March 3, 2023 • 26 mins
I love skiing. And so do many other Michiganders. So having the chance to sit and talk with Pete Meyer, Co-Owner of Caberfae Peaks, was a real treat. Learning the history and philosophy behind this wonderful Michigan Ski Resort was a real blessing. I do believe that culture flows downhill. And listening to Pete, I now understand why Caberfae Peaks is such a wonderful place to enjoy the day!
In this episode, Pete shares:
- The history of Caberfae Peaks
- The unique approach Caberfae Peaks takes to Families
- What the future holds for Caberfae Peaks
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (00:00):
And during the winter months, we do stay laser
focused on skiing and snowboarding.
There's a lot of other resorts thatput in other attractions like zip lines
and alpine slides and mountain biking.
Things like that.
We don't.
We refer to those as distractions.
We want to be the best skiing, snowboardresort that we can possibly be.
Cliff Duvernois (00:16):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to OrdinaryPeople, Extraordinary Things.
I am your host Cliff Duvernois.
Right now it is skiseason and I love to ski.
So imagine my surprise to find a skiresort in Northern part of the lower
Peninsula that's got a real focus onbeing the family affordable option.
And I'm talking about Caberfae Peaks.
(00:37):
Today I'm joined with one ofthe co-owners of Caberfae Peaks.
And that would be Pete Meyer.
Pete, how are you?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: I'm doing very well, thank you. (00:43):
undefined
And I didn't know that, I didn't knowthat was the name of the podcast, but
I'm definitely a very ordinary person.
So this, this will fit well.
Cliff Duvernois (00:50):
Great.
Why don't you tell us a little bit aboutwhere you're from and where you grew up.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (00:53):
So I grew up in the town of Cadillac here.
I'm currently employed inat Caberfae Ski Resort.
It's a family business.
My dad and my uncle got intoit back in the early eighties.
There's a tremendous amountof history with Caberfae.
Caberfae was one of the first skiresorts to open in not only the
Midwest, but the entire nation.
So there's a tremendous amount of history.
(01:14):
It opened in, uh, 19 37, 38.
And operated for a longtime as a non-profit entity.
Um, and it started under the combinationof the Civilian Conservation Corps,
the, uh, US Forest Service andthe local Chamber of Commerce.
So they opened it, cut the first skitrails in, put the first rope toes
in, and then ran it for a long time.
And then in the seventies, they, Ishould say the late, the mid to late
(01:38):
sixties, they wanted to raise somefunds to put in a couple chairlifts.
And, and they did that.
They sold stock to some individualmembers and ski club members and
ended up buying the chairlifts andweren't able to, uh, pay for it.
So it ultimately endedup filing for bankruptcy.
So that's when it wentfrom public to private.
And then my family got involvedafter that point in time.
(01:58):
So they, they had ended up buying itfrom the bank in the early eighties.
Cliff Duvernois (02:01):
So this was your, this was your father
and your uncle who bought it?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: That's correct, yeah. (02:04):
undefined
Cliff Duvernois (02:06):
You grew up practically in the ski business?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (02:09):
I did, I grew up, as, you know, grew
up on the, on the hill skiing.
I grew up, uh, working here prettymuch every department helping wherever
I could, just because I had to.
And then when I graduate, yeah, exactly.
When you grew up in it, youcan't really get away from it.
So then when I, when I graduatedhigh school, I couldn't get to,
I couldn't wait to get away.
You know, not only from here,but the town of Cadillac as well.
And, uh, is the last thing onmy mind was coming back here.
(02:32):
But as you move away, I went to, wentto school at University of Notre Dame
and, uh, head of accounting degree.
So I'm a certified public accountant.
Practiced public accounting for threeyears in Chicago and then a couple
years out in Denver after that.
So that was great experience.
I got exposed to a lot of differentbusinesses in a very short period of time.
After that point in time, I juststarted communicating with my dad
and he was recruiting me prettyheavily to come back and ended up,
(02:54):
uh, moving back here in, in 2000.
Cliff Duvernois (02:57):
So what was it that made you move back?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (02:59):
My dad actually was going through some,
some health problems at that time.
He was having a knee replacement.
They had, uh, a couple ofkey personnel leave here.
And so he just wanted to look into somekind of transition or exit strategy
for him and, and was recruiting.
Recruiting pretty hard.
I ended up, had a lot ofdiscussions with my wife and we.
We ended up coming back.
And subsequently had a lot ofconversations with my cousin Tim, who
(03:23):
at that time was uh, working at WinterPark, Colorado as a ski patroller.
And he had been out there for 10 years.
And I knew it would be a little bit betterif we, we came back and did it together.
So, in communications withhim, he ended up moving back.
Six months after, after I came back here.
And so he now runs the mountainoperations, everything on the hill.
He'll, he overlooks the, uh, snowmaking, the grooming, the ski patrol the
(03:44):
maintenance of, of, of all that as well.
The chair lifts and I pretty much haveeverything else or the more the base
area and the business end of things.
So I'll oversee the, the ticket officethe rental operations, the ski shop,
all the food and beverage outlets, thehotel, the housekeeping accounting,
and all the marketing and HR.
Cliff Duvernois (04:03):
Now, one of the things that initially attracted me to come to
Caberfae was the fact that you guys havethe tallest hill in the lower peninsula.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (04:12):
We do.
We do.
So we actually have the highest liftsserve peak in the in, in all of Michigan.
So there are higher pointsin Michigan, but they don't
have a, a lift on top of 'em.
And there's also some skiresorts with more vertical.
But our top is higher than,than those other elevations.
Cliff Duvernois (04:29):
One of the things I would like to explore with you is
this family affordability that youhave with your particular ski result.
And, and I say that because whatbrought really brought it to my
attention was when I took a break fromskiing and I went over to grab a meal.
I was shocked that I could get burgerfries and a soda for $10, which,
(04:53):
put you on competition with theking, the clown, and the colonel.
You know?
Right.
It's like going to McDonald's, you know.
So talk to us a little bit about,keeping those prices that way.
Cuz on, and I ask that question becausea lot of ski resorts are expensive.
But it seems like you are avery family affordable option.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (05:10):
You hit the nail on the head right there for us.
And that kind of defines whowe are and what we wanna be.
A we want to provide value.
We want people to come here and walk awayfrom here saying, Hey, that was, that was
a really good time and that was worth it.
I, I want to do that again.
And we do that in anumber of different ways.
One, we try to provide a goodon hill experience with the
snow making and the grooming.
Two, we try to provide valuewith the, with the food and
(05:30):
other things when we're here.
But more importantly, we startedwith some of the lift ticket value.
We came out with a $99 weekend seasonpass that, that we started doing in 2007.
And it's a little bit higher now.
But it really created value for families.
So you could have a family of fourcould spend less than $400 and then
they can recreate all winter longon weekends, Saturdays, and Sundays
(05:53):
and days that they can recreate.
