BRINGING BACK THE ICON

In 2024 The Mountain Top at Grand Geneva Resort is bringing back the classic HOT DOG mountain persona. Years ago, Hot Dog Mountain was built as part of the playboy club (1968-1981) and later became the Americana. During these years the hill was small but great and had a reputation for people coming from all over the world to experience the best of “HOT DOG SKIING.” In the early days there was a heated pool at the base of the mountain and people were served drinks to watch the “ski show” every weekend.

In 1993 the resort was purchased by the Marcus Corporation and the hill name was slightly modified to be the Mountain Top at Grand Geneva Resort which it still goes by today. During the early nineties and 2000’s a lot of great skiers came out of Grand Geneva. Grand had a reputation for being a very aggressive hill. You might remember the iconic film Aspen Extreme which told the story of small Midwest ski hills producing the top skiers in the world due to the ability of a small hill to repetitively practice. During this era Hot Dog Mountain lived up to its name. In 1992 The North Face opened a flagship store in Chicago and they had a kickoff event at Hot dog mountain featuring the best skiers in the world such as Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt. In the early 90’s the mountain management had the foresight to build a “terrain park” on what was the bunny Hill historically, then renamed Little Annie Fanny and now simply called the “C” lift. It was quite possibly the first terrain park in the Midwest. There were 20-30 foot table top box jumps, “rails” and all kinds of aggressive terrain to play on. During this era you would regularly find the best skiers in the country flying through the air. Matt Sterbenz started 4Frnt Skis, Ty Marris made the US Ski Team, Andy DeVore and Ryan Bensheimer gained national notoriety in the extreme skiing world, Paul Yee, the Smage Brothers (of Nitro Circus), and several other local riders were the stars of several acclaimed ski films. The tiny little 211 foot hill had a reputation in the ski world for being one of the best producing hills in the country.

Unfortunately, not far into the 2000’s the hill began to lose its stride. The half pipe disappeared, the park became almost nonexistent, moguls were regularly shaved of the face of the mountain, and the hill became known as a beginner resort.

In 2024 the Mountain management to include the acting manager Ryan Brown (Director of Golf at the Grand Geneva) together with lifelong emphatic local pioneers Ryan Bensheimer and Paul Lazzaroni the decision was made to bring back the iconic “HOT DOG MOUNTAIN.”

In the 2024/5 season we are returning the park back to the “C” hill and loading it with tabletops, spines, rails, rollers, and challenging terrain features. The “B” and “A” hills will also get an aggressive upgrade featuring improved natural couloirs, cornices, jumps, moguls, and drop offs. The plan is to create novice paths next to expert paths everywhere possible to encourage skiers at every level, but the emphasis will be on building and maintaining creative terrain.