The new buildings will reflect the heritage of the area. That’s a big part of this area, the snowsport capital of Wisconsin. It’s always been my idea to pay respect to this area’s history of logging, and mining, and also skiing. We found boxes and boxes of pictures they had taken, and on the back of the pictures were handwritten notes like, “this would look good for the hotel.” Dave and Evie had traveled extensively through that area of Europe. If the mountain becomes successful, the local community should share in that. It’s very important that we contribute to the local community. It would have been easy to bring in a big company to do all the renovations, and be done in a season-but we thought it was important to hire local people, to help out Iron Country. Everyone who works here lives within 20 miles of the mountain. We had received all new rental gear- about 350 pair of skis, 80 snowboards, and related boots and bindings-the day after Christmas. we built out two new restaurants, a new kitchen, a new bar area, and a new rental shop. was disheartening-we had just finished renovations. It’s not uncommon, on any given day, to spot a family of three generations skiing here together. I’ve spent 17 years working in the ski industry, and I knew what kind of special place the ski area is. In February 2018, I took over the company. He saw all the good in the future of Whitecap, and he built it that way. From ’64 until 2018, Dave and Evie put their heads down and built a great resort. In 1964, Dave and Evie Lundberg purchased the property. The resort was originally started in 1962, with just a single rope tow, and just a small base lodge.
I think there were a lot of people who came out just to support us. But these skiers are prepared for that kind of weather. The high, that Saturday, if I remember, was about 5 degrees. Everyone was safe.Įarly Saturday morning, the owners announced they would rebuild, the lifts began spinning right on schedule, and the devoted community showed solidarity in the most fitting manner: they came to ski.ĭavid Dziuban, the principal shareholder of this 400-acre resort, tells POWDER about Whitecap’s history and its future.īefore the first fire department arrived on scene, I knew that as long as we had electricity for the ski lifts, we were going to open Saturday morning on time. Though the cedar structure burned for hours, with the asphalt-tiled roof emitting a heavy smoke, no injuries were reported. The inferno destroyed the building overnight, despite the best efforts of more than 50 firefighters dispatched from nine area fire departments, according to news reports. Just the day before, on the chilly Friday afternoon of January 18, a red-hot fire sparked near the lodge’s second floor bar, which was closed at the time for renovations. In January, 2019, the main lodge suffered a devastating fire which the new owners are pledging to rebuild.Last month, as skiers queued in the liftline at northern Wisconsin’s Whitecap Mountains Resort, the morning sun rose above their smoldering base lodge. The resort was lovingly managed on a shoestring by Dave and Evie Lundberg from 1964 to 2018, when it was sold after the passing of Dave Lundberg. The race has been known to be a significant career booster, with high level executives from NCR, Modine and Williams having been participants. The terrain is diverse enough to accommodate skiers of all difficulty levels.Whitecap is traditionally known as the home of the "Chinese Downhill" competition in the late 80's, with rumors that this tradition would be revived (with increased safety measures).
The mountains are nestled in the ancient and picturesque Penokee Mountain Range just sixteen miles off of the southern Lake Superior shoreline. The runs are spread out over three mountains and 500 acres (2.0 km2) of terrain. It has a 400-foot (120 m) vertical drop with 43 ski trails which are serviced by nine lifts. The Whitecap Mountains is a ski resort located in the Town of Anderson, Iron County, Wisconsin (postal address Upson, Wisconsin, and located west of Montreal, Wisconsin).