You know, it really madeit a family friendly place.
On top of that, we I think areone of the best ski resorts in
the area that allow people tobring in their own picnic lunches.
So we have quite a, a crockpot scene here.
It's pretty neat.
We used to allow them into our mainlodge, the big red building here.
We had crockpots on the lower level andthen the cafeteria on the upper level.
(06:14):
Two summers ago we renovatedan, an old dilapidated lodge
called the Skyview Lodge.
That was built in the earlysixties and had a lot of had
a lot of issues structurally.
It had been leaking eversince I could remember.
The roof always leaked since,ever since I've been alive.
So we, we had a structural engineercome out and assessed that and
then ended up renovating thatextensively, uh, last summer.
(06:35):
And now that whole lodge and thatentire square footage is, is dedicated
to, uh, to crockpots or, or thosefamilies packing picnic lunches.
So now to this day, you know, wewanna be very family friendly.
We want to be very welcoming.
We want to know your name.
We have a lot of longtime employees that,that know a lot of the customers and
it's, and it's neat to build that rapportand welcome 'em back year after year
Cliff Duvernois (06:57):
So with running a ski resort, what would you say are some of the
biggest challenges that you have to face?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (07:04):
Well, I think number one is, is weather.
You know, we, we battle theever-changing weather in, in
Michigan and Northern Michigan.
And number two is staff.
You know, we have over almost225 to 230 employees here.
And it, it is just a lot tomanage with, with the staff.
A lot of 'em are part-time seasonal.
A lot of 'em are highschool kids, college kids.
(07:24):
So between those two things, thoseare probably the most aspects
of, of operating a ski resort.
Cliff Duvernois (07:29):
And I know as far as the weather goes, you can kind
of stack the deck a little bit inyour favor cuz like you said before,
you've got the snow machines outthere on the mountain to produce snow.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (07:39):
We, we did, and we didn't always have that.
When Tim and I moved back, it was,we had a lot of deferred maintenance.
You know, my dad and my uncle hadjust done a phenomenal job of, of
redeveloping the ski ski resort.
They had put in a couple chairlifts,redeveloped the hills, added vertical
to the hills built a big day lodge,added the golf course, built a rental,
rental, building this ticket office,the pool out in front of the hotel.
(08:01):
So they did a lot ofjust really good things.
And then we just, you know, we became veryfocused on um, just refining those things.
And also,
We had one year, it was 2006.
Tim and I still talk about it to this day.
It's it was a really marginal year and webarely could make enough snow to get open.
And we had one run open during the wholeholiday week and we survived on one run.
(08:22):
And we're looking at each otherafterwards, and we're thinking,
you know, that's, that's a littletoo close for, for comfort.
So really since that year, wehave invested very heavily in
snow making year and year out.
And, uh, right now we have a completelydifferent snow making than we did snow
making system than we did 15 years ago.
So now we can make a tremendous amountof snow in a very short period of time.
(08:44):
We're going through more freeze thawcycles, where we have good weather
and then it, and then it warmsup 40 degrees or it might, rain,
Cliff Duvernois (08:52):
Which we just went through.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (08:53):
Right?
And then the temperature dropped.
And thankfully today we received fiveinches of natural snow overnight.
So that does the same thing thatour snow making will do, is it will
refresh that snow service and bringit back to a good skiing condition.
But had we not got that, we would'vebeen making snow to do the same
thing that that natural snow did.
And we, and we have snow gun towers, fixedtowers everywhere throughout the hill.
(09:13):
Uh, so we can turn on, turn theguns on, run 'em, run 'em at night.
Mix it in to the existing baseand then ski on it the next day.
And it's and it's been good.
It's been a nice process.
And with that I think ourcustomers are learning to be
more confident in ski conditions.
You know, not just with us,but other, other resorts in
northern Michigan as well.
They, they also have very goodsnowmaking systems and it's, and it's
(09:33):
been a good thing for the industry.
Cliff Duvernois (09:35):
Yeah, cuz sometimes you gotta help mother Nature along.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: We absolutely do. (09:37):
undefined
Cliff Duvernois (09:40):
When you're talking about installing like all
these machines and, and everythingin else that's, that's in there.
The question I'm, I'm kind of curiousabout is the recovery of that cost.
Cause I know that it's notcheap to get those machines.
And it's, it's, got 'em all up anddown the mountainside cuz it's not,
you just can't put snow in one area.
You gotta have it from the top of thehill all the way down to the bottom.
(10:01):
So what kind of balance do youdo between, yeah, we've gotta get
some new equipment in here versuskeeping this family affordable?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (10:09):
So it's a great question cuz cuz the answer to
the snowmaking question isn't, isn'tjust about buying some snow guns.
You know, it's way morecomplicated than that.
So not only do you need the, the snowguns, but you also need the the source
water capacity, which would be the wellsthe coming, the pumping capacity, which is
the pumps from the pumphouse, the pipingcapacity, which is make sure your, your
pipe's not undersized and you have enoughpiping underground to, to handle the flow.
(10:33):
And then the, the electrical capacity,cuz you, you have an underground
of, you know, electrical web of all,440 volts run into each snow gun.
Water lines running into each snow gun.
You gotta keep everything in abalance and it's not just an easy
answer of buying a couple snowguns and putting 'em here, right.
For us, you know, we only had a a veryfew number of portable guns back then.
And now, , we have over 150 snow gunsand a lot of 'em are on fixed towers.
(10:56):
Which, which makes it, it makes ita lot easier cuz with the portable,
you have to, the nice thing aboutportable is you can use it to make snow
in, in several different locations.
But you al you also have to, youknow, manually dig out that gun,
move that gun, get it outta theway, push the snow, groom it.
So with towers, it makes it quitea bit easier to do that process.
You just need more of 'em.
But so we continue to.
That process and, and you know, we can'treally put a price on, on snow making.
(11:20):
It's just so important.
Without getting the snowmade and some runs open.
We, we can't sell a lift ticket.
We can't sell a cheeseburger, can't rentany equipment, can't sell any lessons.
So everything starts with the snow.
Cliff Duvernois (11:31):
And with that, we are going to take a quick
break to thank our sponsors.
When we come back, Pete's gonna share withus how Caberfae wants you to keep enjoying
the ski sport, how parents can overcomethat sting of always buying new equipment
for growing children, and what the futureholds for all of us at Caberfae Peaks.
See you after the break.
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Welcome back to OrdinaryPeople, extraordinary Things.
Today I'm chatting with PeteMeyer, co-owner of Caberfae Peaks.
Pete, you mentioned beforethat you have a ski school.
(12:58):
If you would share with us whybeginners, and actually almost
anyone for that matter, shouldattend ski school at least once.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (13:04):
You know, ski school is such an important
part of, of every ski resort, cuz a,when people come here, uh, we want
'em to learn and have a good time.
