The Ward Hill Ski Area
Back when I was a kid in the 1950’s, the Ward Hills Ski Area was operating each winter with ski lifts and hills galore. Later, Camp Martin Johnson purchased the area to enhance its winter programs. Now its largely overgrown.
I always liked coming down that road as it curve around the ski area. It was a wide curve and each way I glanced out the car window to take in the magnificent site. Does anyone know when Camp Martin Johnson purchased it?
What kind of winter programs, outside of skiing, took place there when the camp owned it? Did they utilize it during other times of the year? I would think, that to purchase this area, and then later lose the camp, there must have been some operating money in the budget to save the camp itself.
Maybe former campers can fill in the blanks? Another good question might be to ask, just who was Ward Hills?
Mike Reynolds
Darren Crane
Guest Post
Ward Hills Ski area closed in the early 80’s when the Chicago YMCA disposed of the Camp Martin Johnson property. The ski area was managed by George Parmentier who now lives in Custer Michigan. George was the property manager for the camp and he and his wife Edith and their family lived in the managers home on the camp property. The ski area was purchased along with the camp property by a group headed by the “Motor City Mad Man” Ted Nugent. It has changed hands several times since then.
Dave, the closest downhill ski area to Ward Hills is Caberfae Ski Area. They have a nice set up there with a hotel and outdoor pool. It is right smack dab in the middle of the Manistee National Forest. People come from all over the midwest to ski there. It is about 30 miles NE from Ward Hills or about halfway between Manistee and Cadillac off M-55.
Ed, do you know the year Ward Hill Ski Area closed down?
The property has not changed much in the years since closing. The Ski Lodge is now a cottage named “The Lodge” with a big sign out by the road. In the winter when all the foliage is down you can still clearly see the outlines of where the ski slopes went. The owners of the lodge even left a small hut on a “Bunny Hill” that was a warming shack for the rope tow operator. There are also some poles with old wheels used for the rope tows visible at various locations. I had a similar set up at a place I lived in Van Buren Maine in the early 70’s. Those old rope tows with the car wheel set ups were really scary and I remember hearing stories about people getting scarves wrapped on the rope and then going through the one safety catch that typically did not employ fail safe wiring and then getting dragged through the wheel and rope on its way back down the hill heck first. Fortunately the rope tow and ski lift technology has improved a bit since those times.
What is the nearest ski area now to the Big Bass Lake area? Anyone know when Ward Hill Ski area shut down?
I skiied there a couple of times and can’t remember when it closed, but one of the owners now is an X-nephew…if there is such a thing. I’m so happy at the way they have kept the place up and how they use it and improve it often.
As a kid, I never knew how the tow ropes were operated, but when I found out, I was sure surprised and am thankful no one got hurt. The one at the tippy top of the “mountain” was still operable a few years ago.! I actually think the tow ropes there are what finally got me water skiing. I was the last kid on the lake to learn, I’m sure.