U.P. Skip Trip:

February 4, 2025

For our eighth anniversary this year, we planned a ski trip! I look at our birthdays and anniversary as a perfect excuse to do something special or extra fun! This was a two-night trip, our first time away from the RV since we moved to the UP and the longest time away from the RV we’ve ever spent! Our preparations worked out as expected and we had the best time away. With two ski resorts just 22 minutes apart, Iron Mountain is your ideal getaway to ski the yoop! 

RV Preparations:

While away, the RV experienced temperatures ranging from -3F to 18F. In order to keep our cat warm and our pipes from freezing, we set the RV furnace to 50F. This ensured our cat stayed warm and allowed the furnace to turn off. Setting the furnace any higher would have made it difficult to reach the set temperature due to the extreme cold.

Our furnace heats the basement to keep our water pump from freezing. It also heats our pipes and has done a solid job of preventing freezing! Underneath the RV, in the foam-skirted area, we run a low wattage 500W space heater on a smart plug using a set schedule. This area had temperatures as low as 25F until the heater turned on and raised it above 30, as observed from a bluetooth thermometer. Because our solar batteries control a lot of general RV functions, including lights and the furnace fan, and we have minimal sun in the woods, we needed to charge the batteries on a schedule with the smart plug as well. Watching over the batteries and smart plug was a Blink camera that told us the temperature of the battery box was stable at around 41F, which is needed for the batteries to charge and operate properly. Our biggest concern being away was not being able to monitor these fire hazards like we are when we’re home. Setting up the Blink camera to view our battery box, as well as inside the RV to monitor the cat and inside temperatures, and in the driveway to monitor visitors helped to ease my anxiety about leaving Bean behind in the RV. Two additional precautions I took to prepare for an emergency were 1. I hid a spare key outside and took a picture of its location to send to any first responders in case of an emergency, and 2. I set Bean’s cat carrier just inside the door in case that is easier for anyone responding to any incident. Luckily, everything went well during our time away and being able to check the cameras often gave me the peace of mind I needed to enjoy our two nights worry-free!

Ski Costs:

This year we decided to buy the Mount Bohemia season pass while it was heavily discounted and on sale from November 27 to December 7, 2024. After fees and taxes, the total cost was $147 per person, which is valid seven days a week with no blackout dates and includes the Nordic Spa from winter through fall. The Bohemia Pass also offers 43 days of free skiing at 30 partner resorts across the Midwest, West and Canada! These partner resort days were the main reason we chose this season pass deal. Within 2.5 hours of us, there are four resorts that we can visit. Both resorts we skied near Iron Mountain cost $69 per day each, totaling $138 per person, but instead, we only paid for the Bohemia Season Pass! Since we plan to ski at least the other two resorts within 2.5 hours and potentially other resorts 3+ hours away, this pass was well worth the purchase!

Gear:

We spent the last month gearing up for this trip and finding the proper used gear for each of us! As much as I’m conflicted about being on Facebook, Facebook Marketplace is such a win for finding used gear! My partner was lucky to find his skis, boots and poles for $100, though we drove an hour to get them. I was able to find used skis for $100 in the same location, then I found boots for $40 and bought new ski poles for $60 in another direction, also an hour away. 

We each ordered the same helmet for $110. My partner’s gear cost $210 and my gear cost $310 for a total of $520. We tipped the resort worker $20 at Norway Mountain for some gear adjustments. The total seems like a lot looking at it now, but at least we bought mainly used, aside from our helmets and my poles! New boots and skis would have cost hundreds more! We plan to get some years of use from this gear and can now enjoy winters more fully! This year, we decided to invest in skiing, so we could have fun using our Bohemia Pass and secondhand gear as an excuse to explore more of the Upper Peninsula!

Stay:

We rented an Airbnb close to Pine Mountain for its amenities and location. Since the resorts are so close to each other, staying in Norway, Iron Mountain, or anywhere in between would be just fine. I have a YouTube video detailing our Airbnb stay. We took long, hot showers and did as much laundry as possible! It was such a refreshing change to be out of the RV for 2 nights!

Norway Mountain

After the incredible help we received, we are so grateful we started our trip at Norway Mountain! Dustin, who works at the Norway Mountain ski rental and repair shop, was a huge help in getting us on the slopes! There he adjusted my ski bindings to fit my boots and also corrected the DIN according to our weight and experience. After my first run, I came back inside and Dustin was able to extend the clasps of my ski boots so they could be worn more comfortably! He truly saved my feet from dreaded ski boot discomfort!

Although not all the runs were open, Norway Mountain was an optimal choice for day one and a lot of fun! Here there were plenty of runs at my level to practice the basics, such as Vali, Von and Loki. Skoll was the toughest run we did; those turns threw us around! On the weekdays, only the Odin chairlift is operating but on the weekends, both Odin and Von chairlifts are taking skiers up! In the days after our trip, Norway Mountain opened a small rail park for guests! On Thursdays, the resort runs an awesome lift ticket deal at just $30 for the entire day! For that price, we could be back! On this Wednesday, only about 15 people were skiing!

Pine Mountain

Our second free ski day with our Bohemia pass was at Pine Mountain. Personally, I thought Pine Mountain felt bigger than Norway Mountain because its highest open lift this day, panorama, gave the mountain a more tiered feel. 

My partner enjoyed the black diamond runs on the right, as well as the back country run with jumps. I preferred a different forested run, Upper and Lower Oak and Middle Slope! The freestyle terrain had yet to open and some of the back country routes were still being developed. It was also special at Pine Mountain to see the ski jump on your way up the slopes! In total, there were probably only 30 to 40 skiers at the resort the entire day!

Food

To be honest, we spent no time exploring Iron Mountain because we were able to DoorDash our dinners, which is something we cannot do where we live! Every order we placed came so fast; we were enjoying this perk of the trip big time! Here’s what we recommend:

Conclusion: 

Without any gear ready at the time, I can say now confidently that buying the Bohemia season pass was a steal for us! We managed to collect the necessary gear at a discount and properly prepared the RV to be away! I’m looking forward to hopefully a few more days on the slopes this winter! If you want to avoid the lift lines at other Michigan resorts, Norway Mountain and Pine Mountain are both highly accessible options! If you’re looking to mix it up, visit a new U.P. city and ski two unique resorts, add Iron Mountain to your winter destination list!