- The ski and snowboarding season is here in Michigan
- While the season isn’t starting early, conditions are better than usual at this point in the year
- Still some chair lifts and trails remain closed and some ski areas are closed during the week
The 2025-26 ski and snowboarding season has begun here in Michigan.
Many ski areas in the state have recently opened for the first time this season, though they’re not fully open and some are not yet open daily.
There are around 35 ski resorts in Michigan, with about 10 additional smaller ski areas bringing the total to 45. Many of them benefited from snowfall that dumped on the state late last month and last week and opened to skiers.
As a result of a Thanksgiving weekend storm, parts of southeast Michigan saw 6 inches of snow. In eastern Michigan, some areas like Zeeland and Wolf Lake saw as much as 11 inches. In the Upper Peninsula, snowfall was measured in feet, with several places getting more than 2 feet.
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The executive director for the Michigan Snowsports Industries Association, Mike Panich, said that, despite the snowfall, ski areas aren’t necessarily opening earlier than usual, but conditions are better than usual for so early in the season.
“Usually, the first week or second week in December is when things really get going,” Panich said. “But the latest rounds of cold, cold weather and the sustained cold weather with natural snowfall has enabled all of our resorts to get more terrain open earlier than in past years.”
Boyne Mountain Resort, outside Petoskey, opened on Friday.
“This is a great way to start the season with all this fresh, natural snowfall,” said Kari Roder, director of marketing at Boyne Mountain Resort. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had this good of an early season.”
Recent cooler temperatures have also enabled the resort to make more artificial snow, which can only be made under specific conditions.
“It’s got to be 28 degrees or below. The humidity has to be right, as well,” she said.
As of Monday, about 20% of the 415-acre ski area was open. But, with temperatures now cold enough to make snow, Boyne plans to open more terrain this weekend.
Caberfae Peaks, located near Cadillac, opened up last weekend and then temporarily shut down. According to the ski area’s website, it’s closed this week until Friday “to take full advantage of the favorable snowmaking conditions.”
Bittersweet Resort outside Kalamazoo opened up Thursday, a day before Boyne but a day later than the westside resort opened last year.
“It’s been really good so far. We were busy on our opening day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” said Zada Rose, an assistant manager at Bittersweet Ski Resort.
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On Monday, Bittersweet had 15 out of 18 of its trails open and 12 inches of base snow, which Rose said was “pretty normal but really good conditions-wise.”
Ski Brule, which opened Nov. 17, may have the most snow for a Michigan mountain. As of Monday, the ski area located near Iron River in the UP reported 32 to 50 inches of snowpack. Lifts are currently closed Monday through Wednesday but they will be open daily starting on Dec. 19.
Elsewhere in the UP, Mont Ripley in Hancock is still working to get ready for the season. The ski area, which is run by Michigan Technical University and is often credited with being the oldest in the state, is planning to open Saturday.
The forecast this winter is mixed, with some outlets reporting more precipitation as a result of La Niña, and others reporting Michigan may see below-average precipitation and patchy snow.
“If we have, statewide, as good of a winter as we had last year, it’s going to be a fantastic ski season for everybody,” said Panich, of the Michigan Snowsports Industries Association.
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