Courtesy of Skip Schulz Adventure Mountain in Greenland is a hill and winter recreation area that truly is for everyone in the family.

Adventure Mountain in Greenland is much more than a ski hill.

The hill is enjoyed by riders of sled, tubes and toboggans now that the mechanical equipment of a tow rope, rope tow polls and polley has returned.

Over three years and countless hours, Mountain Lions Club volunteers worked on bringing the entire rope tow system at the hill back to life. This involved a lot more than the necessary funds, but endless amount of engineering and work on the hill.

From the installation of the rope tow system to the volunteer Mountain Lions at the top and bottom of the rope tow, sledders were as important as the downhill skiers. With the work of Mike Laakko, Dean Juntunen and Steve Morris, the hill was recently groomed.

Adventure Mountain is a family fun recreation area. Morris has a Ski Closet for those that need to borrow equipment.

Around the Hill is a groomed trail for cross country skiers, along with a packed snowshoe trail. Right at the bottom of the hill is an indoor ice skating rink. The chalet has been updated to meet all current health standards.

Those enjoying the hill or watching the skiers, snowboarders and sledders can get a pizza as Nikki DeHaan has the kitchen in tip-top shape. One can view through the chalet window of those enjoying Mother Nature-provided snow.

Other than this year, the area accumulates close to 300 inches of snow annually.

Since the hill reopened a few years ago, Adventure Mountain has had an increase in those enjoying the hill. Winter of 2022-23, they hosted over 1,000 winter enthusiasts.

With that many people having fun on the hill, surrounding cross country and snowshoe trail, the Mountain Lions has volunteers trained on CPR along with the Hill’s defibrillator.

“We’re really up to date in many ways now,” stated Mountain Lions President Mike Laakko.

To top all this is the work the Mountain Lions are doing in extending the rope tow even farther up the hill.

“We have a snow machine that can pull up to four skiers to the top of the hill,” commented Laakko.

As stated, the grounds and the chalet has had many improvements since reopening.

“A huge thanks to our members Kip McIntyre and Dean Juntunen, along with a $14,000 grant from Portage Health Foundation.

An annual pass for a family is $80; for a single person, an annual pass is $40; a daily pass for a skier or snowboarder is $7; daily for sledders or skaters, it is $3. Just think how far it would go for a business or family to donate $200 to go towards kids and a family to enjoy a Saturday at Adventure Mountain?

It is important for everyone to remember, Adventure Mountain is totally run by the volunteer members of the Mountain Lions. No one is paid to be at the bottom of the rope tow, no one is paid to be at the top of the rope tow, no one is paid to man the chalet, and no one is paid to groom the hill.

Plus the money the Mountain Lions makes goes back into the community through the Club donating toward nonprofit organizations and events. This includes Leader Dogs for the Blind, Bay Cliff Health Camp, Sonco Ambulance, Greenland Township Fire Department, St. Nicholas Project, Hometown Christmas, St. Vincent de Paul, St Paul’s Soup Kitchen, Ontonagon Cancer Association, Operation Graduation, Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter, American Legion Post 92, Teaching Family Homes of the UP, Greenland Township Christmas and Greenland 4th of July.

Think about this, by having families enjoy sledding at Adventure Mountain in Greenland, the small $3 to use the rope tow, goes back into helping others.

Adventure Mountain rope tow, along with the ice skating rink is open Friday nights from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.