Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire is one of many oh snow popular ski destinations in Michigan

As the white stuff blankets the state, I thought you might enjoy some snow-related facts and tidbits about Michigan, the Water-Winter Wonderland, to occupy you during breaks between shoveling. Snow fooling:

* Gaylord, in the upper mid-Mitten, is home of the Original Snowman Cam, which launched in 2003 and has been featured on earthcam.com, The Weather Channel and other national news. It’s fun to look in on the live feed and see a deer and other critters poking around the site; check it out online or make a pilgrimage to see it in person year-round.

* A flurry of “Snow Villages” or locations dotted the Michigan map in the 1800s. All have melted away:
Snow, Berrien County, 1875
Snowflake, Antrim County; 1879
Snow Prairie, Branch County, 1867
Snow’s Landing, Wayne County, 1800
Snowtown, Newaygo County, 1857

A tourist to the Keweenaw snaps the roadside snow stick in September

* Before winter officially arrived, the Keweenaw Peninsula got jump on its legendary annual snowfalls, with 40.5″ measured so far this season.

The area’s landmark Snow Gauge, aka Snow Thermometer, got a workout in 2024-25, with 315.25 inches of the white stuff measured between October 31 and May 31, when the county quit counting. Impressive, but shy of the record high 390.4 inches that fell in the winter of 1978-79.

The simple measuring tool along US-41 north of Mohawk is a photo stop any time of year. The arrow jutting out to the right near the top of the snow stick indicates the previous year’s accumulation.

* Ishpeming, Michigan is home to the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum, the birthplace of organized skiing in the U.S.

* The Ishpeming Ski Club was founded in 1887 as the Norden Ski Club, and from January 16-18, 2026 will host its 139th annual Suicide Hill Ski Tournament.

* Michigan is home to the only “ski flying” hill in the Western Hemisphere, Copper Peak in Ironwood.

Neil Snow, All American (file photo)

* Neil Worthington Snow was a standout athlete at the University of Michigan. The 1901 football All American also lettered in track, baseball and, no doubt, snowball fights.

* Dr. Snowflake, aka now-retired University of Michigan physician Thomas L. Clark, for decades has been known for his talent at snipping intricate designs from paper and telling stories through snowflakes. For a bit of background, check out this 2016 video.

Bishop Baraga, the Snowshoe Priest, overlooks Keweenaw Bay

* Bishop Frederic Baraga migrated from Slovenia in 1830 to minister to the Native Americans and settlers in the Great Lakes region.

When he came to the Upper Peninsula he had to travel great distances, by snowshoe in winter, and he became known as the Snowshoe Priest. A towering sculpture of the beloved priest—holding 26-foot-long snowshoes—at  shrine on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay.

* Clarence Iverson began handcrafting snowshoes in 1954, using local white ash, full grain rawhide and copper hardware. Iverson Snowshoes, still makes snowshoes—10 varieties—as well as furniture in the same stye as the shoes, in the tiny Upper Peninsula town of Chatham.

Yooper scoopers ready for snow season at Ace Hardware in Newberry

* The Original Snow Scoop is made by Kaufman Sheet Metal in Ironwood, in business in the Western U.P. since 1949.

The sturdy alternative to snow shovels requires no lifting, just shifting of the white stuff with the broad, metal open box-like tool with a U-shaped handle. The Yooper scooper comes in two sizes and is used at ski resorts across the U.S. and in several other countries. It’s sold online and at hardware stores; check the website.

* Ray Muscott of Waters, Michigan received the first U.S. patent for a snow-vehicle, in 1916.

* The Godfather of Snowboarding lived in Muskegon when, in the winter of 1965, Sherman Poppen strapped two skis together and created a snow surfer for his daughters. The “Snurfer” proved popular and evolved into the snowboard.

Logo for a vintage sled at Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum

* Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum is located in our Upper Peninsula town of Naubinway, at the Northernmost Point of Lake Michigan.

* A Great Laker, Carl Eliason of Sayner, Wisconsin, built the prototype of today’s snowmobile in 1924. (Okay, so it’s not Michigan—but it’s just across the lake and this is the Great Lakes Gazette.)

* The Les Cheneaux Islands area of the Eastern U.P., is known as The Snows,  which is how you might pronounce cheneaux after an excellent Bloody Mary or two at Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville.

The rustic Snows Bar & Grill in Les Cheneaux, “The Snows,” in the Eastern U.P.

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Snowshoeing an old growth forest at Hartwick Pines State Park near Grayling

Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire is one of many ski destinations in Michigan