Boyne Mountain Resort Historic Tour

Walk the Boyne Mountain Resort Property and learn about its history

Tour Information
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Boyne Mountain Resort Historic Tour

Boyne Falls, Michigan 49713, United States

Created By: Elsa Wachter

Tour Information

Actual Distance: 2.25 mile walk + .75 mile chairlift ride (round trip)

Traverse the Boyne Mountain Resort grounds while learning about its founder, Everett Kircher, and the history of the Boyne Ski Club.

If you would like to just read about each stop on the tour, scroll down on this page and select the locations to access the information.

If you would like to follow the tour from Start to Finish on foot, proceed to the entrance of the Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa and click START TOUR, then select STANDARD TOUR MODE.

If you would like to walk around the property on your own and stop at the different locations in no particular order, click START TOUR, then select FREE ROAM MODE.


Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

Welcome to Boyne Mountain Resort!  Each stop on this walking tour will have text, photos, old newspaper articles and/or videos connected. Scroll through the photos on the top of each stop to see each piece of media and delve a little deep... Read more
Everett Kircher was the patriarch of the family that owns Boyne USA.  Everett was born on July 15, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Before Everett turned 1 year old his father had moved the family to Detroit to start earning $5 /day at the F... Read more
On the 14th of April, 1969 the Balloon Platoon Balloonist Club from Bloomfield Hills, MI brought their one-man balloon propelled contraption to Boyne Mountain Resort.  They proceeded to entertain spring skiers by inflating one of the ballo... Read more
The original lodge here at the Boyne Ski Club was built in 1947 and opened in 1948.  It was a very basic building for warming up during ski days.  It included the Trophy Room Bar, a cafeteria, restrooms and a huge fireplace built with Ona... Read more
The Burton Store was originally Symon’s General Store.  Symon’s opened in the mid-1950s and carried gourmet Austrian & European Foods.  It was the perfect stop to grab a tasty snack between runs or before going to the bar. Boyne: ... Read more
In the 1960s, guests were visiting from all over the Midwest and business was booming.  Everett decided to add an ice rink behind the lodge and offer skating year-round.  Everett hired professional figure skaters to teach lessons for the ... Read more
Stein Eriksen was Everett Kircher’s pick for Director of Skiing at Boyne Mountain for the ski school’s opening year, but he wouldn't immediately make that committment.  Stein was born in Norway in 1927, became a ski legend in his home ... Read more
This is where all the skiers partied back in the day.  It was even made into a verb – snowflaking.  “We’re snowflaking at 5 tonight. See you there after skiing!”  Après-Ski (pronounced AH-PRAY SKI) is a popular European post-ski... Read more
When Everett started building lodgings at the Boyne Ski Club, the Hemlock and Edelweiss Lodges were the first built.  Edelweiss has just reopened, but the Hemlock was torn down to build the six-seat, high-speed chairlift called Mountain E... Read more
Snow in the Midwest is not the same as the snow out West; there are many more marginally cold days and thaw days here in Michigan, plus the humidity is considerably higher.  Everett realized early that in order to optimize his use of the M... Read more
In 1964 the three-place chairlift was introduced to the world at Boyne Highlands.  Everett was convinced that a four-place lift would be all the rage and wanted its debut to be at Boyne Mountain Resort.  He spoke with the lift manufacture... Read more
When the Boyne Ski Club first started, Midwesterners were just learning how to ski.  There was no one to form a ski patrol, so Everett developed a program for Boyne City High School kids to become proficient.  They received lessons and we... Read more
In early 1960 Everett Kircher decided he wanted to start a ProRacing Tour.  He initially called Sepp Reusch from Stowe in Vermont but Sepp wasn’t interested.  Then Everett called Friedl Pfeiffer from Aspen’s Ski School and the two of ... Read more
Everett’s dream for the Boyne Ski Club initially slated the lodge to be set further off the ski hill to allow for longer runs.  Look across the road to the large open field just before the Mountain Grand Lodge.  That land belonged to th... Read more
