Boyne Resorts is an owner and operator of

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

and golf resorts in the United States. The company employs over 7,000 full-time and seasonal staff. It operates 13 resort properties: 10 ski resorts and 11 golf courses. The company, based in Boyne Falls, Michigan, owns and/or operates properties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and the Canadian

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

History

Boyne Resorts was founded by Everett Kircher, Jim Christianson and John Norton in 1947. They purchased a steep hill in Northern Michigan for $1 from former State Senator Pierson. Then the co-founders bought a single

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

from Sun Valley in Idaho and installed it at their Northern Michigan resort as its first lift. This chairlift was the first ever built and is still in service today, it has been upgraded several times. In 1954, Boyne built and opened the Gatlinburg Skylift in Tennessee as a summer tourist attraction. In 1963, Boyne Highlands in Northern Michigan was added and by 1967, Boyne Mountain expanded to include additional lifts and a golf course. Robert Trent Jones designed the first resort course in the region at Boyne Highlands in 1966. After Boyne passed opportunities to acquire

Telluride Ski Resort Telluride Ski Resort is a ski resort located in Mountain Village, Colorado. The Telluride Ski Resort is located in the southwest corner of Colorado. The resort is in the northwestern San Juan Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountains, and is home ...

in Colorado and

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) is a ski resort in the western United States, at Teton Village, Wyoming. In the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is located in Teton County, northwest of Jackson and due south of Grand Teton Nationa ...

in Wyoming, they closed a deal to purchase

Chet Huntley Chet is a masculine given name, often a nickname for Chester, which means ''fortress'' or ''camp''. It is an uncommon name of English origin, and originated as a surname to identify people from the city of Chester, England. Chet was ranked 1,027t ...

Big Sky Resort Big Sky Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in southwestern Montana in Madison County. An hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky, Montana, it is the second-largest ski resort in the United States by a ...

in 1976, only a few years after its opening in December 1973, and now is the second-largest ski resort in the United States by acreage. In 1986, Boyne purchased Brighton outside of

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In the 1990s, Boyne USA purchased golf courses in

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. 1997 brought along the company's fifth ski resort, Crystal Mountain,

. In 2001, Boyne added its first Canadian resort,

Cypress Mountain Cypress Mountain is a ski area in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located in the southern section of Cypress Provincial Park, operated under a BC Parks Park Use Permit. The ski resort is a 30-minute drive north of downtown Vancouver, an ...

outside

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Cypress Mountain was the host to all the Freestyle and Snowboard events for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. In 2002, the company's founder and visionary, Everett Kircher died; his children maintained Boyne as a privately held company (Kircher had transferred ownership of the company to his children in 1976). John Kircher oversees the Brighton and Crystal Mountain operations. Stephen Kircher oversees the Eastern and Midwest operations as well as Western operations at Big Sky Resort, Cypress Mountain and The Summit at Snoqualmie. Amy Kircher is the Chairperson of the board. In 2007, Boyne Resorts entered into a sale and leaseback arrangement with CNL Income Properties on the Gatlinburg Skilift, Brighton and Cypress Mountain. The leases run for at least 40 years to Boyne for operations and all have buy back provisions to Boyne Resorts. Later in 2007, Boyne purchased Sunday River and

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a r ...

from The American Skiing Company and entered into a sale and leaseback arrangement with CNL Income Properties with similar 40 year leases. On September 19, 2007, Boyne announced their purchase of CNL Income Properties leases for The Summit at Snoqualmie,

, and Loon Mountain,

, from Booth Creek Resorts. This purchase made Boyne the largest family owned ski resort operator in North America in terms of number of resorts, and second in number of skier visits at almost 3.6 million visitors. Boyne Resorts also holds or held numerous patents on snowmaking technologies and has unveiled its latest technology in the Boyne Low E Fan Gun throughout its eastern resorts. In 2016, CNL Income Properties sold all six of the ski resorts they leased to Boyne to

Och-Ziff Capital Management Sculptor Capital Management (formerly Och-Ziff Capital Management Group) is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world. The firm operates m ...

. On March 31, 2017, John Kircher, 20-year CEO of Boyne and son of co-founder, acquired Crystal Mountain by trading it with his shares in the company. In March 2018, Boyne Resorts purchased Sunday River,

, The Summit at Snoqualmie, Loon Mountain, Brighton, and

Cypress Mountain Ski Area Cypress Mountain is a ski area in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located in the southern section of Cypress Provincial Park, operated under a BC Parks Park Use Permit. The ski resort is a 30-minute drive north of downtown Vancouver, an ...

from

after years of leasing the properties.

Properties

Ski Resorts

*Boyne currently owns and operates 10 ski resorts in 6 U.S. states and 1 Canadian province.

Other Properties

Retail stores

Boyne Resorts owns Boyne Country Sports, a sporting goods store chain with seven locations across Michigan.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Boyne Resorts
- Official site
Boyne USA Resorts - NewEnglandSkiHistory.com
Resorts in Michigan Companies based in Michigan Tourist attractions in Charlevoix County, Michigan Skiing organizations