If they can learn the fundamentalsand learn how to stop and learn how
to turn and ski under control, thissport becomes really, really enjoyable.
it does.
Right.
And it's also about safety too.
You don't want to go upthere when you can't do that.
(13:25):
So we put in a large emphasis on that.
Our ski school does agreat job of teaching.
They teach all kinds of of levels, butthe majority of which are beginner levels.
And it's great to continue tointroduce people to the sport
of skiing and snowboarding.
And the ultimate goal withthese instructors is to have
this person want to come back.
Right?
I always tell the instructors they'rethe only employee that gets to spend a
(13:47):
whole hour with one customer at a time.
You know, customer might call, you get aphone call, you get the quick interaction
at the ticket window or quick interactionin the cafeteria and the rental.
But get they get a whole onehour or maybe two or whatever
they've booked with this person.
So they'll have the most significantimpact, whether that person's gonna
come back and ski, you know, not justat Caberfae but anywhere to convert
(14:08):
them into more of a, a skier forlife instead of a one-time skier.
So they can have a profound impact.
And it's very, very, important.
Cliff Duvernois (14:14):
What do ,What do you look for in a ski instructor?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: You know, it's, it's, uh, it's (14:16):
undefined
interesting cuz we can our staffwill teach them how to teach.
They really just need to be able toidentify and relate with the person.
They have to understand whatthey wanna get out of the lesson.
Uh, cuz once you get beyonda beginner level, lesson.
They, people want different things.
You have to be able to understandthat and give it to 'em.
(14:37):
And you have to be able to identify withthem and, and give 'em what they want.
Make 'em feel comfortable, andat ease, and ultimately be safe.
And have a good time.
And have fun.
It's all about the, it's all.
about fun.
Cliff Duvernois (14:47):
It definitely is.
And then another aspect of yourbusiness that you have is actually
selling the ski equipment as well.
What are some things that peopleshould think about if they're
saying, you know what, I'd like toget this season pass to Caberfae.
And equipment rental is apart of that equation as well.
You could, you definitely rentequipment here, but I know it's, for
some people out there, it's a littlebit better to buy their own equipment.
(15:10):
So what are some things thatpeople should be thinking about
if they're looking at equipment?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (15:14):
You know, it's always better to buy it.
It's just easier to have itevery day so you don't have to
go through the rental process.
Our pass prices were so low.
We did have a lot of passholders that would come and rent.
Uh, you know, just trying thatout each time they came up.
Um, and then ultimately once they getinto their own equipment, it's better,
it's better for them and it's betterfor us and their experience here.
We don't have a retail ski shop, butwe do have a, a demo center in shop
(15:35):
where we'll buy some of the brandnew and latest and greatest skis from
some of the leading manufacturers.
And what's neat about our, our programis, is skiers can try before they buy.
So that's one thing you can'tdo in a retail ski shop.
Cuz different, all ski,ski different ways.
Uh, some one person mightreally like this ski.
Who's a really good skierand not like another ski.
(15:57):
And the other person would comein and have the exact opposite
opinion just because they feeldifferent underneath your, your foot.
So it's nice to be able to, togo out and try it and then they
can, and then they can buy it.
And so we'll sell off that demofleet at the end of the season.
Uh, they're on sale now andthen, uh, we'll buy another,
another set next season.
But a lot of times, we'll, we'llpartner with other retail ski
(16:17):
shops cuz we'll carry the sameskis that they have in the shop.
So early season, if they would comeout, Hey, I really like to ski.
Okay, hey, you can head into,head into town at the local
ski shop and, and get it there.
Or, or other ski shops in areas likeGrand Rapids or in other popular areas.
Cliff Duvernois (16:33):
And with regards to the ski equipment, from what you're saying
is it's better to actually try the skiingfirst before you get the equipment?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (16:44):
Well, I think so for two different
way, two different reasons.
One, at the beginner level, you,somebody might not wanna make the
investment in ski equipment, right?
And they'll come out and they can rent.
Okay?
Once you know you like it and youwanna buy a pair and you don't,
and you're looking to buy a newpair, it's really nice to be
able to try it before you buy it.
Absolutely.
Just because you, you're gonnapick the right ski for you.
(17:05):
You're not gonna walk outta thestore with one that looks nice,
but then you don't, don't reallylike it when you're on the hill.
And if you're looking foraffordable options there's a list
of ski swaps, around the entirestate that all happen pre-season.
They usually happen September,October, and November.
Uh, we always have a list ofthose that we refer out to
people looking for equipment too.
Cuz that's a way to get ita little bit more economic.
(17:27):
Um, you're looking for used equipmentand that just at least gets you in your
own, your own boots and your own skis.
That really helps.
There's also ski shops that have somereally good kids trade-in programs like
Bill and Paul's down in Grand Rapids hasa great program where kids grow outta
their boots pretty quickly and theygrow outta their skis pretty quickly.
So not all families wanna make aninvestment in that when they're
gonna have to, buy a new pair inthe next year or two years later.
(17:48):
So these are really nice programs thatallow you to to K get your kid outfitted
throughout the growing years and nothave to buy a new pair every year.
Cliff Duvernois (17:58):
You've also made a really heavy investment
into leveraging social media toconnect with your online community.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (18:07):
It's part of the industry here, like, one thing
that's neat is we get different weatherthan even where our main market comes
from, which is the greater GrandRapids area or the Lansing area or
the Midland, Bay City, Saginaw areawhere people are driving up from.
It might not be snowing there, right?
But we're getting snow.
And it's really important tobe able to, to show them that
(18:29):
and show 'em the updates.
Also, it's important to be ableto show that our ability to
make snow and hey, we have snow.
Cuz there's a lot of cases they'resitting in their home downstate
and there's no snow on the ground.
They're not thinking about it.
And it's important tohey, to let them know.
Yes, yes, we're open.
Two, we have plenty of snow.
And three, the conditions are pretty good.
So come on up and, uh, and here's somelooks into our social media to see.
(18:52):
And then we also work with, you know,we'll do a lot of posts locally here.
Just a lot of the timely stuff.
But then we have a, a guy bythe name of Jeff Boss, who
owns and runs Montage Media.
And he does some of the higherend videos and some of that work.
And we have a nice relationship with him.
He started out justdabbling in some videos.
This is a great story too.
He was, he was, selling cars herein town and always had an interest
(19:14):
in doing some video production.
And we had a Facebookcontest way back then.
And he actually won it.
Okay.
It was a one minute video and he puttogether this really neat video just
with his iPhone and, and it was neat.
And so we started communicating.
I'm like, Hey Jeff, we shoulddo a little bit more of this.
And then, so I, we hired him to doa few more videos and he really, it
was his passion, it was his love.
(19:35):
And then he, and he came in and sat down.
We worked out an arrangement to,for the whole winter to work.
And then that gave himenough to quit his job.
