Hi from Michigan this is Christine with Where in the World is cL and I am so
excited for this weekend. I love skiing and I actually learned to ski as an adult by
watching YouTube videos (naturally). I come to Michigan a lot for work so I'm trying
something different from my normal Salt Lake City Denver Lake Tahoe lineup and I
am going to stay smitten with the mitten and I'm gonna try using my Ikon season pass
to ski here in Michigan. Right now I'm in my hotel (oo with a jacuzzi) staying smack dab
in the middle between Boyne Highlands and Boyne Mountain so this video is for
you guys to help you get up get out and go travel everything I learn from skiing
at these two resorts this weekend I'm gonna put together my top tips so that
you can come here and make the most out of your ski trip. Alright let's get out
there. Let's get this party started with Boyne Highlands if you're just looking
for Boyne Mountain you can skip ahead to the time below. For each of these resorts
I'll be breaking it down with the info on getting in, parking, lift tickets,
rentals, lifts and runs and of course food .. so let's dig in. I made a trip
to Boyne highlands in late January and I was super surprised by how easy it was
to get in there was no traffic and not only that parking was free (score!) so
there was a lot of parking I was able to park super close as I rolled up at 8:30
a.m. and you can see the distance from my parking spot to the resort entrance.
Super close it just took me a couple minutes to walk in. Lift tickets can be
purchased outside at skier services and standard lift ticket pricing is about a
hundred bucks if you don't have a season pass. More info on that in the
description below. Getting rental equipment super easy
simply sign in at the computers, get your paperwork from the counter and they'll
get you fitted in the gear area. one of the things I loved was that you can pick
up and drop off equipment between the two resorts. in other words instead of
doing a one-day gear rental I saved a few bucks by doing a two-day rental
I picked up at Highlands and tomorrow I'll drop off at Mountain. I can't believe I
was from parking lot to lift ticket window to equipment rental to lift in
under 30 minutes which blows my mind. but if you're looking to save even more time
you can reserve your rental equipment online. okay let's move on to
lifts and runs note that the rentals open to 8 and the
let's start at 9 if not earlier and those lifts
wow those lifts.. no lines or incredibly short lines I never waited more than a
few minutes and yeah there's only 8 lifts and 55 runs at this mountain and
when I compare it to one of my favorite parks like Park City's 41 lifts
and 340 runs.. I just I don't really think it matters. It's
not a comparison because the ease of this trip makes this mountain in my eyes
super small but super mighty. There was only one express lift which I rode
on repeat and the rest are pretty standard slow ones but there was a nice
variety of runs and with the combo of there being no lines and it being a
fairly small mountain I had had 15 runs in an hour and a half so I was
ready for my first stop for food pretty early. I decided to start by warming up
with a cup of coffee. the cafe was really cute and had great coffee options
as well as other drinks and snacks that you could pick up. Right next door to it
is Slopeside Lounge which was really nice because I'm used to cafeteria style
lunches but this was really nice because you could actually sit down and they had
a really wide food and drink menu full bar which was nice but I was actually
surprised and some good wines on the menu so I enjoyed myself a glass of wine
alright that sums it up for Boyne Highlands let's talk about Boyne
Mountain and as a preview if you stick around till the end I'll give some tips
on both as well as my opinion as to which was the better mountain. it was
kind of a hard decision. getting in was super easy once again it
was awesome because there was no traffic and I was able to get super quick
parking even though the weekend I was there was considered peak. the walk from
the parking lot to the village is about 5 minutes but they do offer a free
trolley which runs pretty frequently which is nice and picking up lift
tickets is right at the entrance so that was really straightforward and easy and
there was no line so no waiting for that. lift ticket prices are the same
as Highlands at about a hundred dollars but one thing I found unique about both
resorts is they have something called a four-hour flex ticket so starting from
when you buy it you got four hours to be on the mountain and it's at a discounted
rate rentals were just around the corner and downstairs so I came back here at
the end of the day to drop off my gear that I'd picked up at Highlands with nooo
problem. they do have lockers right next to it which will run you around six to
twelve dollars with in and out privileges. I have fresh pair legs, I'm about to
hit this first run of the day super excited let's see how these two
mountains stack up. The thing I loved about Mountain is that it had more lifts
(12 of them) and more runs (60 of them) which had way more variety on the
mountain. I really enjoyed having that sit-down lunch experience yesterday at
Highland. I decided to go to a place called Stein Eriksen's and it was super
empty by noontime and so I got a seat by the window and enjoyed a glass of
Prosecco. you're welcome to make fun of me in the comments for eating salads for
lunch while skiing but they had a really great salad with salmon on top and I
enjoyed myself. alright that sums it up for Boyne mountain let's talk about a
few other helpful tips: one is that both of them have individual apps you can
download I was using them on the mountain as a maps function to help
myself find places to eat as well as runs I wanted to explore. another tip: on
select nights both of them have night skiing with really great lighting so
make sure you check the calendar for
that. another tip: both have free Wi-Fi I
wasn't getting great service so it was nice to have that option. and here's an
important one: usually when I'm going on ski trips like this one, I like to rent my gear from
nearby sports stores so I'm showing up with my gear. here there isn't that
option I couldn't find any sport stores around that rent gear so either BYO or
rent it from the resort.
What an awesome day of skiing I had so much fun at Boyne
Mountain I loved Boyne Highlands this weekend was amazing if I had to pick
between one of the two resorts it's kind of hard to decide I guess I would have
to say Boyne Mountain but it's only because I love steeps and I felt like it
was more easy to access black diamonds while I was here. I have a ton of
skiing to go this season I'm here every Wednesday making new videos check me out
if you found this helpful please give a thumbs up, share with your friends and
I'll see you in the next video ... CIAO!