Karyn Thorr remembers tagging along on trips to Crystal Mountain with one of her older brothers when she was just 10 years old. It’s the place where she learned to ski—and now, decades later, it remains a place where she and her brother can deepen connections.
“All these years later, we’re still hanging out on the slopes when we can,” said Thorr, who grew up to work at Crystal Mountain, becoming COO in 2022 after 29 years of service. “He introduced me to Crystal Mountain first. Today, it remains a favorite gathering place for us and, now, our families, too.”
For many families, winter at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, Mich., about 29 miles southwest of Traverse City, isn’t just about the award-winning ski slopes, with 59 downhill runs, or its legendary snow sport activities, with three terrain parks, six chairlifts, two magic carpets and more. It’s a chance to make memories with family and friends at a place designed to offer something for everyone onsite.
With its town village atmosphere, Crystal Mountain features everything guests need for a home-away-from-home winter experience, from dining, grocery and shopping options to live entertainment, the luxurious Crystal Spa, swimming, and, of course, snow sports, from skiing to snowshoeing and snowboarding. A shuttle transports Crystal’s lodging guests from one end to the other, providing an extra layer of convenience that makes it easy to enjoy all the resort offers.
Nearby attractions are many. The Michigan Legacy Art Park features more than 50 sculptures that look different in every season. Take a crisp walk along Frankfort Public Beach to see the ice-capped shore. Tour a local winery or visit one of the area’s distilleries, including Iron Fish Distillery, Michigan’s first farm-based distillery and a family dining haven. It’s all the makings of a unique winter vacation that appeals to everyone’s interests, from relaxation to adventure and fun.
For Thorr, part of the wide range of Crystal Mountain’s appeal in the winter is the ability to watch skiers navigate the slopes from dozens of places across the resort campus, including while dining.
“The chairlift in particular gives you a front row seat to watching all of the different styles of skiing out there,” she says.
One of her favorite downhill slopes is Thor, “which so often folks ask if it is named after me, but it’s not,” Thorr said. “It’s a steep pitched run, and it’s one of the first slopes that you see when driving into Crystal Mountain. I did a lot of racing on that hill when I was growing up, and it’s a lot of fun. But it’s really important for those who are learning to ski to know: this is not the first slope to try. There are plenty of runs on the backside of the mountain for early and intermediate skiers.”
The memories made at Crystal Mountain—often during the winter—are a large part of what keeps families coming back.
Ben Brandstatter, who grew up in Niles, Mich., remembers spending long weekends at Crystal Mountain every February, when he and his siblings would have days off from school. “We’d come up with five or six families, rent a few cabins and have a ball for the weekend,” said Brandstatter, who now lives in Traverse City. “That’s how I was introduced to Crystal growing up.”
Today, Brandstatter and his siblings and parents own a condo at the resort—and they come back year-round. It’s the place where his own kids have learned to ski, where bachelor parties have been held and where Father’s Day is spent with his dad, brother and uncles, golfing on the resort’s two courses.
“When I was in high school, our trips to Crystal Mountain weren’t as frequent because it was such a busy time for us as teenagers. But we made a trip back my senior year of college with my girlfriend, who is now my wife, and my sister and her boyfriend, who is now her husband, and we had such a great time, we thought, ‘Wow, why don’t we come back up here more often?’” Brandstatter said. “From that point on, Crystal Mountain became a place we come back to often. It’s a place that just facilitates the opportunity for memories.”
Thorr, who has two daughters in college, has seen the impact the resort has made for her own family over time. It’s one of her favorite aspects of having worked for Crystal Mountain for more than three decades and taking a leadership role with the resort.
“My kids have grown up around it, and I think as they’ve grown older, they appreciate Crystal differently,” she said. “They see how well their friends take to the resort and how much other families enjoy it, and they realize what a big deal it is to be here at Crystal. They’ve begun to understand: ‘This was a pretty special place that was in my backyard all these years.’ I’m looking forward to another winter of turning on the snow guns and watching the experiences unfold.”
Find out more at CrystalMountain.com.