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Snow gods smile on Roscommon skiing

5:50 PM, January 7, 2013 |
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The snow gods have smiled on Roscommon, Mich., where cross-country skiiers enjoy the powder trails at Cross Country Ski Headquarters. Co-owner Mariah Frye skis the trail. / Ellen Creager/Detroit Free Press

By Ellen Creager

Detroit Free Press Travel Writer

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ROSCOMMON – Ah, finally. This winter the snow gods have dumped plenty of snow on Roscommon in north central Michigan, bastion of the cross-country skier.

Today it was sunny in the lower 30s, with powdery snow stretching down trails and sparkling through the forest.

“It’s like heaven when there is snow,” said Mariah Frye, part-owner of Cross Country Ski Headquarters, where snow has been plentiful since before Christmas, drawing in plenty of customers.

“We had a great holiday,” said her dad, owner Bob Frye, standing behind the counter of the rustic wood store with its racks of ski wear and a big orange stove. He opened Cross Country Ski Headquarters in 1974, when few people even knew what cross-country skiing was.

The joy here is in marked contrast to last year, when the U.S. saw the weakest snowfall in the last 100 years and Roscommon skiers were dry-docked much of the winter.

The facility, known by its fans simply as XC Ski HQ, has eight trails on 600 acres. Only cross-country skis and snowshoes are allowed – no downhill, no snowmobiles, no walkers, no dogs.

Open from November to April, or until the snow vanishes, Ski Headquarters is the state’s largest independent retailer of cross-country skis and equipment. One big advantage they have – they can let customers try demo skis on the trails before deciding which to buy. They also rent skis, boots and poles.

This month is McDonald’s Discover Michigan Skiing Month, so for $20, you can get ski rental, a lesson and time on the trails at the X-C Ski Headquarters (register at

800-832-2663.)

Upcoming? Moonlight skiing, ski parties and on Jan. 14-18 it’s Silver Streak Week, where all skiers age 60 and older get a free facilities pass.

When the season ends, the center is open in the summer for running, walking and cycling. Frye runs a yoga studio where the ski restaurant is in the winter.

“Off season, we maintain the trails meticulously, because that is what keeps them in shape in the winter,” said Frye, 26, who has been cross-country skiing since age 2.

Americans started learning what cross-country skiing was in the early '70s, Bob Frye said, when a Maxwell House coffee commercial on television showed a happy couple going cross-country skiing then enjoying a nice, hot cup of Maxwell House coffee.

Now, cross-country is part of nearly every downhill skiing resort. Equipment is so sophisticated that even ski racers use no-wax skis. It’s easier for beginners to learn how to ski.

Frye’s center draws customers from all over the state.

“If it weren’t for these people, we would be lost,” said avid cross-country ski racer Carl Ridgeway of Oscoda. Today in Oscoda, along Lake Huron’s shoreline, there was no snow.

He was happy to find plenty in Roscommon.

And so are the Fryes.