Little Switzerland Ski Resort

The hill that the ski hill is on used to be called Winter's Hill. Ed Herte signed a lease with Mrs. Mary Winter and opened Little Switzerland on December 7, 1941. The business received its name from the local priest, Fr. George Jentges who looked up at the wooded hill and said "this place is just like a little Switzerland." Herte installed the first two-way over the hill ski lift in the world (Maxwell 1978). When Ed passed away, his daughter Jane and grandson, Jay, ran the hill. Little Switzerland shut down in spring of 2007 after it ran into some financial problems. Wayne Erickson, who owned Slinger Speedway at the time, purchased the Ski Hill in 2011. Later in 2011, a team of brothers (Dave, Rick, and Mike Schmitz) as well as Jane Herte bought the ski hill and Erickson retained ownership of the restaurant. In 2012, Schmitz LLC bought the restaurant and chalet as well and renovated it. The ski hill reopened to the public in 2012.

*Excerpt from Slinger History Album: 125 Years (1984)

What better place to open a ski hill than Slinger, the "city of the seven hills." And what better hill to select than Winter's Hill. Ed Herte opened Little Switzerland on December 7, 1941. The business received its name from the local priest, Fr. George Jentges who looked up at the wooded hill and said "this place is just like a little Switzerland." In the early 1930's the hill was used for motorcycle hill climb events. Ed Herte leased the hill from the Winter family from 1941 until he purchased it in 1954. He made constant improvements over the years and Little Switzerland was the second hill in the Midwest to install a snowmaking system. It utilizes ponds on each side of the hill for this purpose. While the rest of the community is without snow at various times during the winter, the hill at Little Switzerland is always white with snow from early December until mid-March. Ed Herte was always an innovative owner. Little Switzerland boasted a ski jump in 1961 and currently has a 100 foot high ranger tower on top of the hill. The tower is used for little more than a flag pole, but is certainly eye catching. Little Switzerland has 3 ski grooming machines from Germany to smooth out and pack the snow. They have 5 chair lifts and 3 rope tows to get skiers to the top and 14 different runs down both sides of the hill. The chalet features a Bavarian Bar with a terrific view of the hill. It also includes crystal chandeliers from the old Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago and a round copper fireplace made out of what once was a vat from the old Storck Brewery. The business has over 100 employees during the winter and only a few during the sunmmer including long time employee George Kuhaupt who has a nice view of the hill from his home across the street. Ed Herte ran this business until he passed away on December 31, 1985. His business is now run by his daughter, Jane Herte, and her son, Jay, who each live next to the hill.

*Little Switzerland Shut Down: (2007)

*Wayne Erickson Buys Hill (2011: With hopes of re-opening)

*Dave, Rick, and Mike Schmitz buy ski hill with Jane Herte. Erickson retained ownership of the restaurant.

*Jane Herte reflects to Slinger HS students about Ski Jumps (2014)

https://www.slinger.k12.wi.us/faculty/grimmnat/Herte2SkiJumpCommunity.mp3

*Little Switzerland Re-opens: (Excerpt from Forte Bank's Community Center Spotlight Website from January 2017)

The Schmitz brothers worked for nearly a year preparing for the reopening. They spent more than $1 million to refurbish the property, including updating the chair lifts and installing one of the most advanced snowmaking systems on the market. Erickson also spent more than $1 million gutting and remodeling the lodge. The resort now features a new bar, pro shop, ticketing area, ski rental area and cafeteria. Little Switz reopened for the 2012-13 season and the response has been tremendous.

“In writing the business plan I really discounted the amount of goodwill in the Little Switz name,” Rick Schmitz said. “It ended up being much stronger than I anticipated. Everyone we meet has a story to tell about skiing at Little Switz. I think it was sorely missed when it was closed for five seasons.”

In the last four years, the Schmitz brothers have exceeded most of their initial goals and have been able to reinvest in improvements that they thought would take longer to tackle. “We always intended to purchase the lodge from Wayne Erickson, but it was in our five-year plan,” Mike Schmitz said. “We were able to purchase the lodge after the first year.” The Schmitz brothers’ largest capital expenditure continues to be consistent upgrades to the snowmaking system and grooming equipment. “We invest very heavily in snowmaking and grooming because higher quality snow and better conditions means a more ideal experience for our customers,” Rick Schmitz said. “The first thing we had to do was improve the quality of the infrastructure because it had been neglected for many years before Little Switz closed. Our infrastructure is in a really good place now.”

https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=header&id=WI.SLH125Years&isize=M&pview=hide

https://www.fortebankwi.com/about-us/community-center/community-center/2017/01/21/small-business-spotlight-little-switzerland

Maxwell, Jess. Skiing. Feb. 1978.

https://slingerhistorycultur.wixsite.com/slingercommunity/skiing