And then he had enoughbusiness booked in the summer.
And so now, now he's blown upand doing fantastic and doing
a really good job on his own.
And probably doesn't need cabretas much as he did back then,
but we certainly sure need him.
And hopefully hopefully he sticks around.
Uh, I hope he does too becauseyour guys' facebook page is,
(19:58):
first off, it's really active.
A lot of people engage with it.
And second off, I gotta give youcompliments cuz your, your content
on there is just extraordinary.
I mean, I find myself evangelizing
Well, well thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Appreciate that.
Cliff Duvernois (20:11):
As far as like activities go, i, is it just
wintertime for Caberfae Peaks?
Are, is it also open in the summertime?
Do you do biking?
Cause I know some places do that.
Like they, they take the bikes up tothe top of the hill and bikes down.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (20:24):
So we're, we are yes, we are a year-round business.
But at the same time we're very seasonal.
Probably, um, 85% of ourbusiness in the winter months.
Okay.
And during the winter months, we do staylaser focused on skiing and snowboarding.
There's a lot of other resortsthat put in other attractions like
zip lines and alpine slides andmountain biking, Things like that.
We don't.
We refer to those as distractions.
(20:44):
We want to be the best skiing, snowboardresort that we can possibly be.
And those take resources away from that.
So we're gonna continue to do that.
We're gonna continue to expandour skiing, continue to improve
the base area, continue toimprove the lift infrastructure.
Uh, we put in a new chair lift in 2016.
We just put one in, inin 2022 this past summer.
(21:04):
We have plans to do even more.
So we just want to continueto stay focused on that.
As far as the off season wehave a nine hole golf course.
We have a 39 room hotel,and our main summer business
is, is the banquet business.
So we'll do a significant numberof weddings from mid-April
through early November.
And those are really neat becausewe have such a unique setting.
(21:27):
You know, since we're primarilya ski resort there's not much
happening in the summer otherthan some walk up golf traffic.
So a bride and groom couldcome and book the lodge.
But not only that, theycould book the entire hotel.
They can do their rehearsal dinner here.
They can have a gift opening brunch.
They can do the wedding ceremony here.
So really, we have a lot ofdrive to destination weddings.
And a lot of our bride and groomscome from downstate just to get away.
(21:51):
And it's kind of neat cuz they can takeover the entire resort and have a really
intimate setting and not have to leave.
Cliff Duvernois (21:57):
Was the hotel original to this property, or was that something
that your dad and uncle added?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: No, that was original. (22:03):
undefined
That, that was built in the late sixties.
So it was built in 1968.
And that too was in really rough shape.
So we've completely renovated theinside, renovated the exterior.
You know, and we got here, we had dialwhen I 2001, we had dial TVs in the rooms.
We had no phones in the rooms.
And we had duct tape on carpet.
I mean, it was, it was not a placethat many people wanted to stay.
(22:24):
Believe it or not, we've we've outlivedthe need for phones in the rooms.
Now.
We don't even, before it was a big dealand now, now it doesn't even matter.
So we are ahead of ourtime, I like to say.
Cliff Duvernois (22:32):
I gotta give you credit for that because if you,
if you would've told me that thesebuildings were 1962 from the outside,
I would've told you you were crazy.
Cuz that I asked about the hotel becausethat over there seems like it's maybe
built like within the last 10 years.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (22:45):
Yeah.
Thanks.
Thanks for saying that.
So we, we had, like I said, we hadreally focused on all of the, um, like
the deferred maintenance and snow makingfor the first 15 years we are here.
So those are things that you reallycan't put in the cover of the brochure.
Nobody really cares if you fixplumbing leaks in the hotel
or you're fixing snow making.
Basically they just expect it towork and they want it to work.
(23:07):
So we got to about 2015 and werenovated the Blackmer Lodge, which
is the big red building in 2016.
We added in 2017.
We completely redid the hotel, builtnew balconies and, and changed the,
the facade of that while workingon the inside the whole time.
2017, we renovated the courtyard.
There used to be a broken down parkinglot in between the two buildings.
(23:27):
Now it's a really nice outdoor weddingsite and a nice ski to drop off.
And we mentioned the, theSkyview Lodge a couple years ago.
So we just continue to, to do the thingsthat, that, that are much more noticeable
to the skier when they drive in.
Cliff Duvernois (23:40):
What's next for Caberfae?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: It's a great question. (23:42):
undefined
We have some good plans this summer.
We're gonna continue some renovationson the backside of the Skyview Lodge.
We didn't get to that.
We ran out of time.
So we're gonna extend that,make that a little bit larger.
And then we're gonna add over a hundredseasonal lockers as part of that.
So we have a huge demand forthat, uh, with skiers that
are seasoned pass holders, buthauling their gear back and forth.
(24:03):
This will give 'em a place tostore their lockers and not
have to haul it back and forth.
So that's on the docket.
We're gonna continue with some hotelrenovations, and we're gonna continue to
expand our skiing and work on that slowly.
Cliff Duvernois (24:14):
And I also noticed tier two that you have
a building for ski club members.
Talk to us a little bit about that.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (24:21):
So that's a, that's a private ski club.
We don't own that.
That's, uh, that's ownedby the members, so.
Oh, okay.
They're landlocked around us.
They have, obviously have accessthrough us but they're all pass holders.
They all support cab.
They're our greatest fans and sometimesalso our greatest critics at the time.
But we have a greatrelationship with them.
We enjoy them and, uh, a lot of 'emare personal friends of Tim and mine
(24:42):
and, and And it's a, and it's a, areally nice benefit to this resort.
There's a waiting list to get in.
So, you know, it's, it's a,there's a parking lot right there.
There's lockers in there, there'sa, a little cafeteria in there.
So it's a really nice benefit forthose people that are members.
Cliff Duvernois (24:55):
If somebody's listening to this broadcast and they want to
check you out, maybe come on up here.
What would be the best wayfor them to find you online?
What would be the best way for them to go?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (25:06):
Oh, no doubt.
Just Google Caberfae or Caberfae Peaks.
And we should be the number onesearch result and click on that.
And I think the website's thebest source of information.
We have a lot of information on there.
And as far as looking into pricing,we have a lot of, we do use dynamic
pricing for our lift tickets.
So generally the further you bookin advance, the greater the savings.
If you buy a couple weeks inadvance, you can get, you know, as
(25:27):
much as 40% off your lift ticket.
If you're gonna commit to us thatfar in advance where we don't know
what the weather's gonna be like,we're gonna give you a good deal
for committing that far in advance.
And so that tends to work prettywell for us as well, and a way
for people to continue to skiaffordably and get a good deal.
Cliff Duvernois (25:42):
Pete, it's been awesome having you on the show today.
Thank you very much.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: I appreciate your interest. (25:44):
undefined
Thank you.
