To celebrate 75 years, on January 16, 2013, all lift tickets and rentals are $7.50 each at Caberfae Peaks.
Walking into Caberfae Peaks Ski and Golf Resort in Cadillac is like walking back in time.
CADILLAC -- Walking into Caberfae Peaks Ski and Golf Resort in Cadillac is like walking back in time. 75 years to be exact. Reaching back to January 16th, 1938, plastered across lodge walls: old photographs of friends with decades of grins, making way for new ones.
In the heart of Manistee Forest, Caberfae Peaks was the very first ski area in Michigan, and is now one of the oldest in the midwest. Not only that, it's the third oldest operating ski resort in the country. And working on the mountain for 11 years, Tim Meyer enjoys looking back at how it all began.
"75 years ago people were skiing on wooden skis with straps and leather boots," said Tim Meyer, Caberfae Peaks Mountain Operations Manager. "They were using rope tows powered by Model-T Ford engines."
From old wooden skis to only one tow rope - technology certainly has changed...
"Lifts got more sophisticated, chairlifts came into existence, snowmaking, grooming equipment -- then more sophisticated grooming equipment," said Meyer. "It's really changed and morphed into what it is today, which is a big Winter industry in the state of Michigan."
Covering 200 acres, with verticle drops, long runs, a 36-room lodge... Caberfae has come a long way. And Despite some of the questionable fashion choices over the past 75 years, there's one thing that remains the same.
"The people back then could feel the joy of going down a hill on skis on a Winter day," said Meyer. "You're gliding over the snow in the Winter time enjoying the snow in Northern Michigan - and that part hasn't changed at all."
To celebrate 75 years, on January 16, 2013, all lift tickets and rentals are $7.50 each at Caberfae Peaks. Call 231-862-3000 for more information.
