“Sugar Loaf is like a beautiful girl who wants to get married. But she keeps getting left by guys at the alter, so she keeps coming back to me.” — Liko Smith … But Sugar Loaf, the long-shuttered ski resort in the heart of Leelanau County, is no longer on the front of Liko Smith’s to-do list.
Kerry Kelly, chairman of Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, reports on Sunday, March 16, that grooming on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is probably over for the year. It was a great year for skiing, but the warm weather and rain followed by freezing left us with an ice rink.
In a rare and extensive interview with the Glen Arbor Sun today, Remo Polselli admitted that he is the owner of Sugar Loaf resort, through his share in Rok Investments LLC. Polselli did not specify the extent of his ownership, or who else is involved in the corporation, but added that Liko Smith has no — nor has had any — part of Rok Investments.
Neither the Glen Arbor Sun nor any other media outlet in Northern Michigan seems to know exactly if/when Liko Smith will show up to claim Sugar Loaf/allow Leelanau County inspector Steve Haugen to tour the premises. Claims that Smith and Haugen would tour the property today, January 31, and that Smith would meet the public over karaoke tonight at the Cedar Tavern proved incorrect. Liko Smith emailed various media sources today that the inspection will now take place on Friday, February 7. Meanwhile, it remains a mystery as to who actually controls/owns the long-shuttered ski resort, and what their true intentions/motives are. One thing is certain: we journalists are pecking and clawing for every little scrap like vultures in a garbage dump.
Kerry Kelly, Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes chairman of the board, reports excellent ski conditions on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which was last groomed on Friday, January 17. “Additional snow last night (and right now) adds nice soft snow,” says Kelly. “The trees are beautiful covered in snow too.”
Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes board chairman Kerry Kelly reports that a phantom snow plower is plowing 100 yards of a seasonal road that forms the section of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail between M-109 and DH Day Campground. That inhibits the ability of cross-country skiers to glide, uninterrupted, between Glen Arbor and the Dune Climb.
Kerry Kelly, chairman of the board at Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, reports on December 22 that new overnight snow has enabled the nonprofit to groom the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail for both classic and cross-country skate skiing.
Eneliko “Liko” Smith has told Leelanau County Construction Code Authority Steve Haugen that he will “probably be here some time this week” to prove to Haugen that he is, in fact, the owner of Sugar Loaf resort. The enigmatic Samoan boxer with a dubious legal history has claimed since late September that he owns the long shuttered Northern Michigan ski resort. But Smith has offered no documentation to back that claim.
Kerry Kelly, board chairman of Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, reports on Monday, Dec. 9, that the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail between Glen Arbor and the Dune Climb has some snow, but not enough to ski on.
From staff reports It’s hard to imagine there’s another Michigan winter right around the corner. But The Homestead is already preparing for a season-long celebration marking three decades of ski and snowboarding fun. “Our 30th ski season is a special milestone,” says Jamie Jewell, the resort’s vice president of sales & marketing. “There have been […]