Cliff Duvernois (25:46):
And for our audience, you can go to total michigan.com,
click on Pete's interview andsee all the links for this show.
While you're there, take a quick secondto sign up for our newsletter, which
was filled with all kinds of goodies.
Great behind the scenesstuff and upcoming events.
You definitely don't want to miss out.
See you next week.
And during the winter months, we do stay laser
focused on skiing and snowboarding.
There's a lot of other resorts thatput in other attractions like zip lines
and alpine slides and mountain biking.
Things like that.
We don't.
We refer to those as distractions.
We want to be the best skiing, snowboardresort that we can possibly be.
Cliff Duvernois (00:16):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to OrdinaryPeople, Extraordinary Things.
I am your host Cliff Duvernois.
Right now it is skiseason and I love to ski.
So imagine my surprise to find a skiresort in Northern part of the lower
Peninsula that's got a real focus onbeing the family affordable option.
And I'm talking about Caberfae Peaks.
(00:37):
Today I'm joined with one ofthe co-owners of Caberfae Peaks.
And that would be Pete Meyer.
Pete, how are you?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: I'm doing very well, thank you. (00:43):
undefined
And I didn't know that, I didn't knowthat was the name of the podcast, but
I'm definitely a very ordinary person.
So this, this will fit well.
Cliff Duvernois (00:50):
Great.
Why don't you tell us a little bit aboutwhere you're from and where you grew up.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (00:53):
So I grew up in the town of Cadillac here.
I'm currently employed inat Caberfae Ski Resort.
It's a family business.
My dad and my uncle got intoit back in the early eighties.
There's a tremendous amountof history with Caberfae.
Caberfae was one of the first skiresorts to open in not only the
Midwest, but the entire nation.
So there's a tremendous amount of history.
(01:14):
It opened in, uh, 19 37, 38.
And operated for a longtime as a non-profit entity.
Um, and it started under the combinationof the Civilian Conservation Corps,
the, uh, US Forest Service andthe local Chamber of Commerce.
So they opened it, cut the first skitrails in, put the first rope toes
in, and then ran it for a long time.
And then in the seventies, they, Ishould say the late, the mid to late
(01:38):
sixties, they wanted to raise somefunds to put in a couple chairlifts.
And, and they did that.
They sold stock to some individualmembers and ski club members and
ended up buying the chairlifts andweren't able to, uh, pay for it.
So it ultimately endedup filing for bankruptcy.
So that's when it wentfrom public to private.
And then my family got involvedafter that point in time.
(01:58):
So they, they had ended up buying itfrom the bank in the early eighties.
Cliff Duvernois (02:01):
So this was your, this was your father
and your uncle who bought it?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: That's correct, yeah. (02:04):
undefined
Cliff Duvernois (02:06):
You grew up practically in the ski business?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (02:09):
I did, I grew up, as, you know, grew
up on the, on the hill skiing.
I grew up, uh, working here prettymuch every department helping wherever
I could, just because I had to.
And then when I graduate, yeah, exactly.
When you grew up in it, youcan't really get away from it.
So then when I, when I graduatedhigh school, I couldn't get to,
I couldn't wait to get away.
You know, not only from here,but the town of Cadillac as well.
And, uh, is the last thing onmy mind was coming back here.
(02:32):
But as you move away, I went to, wentto school at University of Notre Dame
and, uh, head of accounting degree.
So I'm a certified public accountant.
Practiced public accounting for threeyears in Chicago and then a couple
years out in Denver after that.
So that was great experience.
I got exposed to a lot of differentbusinesses in a very short period of time.
After that point in time, I juststarted communicating with my dad
and he was recruiting me prettyheavily to come back and ended up,
(02:54):
uh, moving back here in, in 2000.
Cliff Duvernois (02:57):
So what was it that made you move back?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (02:59):
My dad actually was going through some,
some health problems at that time.
He was having a knee replacement.
They had, uh, a couple ofkey personnel leave here.
And so he just wanted to look into somekind of transition or exit strategy
for him and, and was recruiting.
Recruiting pretty hard.
I ended up, had a lot ofdiscussions with my wife and we.
We ended up coming back.
And subsequently had a lot ofconversations with my cousin Tim, who
(03:23):
at that time was uh, working at WinterPark, Colorado as a ski patroller.
And he had been out there for 10 years.
And I knew it would be a little bit betterif we, we came back and did it together.
So, in communications withhim, he ended up moving back.
Six months after, after I came back here.
And so he now runs the mountainoperations, everything on the hill.
He'll, he overlooks the, uh, snowmaking, the grooming, the ski patrol the
(03:44):
maintenance of, of, of all that as well.
The chair lifts and I pretty much haveeverything else or the more the base
area and the business end of things.
So I'll oversee the, the ticket officethe rental operations, the ski shop,
all the food and beverage outlets, thehotel, the housekeeping accounting,
and all the marketing and HR.
Cliff Duvernois (04:03):
Now, one of the things that initially attracted me to come to
Caberfae was the fact that you guys havethe tallest hill in the lower peninsula.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (04:12):
We do.
We do.
So we actually have the highest liftsserve peak in the in, in all of Michigan.
So there are higher pointsin Michigan, but they don't
have a, a lift on top of 'em.
And there's also some skiresorts with more vertical.
But our top is higher than,than those other elevations.
Cliff Duvernois (04:29):
One of the things I would like to explore with you is
this family affordability that youhave with your particular ski result.
And, and I say that because whatbrought really brought it to my
attention was when I took a break fromskiing and I went over to grab a meal.
I was shocked that I could get burgerfries and a soda for $10, which,
(04:53):
put you on competition with theking, the clown, and the colonel.
You know?
Right.
It's like going to McDonald's, you know.
So talk to us a little bit about,keeping those prices that way.
Cuz on, and I ask that question becausea lot of ski resorts are expensive.
But it seems like you are avery family affordable option.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (05:10):
You hit the nail on the head right there for us.
And that kind of defines whowe are and what we wanna be.
A we want to provide value.
We want people to come here and walk awayfrom here saying, Hey, that was, that was
a really good time and that was worth it.
I, I want to do that again.
And we do that in anumber of different ways.
One, we try to provide a goodon hill experience with the
snow making and the grooming.
Two, we try to provide valuewith the, with the food and
(05:30):
other things when we're here.
But more importantly, we startedwith some of the lift ticket value.
We came out with a $99 weekend seasonpass that, that we started doing in 2007.
And it's a little bit higher now.
But it really created value for families.
So you could have a family of fourcould spend less than $400 and then
they can recreate all winter longon weekends, Saturdays, and Sundays
(05:53):
and days that they can recreate.
You know, it really madeit a family friendly place.
On top of that, we I think areone of the best ski resorts in
the area that allow people tobring in their own picnic lunches.
So we have quite a, a crockpot scene here.
It's pretty neat.
We used to allow them into our mainlodge, the big red building here.
