Part of the army's 10th Mountain Division during WWII, Richard Bresnahan trained in Pando, Colorado—and there he fell in love with skiing. Years later, frustrated at the long drive to the ski resorts up north, he and his brothers dropped their septic-tank business and converted a local hill into a small slope named after the town where he gained his downhill skills. An early supporter of snurfing—snowboarding's predecessor—the park claims to have hosted the first snowboard race in 1979. According to legend, when 'boarding founder Jake Burton Carpenter showed up with his prototype for the modern snowboard, the snurfers wouldn’t race against him and he competed alone in an ad-hoc category. Refusing to rest on their laurels, the park's owners later opened one of the first tubing hills in Michigan and a cross-country-skiing trail.

Today, six downhill trails welcome every skill level, each ferrying riders to the top with the aid of its own tow rope. A snowboarding terrain park lets advanced shredders show off their stuff with a wide halfpipe and grindable rails. Tree runs and backwoods areas take patrons off the beaten path, and more than 5 miles of groomed cross-country trails wend their way through the trees. After guests hit the slopes, a cozy lodge warms bodies with short-order snacks and hot drinks to sip or throw at stalking snowmen.