BUTTE -Hard to believe, but the Mining City was once a great place for skiing here at the old Beef Trail Ski area, and though it’s been closed for a long time, those who remember say it was a special place.
“It was very magical. I mean, there were days when I would ski seven days a week at that area,” Butte Ski Club member Marcia Apostel Baker said.
The Butte Ski Club, made up of many Norwegian immigrants, was formed in 1937, when they purchased a 960-acre plot in southwest Butte known as Beef Trail. The ski resort first opened in 1939.
WATCH: Remembering Beef Trail, Butte's lost ski area
Marcia Baker’s father, Fritz Apostel, was one of the founding members of the club and skiing has always been in her blood.
“I was literally born into this. Just like you don’t remember when you first learned to walk, I don’t remember the first time I learned to ski,” she said.
The little hill soon added four tow rope lifts up the hill to several runs. Members included all walks of life in Butte.
“Really, to be able to just drive down the hill just a tiny bit and hit a ski lodge right there in town was a tremendous resource, and it got a lot more people involved in skiing,” Butte Public Archives Director Aubrey Jaap said.
Baker added, “Evel Knievel skied there, he learned how to ski jump, which gave him the timing that he needed to take off on a motorcycle.“
By the 1980s, snow levels had greatly decreased on that hill. Unable to compete with bigger ski resorts, it eventually closed by the late 80s.
“The kids used to joke about you skied on fast grass and frost, you know, and an inch or two of snow and lots of grass,” Butte Ski Club member Roger Baker said.
The Butte Ski Club still exists today and raises funds for kids to ski at the Discovery Ski Area west of Anaconda. But the little ski resort that could is still a fond memory for many.
“It’s one of those places, like, you know, we have the Columbia Gardens, and I think the Beef Trail Ski Area is very similar. A piece that they have fond memories growing up, but, unfortunately, isn’t still there for people to share with their families,” Jaap said.
