Cell phone service is really spotty, if available at all. To make long distance phone calls from your room you need a credit card or calling card. This is something I was not made aware of. -If you are new to the hill make sure you look over the map. There are two way back to the chalet if you go away from the first chair lift. There used to be signs across these runs that said "To Chalet" but over the years they have fallen apart and are now unreadable. I really have no idea why they can't fix /replace these to help out their customers. (Note to snowboarders - both of these runs back to the chalet are very flat, you will probably need to push yourself most of the way)-Food options in the chalet are minimal and not very good. Might be best to bring your own snacks/lunch when possible.

My brother and I golfed here last summer and we had a wonderful time. The course is outstanding and there are no other golfers around. We were able to take our time and have a great day. The golf course is also a ski hill and I have not had the pleasure to ski here but I hear that it is something to see. Try it out!!!

Did the family two night stay and ski and my family had a blast. Very reasonable price and we skied right into our lodge. End of the season and they still had all runs open and all lifts running. Decent pool and hot tub. Diverse runs and challenges to meet every skiing level. Rooms were very outdated but fun nontheless.