Milwaukee-area private ski clubs thrive on snow, family and history

SUSSEX - For Becky Guetzke, Ausblick Ski Hill is a second home.

It's where she learned to ski and race as a youngster, and where she now watches over her three children as they come barreling down the hill.

And Ausblick is where her husband chose to propose marriage in an elaborate stage-managed event that included dispatching skiers with red roses up the chairlift and taking over the loudspeaker for the actual request.

"I think everyone stopped skiing at that point," she said.

Of course, they did. Ausblick is different from a lot of ski areas for one simple reason: It's a private club.

Member-only ski areas are a small niche in the ski industry, but in the Milwaukee-area they have been part of the sport's fabric for decades.

Besides Ausblick, there is Heiliger Hugel Ski Club in Hubertus and Fox Hill Ski Area located in the Town of West Bend just off Big Cedar Lake.

The runs around here may not remind anyone of the Alps — this is the Midwest, after all — but the tradition and the camaraderie keep the clubs relevant and vibrant. Annual dues for families range from $350 at Fox Hill to more than $2,000 at Ausblick.

Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, said Milwaukee has a fairly sizable concentration of private ski hills. A handful of other clubs are dotted throughout ski country. Among them are HoliMont in western New York, which bills itself as the largest private ski resort in the United States, and Yellowstone Club in Montana, a private playground for millionaires that's considered to be at the top rung of member-only ski areas.

What makes the clubs work?

"When I was at Ausblick what they have is a country club atmosphere," Berry said. "The kids are integral to it. They're all part of it. Multiple generations of families have learned to ski there and they continue to be passionate."

Ausblick was originally carved out by Marquette University's Avalanche Club in the early 1950s. In 1970, a group of local businessmen purchased the site and ran the hill for several seasons before a non-stock non-profit was formed in 1973.

"Running a place like this a like any business. To be successful, you have to hire good people and trust them," said Dennis Evinrude, general manager of Ausblick, who has been at the hill since the 1970-'71 season.

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Tucked less than two miles from a strip mall, and fronted by farm fields, Ausblick is a modern ski operation with a triple chairlift, two snow cats, 38 snow guns, lights, pump house, pond, maintenance building and ski chalet.

"It takes a lot of money to run a ski area, no matter what," Evinrude said. "It's like saying, Corvette or airplane."

Membership is capped at 400 families.

Lynn Mallach, the club's head of snow sports, once worked at the Yellowstone Club in Montana and enjoys the laid-back, suburban atmosphere at Ausblick.

"You can watch your son play soccer," she said. "But here, you participate together. The beauty of a club like this is that it caters to families in the area."

The other area clubs make the same pitch.

Fox Hill, which is owned and operated by the Milwaukee Ski Club, takes a back-to-basic approach that appeals to the 115 members. There's no snow making and that's just the way everyone wants it.

"We love the old school stuff," said Billy Butz, a longtime member. "We play polka music outside the chalet during the day. Everybody shows up in their vintage Stein Eriksen sweaters and that's what they ski in."

Bruce Rosenheimer, the president at Heiliger Hugel Ski Club, said the facility is sustained by a "great environment."

"It's a wonderful place," he said. "It's an outdoor club. We have cross country. We have downhill. We have a wonderful chalet. We have a wonderful culture. I could go on and on. It has been here since 1935, so there is a huge tradition."

There are around 400 members, he said. Among the oldest members is 91-year-old Bill Eastham, who joined in 1952. He still races.

"It was a different world," Eastham said, recalling how skiers were taken to the top of the hill on a rope tow powered by a truck engine.

"In the old days, you might go through the whole winter barely skiing at all," he said.

Now, there is full snow-making machines and a modern lift, along with a cozy wooden chalet.

Rob Norris grew up skiing and racing on the hill. Now, he manages the club.

"It's a dream job," he said.

Norris and his wife had their wedding ceremony here. And recently they watched as their 21-month-old daughter skied for the first time.
It was a memory to tuck away at a private ski hill that really is his second home.