We had crockpots on the lower level andthen the cafeteria on the upper level.
(06:14):
Two summers ago we renovatedan, an old dilapidated lodge
called the Skyview Lodge.
That was built in the earlysixties and had a lot of had
a lot of issues structurally.
It had been leaking eversince I could remember.
The roof always leaked since,ever since I've been alive.
So we, we had a structural engineercome out and assessed that and
then ended up renovating thatextensively, uh, last summer.
(06:35):
And now that whole lodge and thatentire square footage is, is dedicated
to, uh, to crockpots or, or thosefamilies packing picnic lunches.
So now to this day, you know, wewanna be very family friendly.
We want to be very welcoming.
We want to know your name.
We have a lot of longtime employees that,that know a lot of the customers and
it's, and it's neat to build that rapportand welcome 'em back year after year
Cliff Duvernois (06:57):
So with running a ski resort, what would you say are some of the
biggest challenges that you have to face?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (07:04):
Well, I think number one is, is weather.
You know, we, we battle theever-changing weather in, in
Michigan and Northern Michigan.
And number two is staff.
You know, we have over almost225 to 230 employees here.
And it, it is just a lot tomanage with, with the staff.
A lot of 'em are part-time seasonal.
A lot of 'em are highschool kids, college kids.
(07:24):
So between those two things, thoseare probably the most aspects
of, of operating a ski resort.
Cliff Duvernois (07:29):
And I know as far as the weather goes, you can kind
of stack the deck a little bit inyour favor cuz like you said before,
you've got the snow machines outthere on the mountain to produce snow.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (07:39):
We, we did, and we didn't always have that.
When Tim and I moved back, it was,we had a lot of deferred maintenance.
You know, my dad and my uncle hadjust done a phenomenal job of, of
redeveloping the ski ski resort.
They had put in a couple chairlifts,redeveloped the hills, added vertical
to the hills built a big day lodge,added the golf course, built a rental,
rental, building this ticket office,the pool out in front of the hotel.
(08:01):
So they did a lot ofjust really good things.
And then we just, you know, we became veryfocused on um, just refining those things.
And also,
We had one year, it was 2006.
Tim and I still talk about it to this day.
It's it was a really marginal year and webarely could make enough snow to get open.
And we had one run open during the wholeholiday week and we survived on one run.
(08:22):
And we're looking at each otherafterwards, and we're thinking,
you know, that's, that's a littletoo close for, for comfort.
So really since that year, wehave invested very heavily in
snow making year and year out.
And, uh, right now we have a completelydifferent snow making than we did snow
making system than we did 15 years ago.
So now we can make a tremendous amountof snow in a very short period of time.
(08:44):
We're going through more freeze thawcycles, where we have good weather
and then it, and then it warmsup 40 degrees or it might, rain,
Cliff Duvernois (08:52):
Which we just went through.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (08:53):
Right?
And then the temperature dropped.
And thankfully today we received fiveinches of natural snow overnight.
So that does the same thing thatour snow making will do, is it will
refresh that snow service and bringit back to a good skiing condition.
But had we not got that, we would'vebeen making snow to do the same
thing that that natural snow did.
And we, and we have snow gun towers, fixedtowers everywhere throughout the hill.
(09:13):
Uh, so we can turn on, turn theguns on, run 'em, run 'em at night.
Mix it in to the existing baseand then ski on it the next day.
And it's and it's been good.
It's been a nice process.
And with that I think ourcustomers are learning to be
more confident in ski conditions.
You know, not just with us,but other, other resorts in
northern Michigan as well.
They, they also have very goodsnowmaking systems and it's, and it's
(09:33):
been a good thing for the industry.
Cliff Duvernois (09:35):
Yeah, cuz sometimes you gotta help mother Nature along.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: We absolutely do. (09:37):
undefined
Cliff Duvernois (09:40):
When you're talking about installing like all
these machines and, and everythingin else that's, that's in there.
The question I'm, I'm kind of curiousabout is the recovery of that cost.
Cause I know that it's notcheap to get those machines.
And it's, it's, got 'em all up anddown the mountainside cuz it's not,
you just can't put snow in one area.
You gotta have it from the top of thehill all the way down to the bottom.
(10:01):
So what kind of balance do youdo between, yeah, we've gotta get
some new equipment in here versuskeeping this family affordable?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (10:09):
So it's a great question cuz cuz the answer to
the snowmaking question isn't, isn'tjust about buying some snow guns.
You know, it's way morecomplicated than that.
So not only do you need the, the snowguns, but you also need the the source
water capacity, which would be the wellsthe coming, the pumping capacity, which is
the pumps from the pumphouse, the pipingcapacity, which is make sure your, your
pipe's not undersized and you have enoughpiping underground to, to handle the flow.
(10:33):
And then the, the electrical capacity,cuz you, you have an underground
of, you know, electrical web of all,440 volts run into each snow gun.
Water lines running into each snow gun.
You gotta keep everything in abalance and it's not just an easy
answer of buying a couple snowguns and putting 'em here, right.
For us, you know, we only had a a veryfew number of portable guns back then.
And now, , we have over 150 snow gunsand a lot of 'em are on fixed towers.
(10:56):
Which, which makes it, it makes ita lot easier cuz with the portable,
you have to, the nice thing aboutportable is you can use it to make snow
in, in several different locations.
But you al you also have to, youknow, manually dig out that gun,
move that gun, get it outta theway, push the snow, groom it.
So with towers, it makes it quitea bit easier to do that process.
You just need more of 'em.
But so we continue to.
That process and, and you know, we can'treally put a price on, on snow making.
(11:20):
It's just so important.
Without getting the snowmade and some runs open.
We, we can't sell a lift ticket.
We can't sell a cheeseburger, can't rentany equipment, can't sell any lessons.
So everything starts with the snow.
Cliff Duvernois (11:31):
And with that, we are going to take a quick
break to thank our sponsors.
When we come back, Pete's gonna share withus how Caberfae wants you to keep enjoying
the ski sport, how parents can overcomethat sting of always buying new equipment
for growing children, and what the futureholds for all of us at Caberfae Peaks.
See you after the break.
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(11:51):
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Welcome back to OrdinaryPeople, extraordinary Things.
Today I'm chatting with PeteMeyer, co-owner of Caberfae Peaks.
Pete, you mentioned beforethat you have a ski school.
(12:58):
If you would share with us whybeginners, and actually almost
anyone for that matter, shouldattend ski school at least once.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (13:04):
You know, ski school is such an important
part of, of every ski resort, cuz a,when people come here, uh, we want
'em to learn and have a good time.
If they can learn the fundamentalsand learn how to stop and learn how
to turn and ski under control, thissport becomes really, really enjoyable.
it does.
Right.
And it's also about safety too.
You don't want to go upthere when you can't do that.
(13:25):
So we put in a large emphasis on that.
Our ski school does agreat job of teaching.
