Challenge Mountain History

Challenge Mountain began as a dream of Darla Evans, a parent of a child living with a disability. Her daughter was confined to a wheelchair with limited opportunities available for her to experience activities with family and friends. In 1982, Darla took her daughter, Chrissy, to the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colorado so she could learn to ski like her siblings and friends.

By the end of the week, five year-old Chrissy was skiing with special equipment adapted to her needs. She discovered a freedom she had never known, self-confidence and self-esteem!

The operator of the Winter Park program refused to accept payment for the week of skiing. Instead, he elicited a promise from Darla that she return to Michigan and begin a similar program, and this is where the story of Challenge Mountain begins.

In 1984 Everett Kircher, founder of Boyne Resorts, donated Walloon Hills Ski Area to Challenge Mountain and Darla’s dream became a reality. This was just the beginning to what has grown to become year-round adaptive recreation programs and opportunities for individuals living with disabilities in northern Michigan and beyond.

Challenge Mountain believes that having access to and participating in recreational and social activities is integral to the well-being and a fulfilling life for every person. With limited activities available to individuals living with disabilities to experience all northern Michigan has to offer, Challenge Mountain has grown over the last 30 years from offering only winter programs to providing over 1,900 individual experiences to new and returning participants and their families through various programs and outings all year long!

The heart and soul of Challenge Mountain are the dedicated and passionate volunteers who continue to donate their time and expertise to ensure year-round programming is a success. After 17 years of operating as a solely volunteer organization, Challenge Mountain hired its first Executive Director in 2001. Today Challenge Mountain program staff manages an extensive volunteer base that includes 76 individuals from our local and statewide communities who contribute over 1,419 volunteer hours annually.

Challenge Mountain programming is supported financially through proceeds from the Challenge Mountain Resale Store which first opened its doors in Boyne Falls in 1986. Within five years, the store had outgrown the original location and in 1990 the organization invested in a larger facility in Boyne City. A second resale store was started in Petoskey in 2006. After more than 26 years in its longtime location on M-75, the Boyne City Resale Store moved in 2016 to a new location that has allowed the store to grow as a primary funding source for Challenge Mountain programming and a tremendous community resource.  In 2019, Resale Store gross sales totaled more than $400,000.  More than 56 Resale Store volunteers donate over 11,955 hours of in-kind labor each year.

Reach for the stars, anything is possible and the sky’s the limit are phrases we all want to hear and believe. At Challenge Mountain these words are put into action and their power is instilled in every participant, staff member, volunteer, family member, and friend. Past, present and future, Challenge Mountain represents opportunity – the opportunity to show support, take risks, conquer challenges and achieve our greatest potential, together.