Antrim's Winter Starts November 7 in Bellaire, Three Weeks Before the Lifts Turn

On Saturday, November 7, the Bellaire Chamber of Commerce holds its 43rd Annual Holiday Gift Fair at Bellaire Middle School, 204 W. Forrest Home Ave., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. On paper it's a craft and gift sale. It also matters for something four weeks later, because the fair is the first place you can buy tickets to the Soup Cook-Off at Light Up the Night on December 5. The chamber says those tickets are limited.

The fair is the first of several dates that open Antrim County's winter this year. Some are on the mountain and some are in downtown Bellaire. The mountain dates belong to owners who are going into their first ski season.

The first deadline is a soup ticket

According to the Bellaire Chamber's Light Up the Night page, eleven local restaurants and culinary teams compete in this year's Soup Cook-Off. Tickets cost $15 per person and go on sale November 7 at the Holiday Gift Fair. After that they're sold at participating establishments. The chamber's own advice is to buy early.

The order matters. When the gift fair opens there are still four weeks until the cook-off, which makes November 7 the date to plan around. December 5 is just the date the soup gets served.

Grass River Natural Area has its Wild Turkey Trot 5K on its calendar the same Saturday. A household that starts at the trail and finishes at the middle school can cover both.

November 27: Schuss opens to pass holders, under new ownership

Shanty Creek Resort's 2026–2027 hours page lists November 27, 2026 as the projected opening day at Schuss Mountain, and opening day is for season pass holders only. The resort marks every one of its winter dates as projected, so all of them can still move.

The opening also starts a new era for the resort. The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported that Shanty Creek passed from Trinidad Resort & Club, LLC to Shanty Creek Ski and Golf Resort, LLC, a Michigan-based investment group, effective February 26. Trinidad, an investment group from St. Louis, had owned the resort since 2006. MLive described the buyers as a group with experience in development, food service, entertainment, property management and resort operations. It named Harper Sibley as the venture's executive vice president. SAM, the ski industry trade magazine, reported that the group has long ties to Northern Michigan. In that report, Sibley said the group wants to build on the resort's traditions and planned hotel updates, a new website and more family-friendly activities. SAM also reported that existing staff would stay on.

The opening schedule after November 27 lays out the rest of the ski season:

For about three weeks, then, the mountain runs a short, pass-holder-only season. Everyone else starts on December 17. Once night skiing begins, Schuss runs 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and on holiday dates. Sundays run 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Mondays and Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The one improvement the new owners have named so far

In social posts featured on its homepage, Shanty Creek says the new ownership group is making "one of the largest investments in the mountain's history." It says it will show off each improvement on social media in the weeks before the season.

So far it has named one: every lift this season gets loading and unloading ramps surfaced with mSnow. That's a bristle material made from recycled plastics, including plastic Michigan road construction barrels. The resort says the ramps need much less snow to get the lifts running, which leaves more manmade snow for the runs.

The project isn't brand new. In January 2026, before the sale took effect, MyNorth reported added snowmaking pipe at Schuss, an extra mSnow ramp at the Pink Lift, and mSnow systems on the Purple, Red and Yellow lifts. This season the surfacing goes on every lift. The rest of the larger investment hasn't been named yet, and Shanty Creek's own social channels are where the announcements will appear between now and November 27. The ski area still covers 42 trails on Schuss Mountain.

December 5 is Bellaire's longest day of the season

The soup tickets bought on November 7 get used on the busiest day on the downtown calendar. The chamber's schedule for the 17th Annual Light Up the Night runs from morning to after dark. It's marked tentative and subject to change.

1. 10 to 11 a.m.: 5K Elf Run, hosted by the Bellaire Cross Country Team
2. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Last Chance Craft Fair at the ASI Community Center
3. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Polar Plunge at Riverside Marina, open to plungers and spectators
4. 1 to 3 p.m.: Free holiday matinee at the Bellaire movie theater; admission is a nonperishable food donation, and seating is limited
5. 3 to 5 p.m.: Santa and Mrs. Claus at the downtown pavilion
6. 4:30 to 7 p.m.: Soup Cook-Off throughout downtown, free bread samples at Ruthann's Gourmet Bakery, and warming stations around town
7. 5 to 6 p.m.: Live nativity hosted by Bellaire United Methodist Church at Ruthie's Dairy Twist
8. 6 p.m.: Parade of Lights, themed "Christmas Traditions" this year
9. 6:45 p.m.: Community Christmas tree lighting
10. 7 p.m.: Soup Cook-Off voting closes, with winners announced after 8 p.m. on the Destination Bellaire Facebook page

During the same week, the Friends of the Library Auction runs at the Bellaire Public Library, and Edward Jones collects new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. Groups that want to enter the parade can register through the Light Up the Night page.

December 5 is also the reservation deadline for Shanty Creek's Merry Little Christmas Party on December 12. The party is a holiday buffet with prime rib, dancing and live entertainment. Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner starts at 7.

The middle of December belongs to the resort and the river

The mountain opens to everyone between the downtown parade and the holidays, and the calendar fills in around it. Daily skiing at Schuss is projected to start December 17. On December 18, Shanty Creek holds Storytime with Santa in the Bellaire Ballroom. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. and the story starts at 7, with cookies and hot cocoa. It's free and needs no reservation.

On December 19, Grass River Natural Area's calendar lists Lighting of the Bridges. The year isn't printed on that calendar, so check the date with Grass River before you plan the evening around it. A month earlier, on November 19, the same calendar lists Nature Trivia at Short's Pull Barn and a writing workshop.

The rest of Shanty Creek's holiday schedule includes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day buffets at the Lakeview Hotel and a $10 Schuss lift ticket on Christmas Day. On New Year's Eve there's a family party at Lakeview and an adults-only event at Ivan's. Night skiing is projected to start December 26, the first day of the resort's holiday period.

The part of the season that does not wait for a lift

Some of Antrim's winter runs on flat ground and has nothing to do with the alpine opening dates. Shanty Creek's Nordic system has 9.5 kilometers of groomed, track-set trail connecting the resort's four villages. A separate 3-kilometer groomed trail at Schuss Village is set aside for fat tire biking and snowshoeing, which keeps bikes off the ski tracks. The Nordic Center in the Schuss Village Pro Shop rents skate skis, classic skis and snowshoes. It's open Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extra hours on holiday dates. It's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Those are the resort's current published rates for the 2026–27 season. A Nordic season pass is also sold through the resort. Because the Nordic Center closes Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a midweek rental has to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Friday.

Grass River Natural Area finished its own big project this year. In August 2026 it announced that an accessible boardwalk now runs the full length of its wetland trails, with 1.6 miles of accessible boardwalk and gravel trail in total. The Fern Loop and Sedge Meadow Loop reopened in July 2026, and packed gravel trails connect the Grass River Center to the boardwalks. The official ribbon cutting was September 11. This will be the first holiday season with the full accessible route open, and Grass River's calendar lists Lighting of the Bridges for December 19, a date to confirm with the nature area before the evening.

If you're thinking about living closer to Schuss Mountain, Bellaire's downtown or the Grass River trails, now or a few winters from now, Joe Van Antwerp knows which Antrim County roads and properties work in snow season. Contact Joe for a free consultation, and he'll walk you through how winter really plays out around the property you have in mind.