Deserted Skyline Ski Club: Grayling, Michigan

Seems like all these people who go out and record abandoned places usually pick out Sugarloaf as the preferred deserted ski lodge. So it was refreshing to see someone actually took the time to show us a completely different abandoned ski lodge: the former Skyline Ski and Country Club near Grayling.

Skyline is roughly located 10 miles north of Roscommon, 1 mile east of US-27. At one time it had as many as ten slopes, eight rope tows, instruction, night skiing from Wednesday thru Saturday, a triple chairlift, rental equipment, meals, and a warming house.

Ralph Morse opened the establishment in the 1940s as the Skyline Ski Club. Non-club members started to show up, wanting to ski the slopes, so what did Ralph do? He set out a cigar box asking each non-club member to contribute fifty cents in order to ski. With so many flocking to the area, the club name was changed to “Skyline Ski Area” and opened to the public.

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One of the crew members, who had been there from the start in the '40s, was Ernie Nye, who later became owner and manager of Skyline. Years went by and Ernie eventually sold the club, of which the new owners dubbed it “ Skyline Ski and Country Club.” Not long afterward, the club went bankrupt.

As far as we can figure, the Skyline Ski Club closed sometime in 2008. The grounds now are used by dirt bikers and quad riding, as you'll see in the gallery below.

The gallery below features images in and around the Skyline – beautiful surroundings with the lift chairs still dangling, and the club room still standing.

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