The Story of The Highlands

Harbor Highlands, a ski area in Harbor Springs, was founded by 10 local businessmen, and opened with one slope and a rope tow during the 1955/56 season. Through the next few years, Harbor Highlands expanded adding more trails, uphill transportation, and a small day lodge. But the owners soon ran out of money, amassed considerable debt, and were forced to close. When Kircher decided to buy the property, he insisted on paying off the creditors as well as making sure that all the shareholders recovered their full investments. He said at the time, "I'd like to go into the area with everybody feeling happy about the deal and about Boyne."

Kircher committed the next year to planning and went on to purchase an additional 2,900 acres of land adjacent to Harbor Highlands in order to carry out his vision of a large year-round ski and summer resort. During planning, Kircher, his wife, and six-year-old son, John, were squeezed together on a double-place chairlift at Boyne Mountain when Kircher thought, "Wouldn't it be great to have a three-passenger chairlift instead of just a two? A triple?" And so the phone call was made to chairlift manufacture, Riblet, and they agreed it could be done. When Boyne Highlands opened on December 26, 1963, guests were greeted by not one, but two, of the first triple chairlifts ever built. The resort also offered 11 trails and five lifts, the Highlands Inn with dining room, cocktail lounge, and swimming pool, cafeteria, and the previously built Highlands Lodge.

Boyne Highlands was instantly praised. The New York Times wrote, "The new development underscores the fact that Northern Michigan, once known only as a summer resort area, now attracts sports enthusiasts and vacationists on a year-round basis. Winter sports, in fact, have grown phenomenally in this region."