The loop to the river and back is almost a mile long.  If you don't want to walk it, you can skip forward to the Opening Day - January 9, 1949 stop.  📸 Attached Media: -Photo of the Boyne River, taken by @naturalbeautyandwonder -"Stu... Read more
As you walk down the Boyne Valley Trail toward the river, you’ll notice a big sign with a dog that says, “Thank you for visiting.  Come Back Soon.”  Back in the 1950s there was an iconic dog that lived here at Boyne Mountain named F... Read more
Notice the water level indicator and sign for Crowd Hydrology.  There are many places along the Boyne River with these signs.  Text them the water level if you want to participate!  The Boyne River traverses 22 miles of northern Michigan... Read more
This trail that you are on is now known as the Boyne Valley Trail.  Boyne Valley was organized in 1873 and the big railway, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad (GR&I) came through in 1874.  The town was then renamed Boyne Falls.  Loggi... Read more
Check out all of the media we have about Boyne Mountain's Official Opening Day - January 9, 1949! 📸 Attached Media: -"Boyne Lodge to Install Chair Lift" article from the Petoskey News Review on September 16, 1948 -"Wanted: Snow for Boyne... Read more
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Everett Kircher noticed early that many skiers were also pilots and he built the airport to accommodate those guests.  In the early 1960s you could rent a prop plane for an average of $14/hour in the Midwest and taking weekend trips by pla... Read more
Everett was a genuine trailblazer, both literally and figuratively.  His empire in northern Michigan truly opened the area to tourism and he was repeatedly recognized for all his contributions to this community.   Roger Miller, filmmaker... Read more
Welcome to the site of the original Boyne Golf Course, the Hemlock.  Everett created that first course with only a tractor and ambition; he had zero education in golf course design.  Everett wanted to provide jobs year-round and a friend,... Read more
The condominiums in front of you were the first to be built on the property and are also known as ‘The Letter Condos’.  At the beginning of the 1970s the influx of Boyne visitors dropped off due to low airline prices.  Everett had a t... Read more
The very beginning of northern Michigan downhill skiing started with Otsego Ski Club.  Don McClouth, owner of McClouth Steel Co of Michigan, started the ski club in 1939 just east of Gaylord.  Everett skied at OSC regularly and met many l... Read more
When Everett and two friends, John Norton and Jim Christianson, went scouting for a Michigan ski hill fit for a resort they checked out several areas in northern Michigan.  When they decided on this location in the mid 1940s, they went loo... Read more
Sun Valley Resort in Idaho was the first resort in the United States to install a chairlift in 1937.  Averill Herriman, the founder of Sun Valley, built the first two chairlifts in the world for his resort.  Vic Gottschalk, Everett’s sk... Read more
Edelweiss Lodge was one of the first lodging buildings build in the 1950s and was recently completely remodeled for the 2021 season.  The word Edelweiss comes from an Alpine perennial flower, leontopodium alpinum; the same flower you see o... Read more
The Blue Ox was the original square building at the top of the Hemlock Lift.  In the 50s and 60s it was only a warming hut with bathrooms and a small kitchen.  When Boyne expanded the building in the 1970s to include a dining room, Everet... Read more
In 1953, at the beginning of Boyne Mountain, a hotel owner in Gatlinburg, TN called Everett about installing a chairlift.  When Everett went to investigate the location, he immediately saw a potential jackpot in the making.  By 1957 he ha... Read more
Victor Gottschalk had been Everett’s ski instructor for years at Sun Valley when Everett started working on the Boyne Ski Club.  He helped Everett lay out the runs on his new mountain.  He was the very first ski instructor at Boyne Moun... Read more
The Hemlock trail was named for an enormous Hemlock tree that was preserved in the middle of the hill.  It was at least 50 feet tall and over 150 years old.  One evening in December 1970 while Everett and friends ate in the dining room, s... Read more
Thank you for taking a walk through Boyne Mountain Resort’s history.  Please share your photos and experiences online by tagging #boynemountainhistory.  ---------------------------  These are the resources used to create this historic ... Read more

 

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