This local hill earns the right to call itself the Midwest Ski Capital as it brings Rocky Mountain powder conditions to the Northland. Just 12 miles away from Lake Superior, Big Powderhorn Mountain is positioned for success with the helpful advantage of Lake Effect Snow.

The consistent supply of snow allows for the trail conditions to be carefully curated each day. Bruce Noren is the General Manager of this family owned and operated resort. Yet, every morning he is up before dawn to join his son grooming the trails.

“We’re skiers at Powderhorn. All of our managers are skiers. So we can relate to the conditions. Our grooming people all have to be skiers or borders in order to go out and groom. So we’re really known for our groomers. We groom every morning. So it’s all fresh corduroy unless it’s powder. And then we’ll leave some of that. We’ll still groom some for the beginners, but we kind of leave the good stuff.”

The resort taps into the vintage ski aesthetic with villages of ski-in ski-out chalets, private wine huts on the mountainside and a grand lodge with indoor and outdoor firepits perfect for any après gatherings with friends and family.

The mountain is accommodating to skiers and riders of all abilities, with nine bright red old school chairlifts taking across the 45 trails of the mountain. “We like to say our runs take you places. So you’re not just riding a lift and skiing back to where you were before. You ride a lift and you ski to another lift or another part of the mountain.”

Big Powderhorn Mountain pushes to grow its local ski community encouraging Northlanders to make the trip out to Bessemer this winter. They are offering a ticket discount to locals living in a handful of counties across northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. You can find that list of counties and additional information posted to their website here.