RIPLEY, Mich. (WJMN) – For only a few weeks a year Mont Ripley allows visitors to ride the chairlift to view the magnificent reds, oranges, and yellows in the trees from above.
Every ski hill in the country offers a unique view of mountains, cities, and even bodies of water. This chairlift offers a view of all of those and more.
“Here our view is kind of, like, up and down the canal, looking into Houghton, seeing campus, or you can see all the way up to Huron mountains on one side,” said Nick Sirdenis, the General Manager of Mont Ripley. “So the view is beautiful and the ride is a nice peaceful 12 minute ride up and a little more daring ride coming down because going up, you can see the top of the hill and it doesn’t seem like you’re really that far up, but when you are coming down here 500 feet above the canal and you feel like a bird kind of soaring in the sky. So it’s a cool view, very unique to anybody else. Not many people get a chance to ride down a chairlift.”
Mont Ripley holds the fall color chairlift rides every year to help raise money to improve the ski hill for visitors, provide supplies and training needs for the ski patrol, and to provide equipment for the Copper Country Alpine Race team.
Tickets to the Fall Colors Tour will be $10 for adults, $8 for Michigan Tech Students, and free for children 10 and under with an adult.
Tickets are on sale now for the Mont Ripley Color Tours. Here is the schedule of tour dates and times provided by the Mont Ripley webpage. Some dates could change depending on weather.
Michigan Tech Family Weekend
Friday, September 29: 3 pm-7 pm
Saturday, September 30: 10 am-7 pm
Sunday, October 1: 10 am-7 pm
Saturday, October 7: 12 pm-6:30 pm
Sunday, October 8: 12 pm-6:30 pm
Saturday, October 14: 12 pm-6:30 pm
Sunday, October 15: 12 pm-6:30 pm
If you are interested in buying a ticket, you can find the link on their webpage to buy in advance, or you can pay in cash at the lift.