They teach all kinds of of levels, butthe majority of which are beginner levels.
And it's great to continue tointroduce people to the sport
of skiing and snowboarding.
And the ultimate goal withthese instructors is to have
this person want to come back.
Right?
I always tell the instructors they'rethe only employee that gets to spend a
(13:47):
whole hour with one customer at a time.
You know, customer might call, you get aphone call, you get the quick interaction
at the ticket window or quick interactionin the cafeteria and the rental.
But get they get a whole onehour or maybe two or whatever
they've booked with this person.
So they'll have the most significantimpact, whether that person's gonna
come back and ski, you know, not justat Caberfae but anywhere to convert
(14:08):
them into more of a, a skier forlife instead of a one-time skier.
So they can have a profound impact.
And it's very, very, important.
Cliff Duvernois (14:14):
What do ,What do you look for in a ski instructor?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: You know, it's, it's, uh, it's (14:16):
undefined
interesting cuz we can our staffwill teach them how to teach.
They really just need to be able toidentify and relate with the person.
They have to understand whatthey wanna get out of the lesson.
Uh, cuz once you get beyonda beginner level, lesson.
They, people want different things.
You have to be able to understandthat and give it to 'em.
(14:37):
And you have to be able to identify withthem and, and give 'em what they want.
Make 'em feel comfortable, andat ease, and ultimately be safe.
And have a good time.
And have fun.
It's all about the, it's all.
about fun.
Cliff Duvernois (14:47):
It definitely is.
And then another aspect of yourbusiness that you have is actually
selling the ski equipment as well.
What are some things that peopleshould think about if they're
saying, you know what, I'd like toget this season pass to Caberfae.
And equipment rental is apart of that equation as well.
You could, you definitely rentequipment here, but I know it's, for
some people out there, it's a littlebit better to buy their own equipment.
(15:10):
So what are some things thatpeople should be thinking about
if they're looking at equipment?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (15:14):
You know, it's always better to buy it.
It's just easier to have itevery day so you don't have to
go through the rental process.
Our pass prices were so low.
We did have a lot of passholders that would come and rent.
Uh, you know, just trying thatout each time they came up.
Um, and then ultimately once they getinto their own equipment, it's better,
it's better for them and it's betterfor us and their experience here.
We don't have a retail ski shop, butwe do have a, a demo center in shop
(15:35):
where we'll buy some of the brandnew and latest and greatest skis from
some of the leading manufacturers.
And what's neat about our, our programis, is skiers can try before they buy.
So that's one thing you can'tdo in a retail ski shop.
Cuz different, all ski,ski different ways.
Uh, some one person mightreally like this ski.
Who's a really good skierand not like another ski.
(15:57):
And the other person would comein and have the exact opposite
opinion just because they feeldifferent underneath your, your foot.
So it's nice to be able to, togo out and try it and then they
can, and then they can buy it.
And so we'll sell off that demofleet at the end of the season.
Uh, they're on sale now andthen, uh, we'll buy another,
another set next season.
But a lot of times, we'll, we'llpartner with other retail ski
(16:17):
shops cuz we'll carry the sameskis that they have in the shop.
So early season, if they would comeout, Hey, I really like to ski.
Okay, hey, you can head into,head into town at the local
ski shop and, and get it there.
Or, or other ski shops in areas likeGrand Rapids or in other popular areas.
Cliff Duvernois (16:33):
And with regards to the ski equipment, from what you're saying
is it's better to actually try the skiingfirst before you get the equipment?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (16:44):
Well, I think so for two different
way, two different reasons.
One, at the beginner level, you,somebody might not wanna make the
investment in ski equipment, right?
And they'll come out and they can rent.
Okay?
Once you know you like it and youwanna buy a pair and you don't,
and you're looking to buy a newpair, it's really nice to be
able to try it before you buy it.
Absolutely.
Just because you, you're gonnapick the right ski for you.
(17:05):
You're not gonna walk outta thestore with one that looks nice,
but then you don't, don't reallylike it when you're on the hill.
And if you're looking foraffordable options there's a list
of ski swaps, around the entirestate that all happen pre-season.
They usually happen September,October, and November.
Uh, we always have a list ofthose that we refer out to
people looking for equipment too.
Cuz that's a way to get ita little bit more economic.
(17:27):
Um, you're looking for used equipmentand that just at least gets you in your
own, your own boots and your own skis.
That really helps.
There's also ski shops that have somereally good kids trade-in programs like
Bill and Paul's down in Grand Rapids hasa great program where kids grow outta
their boots pretty quickly and theygrow outta their skis pretty quickly.
So not all families wanna make aninvestment in that when they're
gonna have to, buy a new pair inthe next year or two years later.
(17:48):
So these are really nice programs thatallow you to to K get your kid outfitted
throughout the growing years and nothave to buy a new pair every year.
Cliff Duvernois (17:58):
You've also made a really heavy investment
into leveraging social media toconnect with your online community.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (18:07):
It's part of the industry here, like, one thing
that's neat is we get different weatherthan even where our main market comes
from, which is the greater GrandRapids area or the Lansing area or
the Midland, Bay City, Saginaw areawhere people are driving up from.
It might not be snowing there, right?
But we're getting snow.
And it's really important tobe able to, to show them that
(18:29):
and show 'em the updates.
Also, it's important to be ableto show that our ability to
make snow and hey, we have snow.
Cuz there's a lot of cases they'resitting in their home downstate
and there's no snow on the ground.
They're not thinking about it.
And it's important tohey, to let them know.
Yes, yes, we're open.
Two, we have plenty of snow.
And three, the conditions are pretty good.
So come on up and, uh, and here's somelooks into our social media to see.
(18:52):
And then we also work with, you know,we'll do a lot of posts locally here.
Just a lot of the timely stuff.
But then we have a, a guy bythe name of Jeff Boss, who
owns and runs Montage Media.
And he does some of the higherend videos and some of that work.
And we have a nice relationship with him.
He started out justdabbling in some videos.
This is a great story too.
He was, he was, selling cars herein town and always had an interest
(19:14):
in doing some video production.
And we had a Facebookcontest way back then.
And he actually won it.
Okay.
It was a one minute video and he puttogether this really neat video just
with his iPhone and, and it was neat.
And so we started communicating.
I'm like, Hey Jeff, we shoulddo a little bit more of this.
And then, so I, we hired him to doa few more videos and he really, it
was his passion, it was his love.
(19:35):
And then he, and he came in and sat down.
We worked out an arrangement to,for the whole winter to work.
And then that gave himenough to quit his job.
And then he had enoughbusiness booked in the summer.
And so now, now he's blown upand doing fantastic and doing
a really good job on his own.
And probably doesn't need cabretas much as he did back then,
but we certainly sure need him.
And hopefully hopefully he sticks around.
Uh, I hope he does too becauseyour guys' facebook page is,
(19:58):
first off, it's really active.
