Granite Peak Ski Area
WAUSAU'S ORIGINAL SKI AREA - BETTER THAN EVER
This ancient mountain became a ski area more than 70 years ago, when Wausau residents cleared six runs by hand, installed the country's longest ski lift, and built the stone chalet from granite quarried nearby. We've taken the vision of the original founders to new heights every year for the past 12 years, and we are proud to continue to build upon the tradition of being Wisconsin's premier ski area.
History of Ski Area
FORMATION OF RIB MOUNTAIN
The formation of Rib Mountain began some 1.5 to 2 billion years ago with the violent fusion through intense heat of sand into mammoth chunks of quartzite. Beginning 1.5 billion years ago, the surrounding plains started eroding away. The incredibly hard quartzite, however, resisted this erosion and, over the succeeding hundreds of millions of years, remained and rose higher and higher over the surrounding area. Today, Rib Mountain, called a "monadnock" by geologists, is the second highest point in Wisconsin at 1,924 feet above sea level and, at more than 700 feet above the surrounding plain, is the tallest mountain in Wisconsin.
RIB MOUNTAIN STATE PARK
Rib Mountain State Park began in 1924 when the Wausau Kiwanis Club donated a few acres of land to the State. The State subsequently acquired another 120 acres. In 1936, the State dedicated a portion of the Park for the creation of the ski area. The Kiwanis Club raised funds for the purchase of an additional 40 acres for the ski area in 1937 and, in 1941, the Wausau Chamber of Commerce procured another 40 acres for expansion of the ski area to the west. Additional parcels were acquired by the State over the next several decades-some of the land was dedicated for ski area use but most of the land was added to the general use portion of the Park. Today, Rib Mountain State Park encompasses more than 1,600 acres of which about 400 have been dedicated for use as a ski area and the remaining 800 acres are reserved for general park uses.
EARLY YEARS OF THE SKI AREA
When the ski area opened on the slopes of Rib Mountain 1937, it was one of the first ski areas in North America. Stowe in Vermont had opened a few years earlier in 1934. Sun Valley in Idaho had become the nation's first ski area in the western states in 1936. The ski area opened in 1937 with six runs, a half-mile long t-bar powered by an 85 horsepower Ford V-8 motor with a standard truck transmission and a 20' by 60' temporary base chalet. The historic stone 10th Mountain Chalet was built a few years later in 1939 with funds raised by the Marathon Civic Corporation, an organization formed by the Chamber of Commerce for that purpose.
The ski area had been created largely through the efforts of residents of the City of Wausau, then a thriving town of 25,000 people four and one-half miles from the ski area. The runs were built by hand by teams of workers standing almost shoulder to shoulder as they cut the trees, removed stumps and brush, and crushed the boulders with sledge hammers. A road was built to the base of the ski area and a parking lot cleared for 300 cars. At the time, the new ski lift at Rib Mountain was the longest ski tow in the country.
The ski area has a proud history of joint cooperation between the State, the local community and private ski area operators. A local businessman, Fred Pabst, operated the ski area from inception until 1947. From 1947, the State and a local civic organization jointly operated the ski area, an experience that convinced both the State and the community that the ski area would be best run by a private operator. In 1964, another local businessman, Carmie Oliva was recruited to operate the ski area. His tenure coincided with years of major growth in the ski industry, and skier visits increased. Today, Mr. Oliva, and many members of his family, own and operate the locally well known and very popular Carmelo's Italian Restaurant, located at the base of the ski area.
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