A lot of people engage with it.
And second off, I gotta give youcompliments cuz your, your content
on there is just extraordinary.
I mean, I find myself evangelizing
Well, well thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Appreciate that.
Cliff Duvernois (20:11):
As far as like activities go, i, is it just
wintertime for Caberfae Peaks?
Are, is it also open in the summertime?
Do you do biking?
Cause I know some places do that.
Like they, they take the bikes up tothe top of the hill and bikes down.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (20:24):
So we're, we are yes, we are a year-round business.
But at the same time we're very seasonal.
Probably, um, 85% of ourbusiness in the winter months.
Okay.
And during the winter months, we do staylaser focused on skiing and snowboarding.
There's a lot of other resortsthat put in other attractions like
zip lines and alpine slides andmountain biking, Things like that.
We don't.
We refer to those as distractions.
(20:44):
We want to be the best skiing, snowboardresort that we can possibly be.
And those take resources away from that.
So we're gonna continue to do that.
We're gonna continue to expandour skiing, continue to improve
the base area, continue toimprove the lift infrastructure.
Uh, we put in a new chair lift in 2016.
We just put one in, inin 2022 this past summer.
(21:04):
We have plans to do even more.
So we just want to continueto stay focused on that.
As far as the off season wehave a nine hole golf course.
We have a 39 room hotel,and our main summer business
is, is the banquet business.
So we'll do a significant numberof weddings from mid-April
through early November.
And those are really neat becausewe have such a unique setting.
(21:27):
You know, since we're primarilya ski resort there's not much
happening in the summer otherthan some walk up golf traffic.
So a bride and groom couldcome and book the lodge.
But not only that, theycould book the entire hotel.
They can do their rehearsal dinner here.
They can have a gift opening brunch.
They can do the wedding ceremony here.
So really, we have a lot ofdrive to destination weddings.
And a lot of our bride and groomscome from downstate just to get away.
(21:51):
And it's kind of neat cuz they can takeover the entire resort and have a really
intimate setting and not have to leave.
Cliff Duvernois (21:57):
Was the hotel original to this property, or was that something
that your dad and uncle added?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: No, that was original. (22:03):
undefined
That, that was built in the late sixties.
So it was built in 1968.
And that too was in really rough shape.
So we've completely renovated theinside, renovated the exterior.
You know, and we got here, we had dialwhen I 2001, we had dial TVs in the rooms.
We had no phones in the rooms.
And we had duct tape on carpet.
I mean, it was, it was not a placethat many people wanted to stay.
(22:24):
Believe it or not, we've we've outlivedthe need for phones in the rooms.
Now.
We don't even, before it was a big dealand now, now it doesn't even matter.
So we are ahead of ourtime, I like to say.
Cliff Duvernois (22:32):
I gotta give you credit for that because if you,
if you would've told me that thesebuildings were 1962 from the outside,
I would've told you you were crazy.
Cuz that I asked about the hotel becausethat over there seems like it's maybe
built like within the last 10 years.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (22:45):
Yeah.
Thanks.
Thanks for saying that.
So we, we had, like I said, we hadreally focused on all of the, um, like
the deferred maintenance and snow makingfor the first 15 years we are here.
So those are things that you reallycan't put in the cover of the brochure.
Nobody really cares if you fixplumbing leaks in the hotel
or you're fixing snow making.
Basically they just expect it towork and they want it to work.
(23:07):
So we got to about 2015 and werenovated the Blackmer Lodge, which
is the big red building in 2016.
We added in 2017.
We completely redid the hotel, builtnew balconies and, and changed the,
the facade of that while workingon the inside the whole time.
2017, we renovated the courtyard.
There used to be a broken down parkinglot in between the two buildings.
(23:27):
Now it's a really nice outdoor weddingsite and a nice ski to drop off.
And we mentioned the, theSkyview Lodge a couple years ago.
So we just continue to, to do the thingsthat, that, that are much more noticeable
to the skier when they drive in.
Cliff Duvernois (23:40):
What's next for Caberfae?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: It's a great question. (23:42):
undefined
We have some good plans this summer.
We're gonna continue some renovationson the backside of the Skyview Lodge.
We didn't get to that.
We ran out of time.
So we're gonna extend that,make that a little bit larger.
And then we're gonna add over a hundredseasonal lockers as part of that.
So we have a huge demand forthat, uh, with skiers that
are seasoned pass holders, buthauling their gear back and forth.
(24:03):
This will give 'em a place tostore their lockers and not
have to haul it back and forth.
So that's on the docket.
We're gonna continue with some hotelrenovations, and we're gonna continue to
expand our skiing and work on that slowly.
Cliff Duvernois (24:14):
And I also noticed tier two that you have
a building for ski club members.
Talk to us a little bit about that.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (24:21):
So that's a, that's a private ski club.
We don't own that.
That's, uh, that's ownedby the members, so.
Oh, okay.
They're landlocked around us.
They have, obviously have accessthrough us but they're all pass holders.
They all support cab.
They're our greatest fans and sometimesalso our greatest critics at the time.
But we have a greatrelationship with them.
We enjoy them and, uh, a lot of 'emare personal friends of Tim and mine
(24:42):
and, and And it's a, and it's a, areally nice benefit to this resort.
There's a waiting list to get in.
So, you know, it's, it's a,there's a parking lot right there.
There's lockers in there, there'sa, a little cafeteria in there.
So it's a really nice benefit forthose people that are members.
Cliff Duvernois (24:55):
If somebody's listening to this broadcast and they want to
check you out, maybe come on up here.
What would be the best wayfor them to find you online?
What would be the best way for them to go?
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks (25:06):
Oh, no doubt.
Just Google Caberfae or Caberfae Peaks.
And we should be the number onesearch result and click on that.
And I think the website's thebest source of information.
We have a lot of information on there.
And as far as looking into pricing,we have a lot of, we do use dynamic
pricing for our lift tickets.
So generally the further you bookin advance, the greater the savings.
If you buy a couple weeks inadvance, you can get, you know, as
(25:27):
much as 40% off your lift ticket.
If you're gonna commit to us thatfar in advance where we don't know
what the weather's gonna be like,we're gonna give you a good deal
for committing that far in advance.
And so that tends to work prettywell for us as well, and a way
for people to continue to skiaffordably and get a good deal.
Cliff Duvernois (25:42):
Pete, it's been awesome having you on the show today.
Thank you very much.
Pete Meyer, Caberfae Peaks: I appreciate your interest. (25:44):
undefined
Thank you.
Cliff Duvernois (25:46):
And for our audience, you can go to total michigan.com,
click on Pete's interview andsee all the links for this show.
While you're there, take a quick secondto sign up for our newsletter, which
was filled with all kinds of goodies.
Great behind the scenesstuff and upcoming events.
You definitely don't want to miss out.
See you next week.
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