Our Roots:
Detroit Steel
Roy Deskin, the son of a coal miner, worked his way through Detroit’s steel factories to become a magnate in the auto industry. In 1944 he retired Up North on Torch Lake.
Deskin loved entertaining. But he grew weary from driving all over Northern Michigan to entertain his guests. He decided he would build a social establishment of his own. Originally conceived as a private club, he soon realized greater potential in a four-season resort.
He broke ground in the fall of 1961. Summit Mountain opened for skiing in December, 1962, while construction on the Lodge would not be completed until the following spring. The 91-room hotel, whose name was based on an old trapper’s shanty located near the [current day] 7th and 8th holes of The Legend, would open on May 30, 1963, as The Lodge at Shanty Creek.
With skiing and lodging in place, then began working on the final piece of his four-season resort—a golf course. Contracting course architect William Diddel, the pair started orchestrating designs for the appropriately-named 18-hole “Deskin Course” now known as “Summit Golf Course.”
Meanwhile...
The Kingdom of Schuss
In the mid-1960s, Daniel Iannotti decided to leave a lucrative career as a stockbroker in Chicago. He began tailoring a dream of opening a ski resort resembling a quaint, Bavarian ski hamlet. After looking at real estate sites throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Iannotti settled on a patch of land just three miles from Shanty Creek.
Iannotti’s “never-never land” made its skiing debut on December 23, 1967. It was called “The Kingdom of Schuss” and declared itself a new nation. The Kingdom had its own border-control station, its own currency (Squaller), its own language (Schwiss), and its own time-zone (Central Fun Time). Daniel was King and his wife, Dorothy, was Queen. Their children were dubbed Prince Daniel and Princess Madelyn.
After opening Schuss Mountain, like Deskin, Iannotti expanded the resort to include the Schuss Mountain Golf Course. Designed by Warner Bowen, its front nine holes opened in 1972. The back nine were added in 1977.
Both resorts thrived for nearly 20 years.
In 1984, Club Corporation of America saw value in both Shanty Creek and Schuss Mountain, and by 1985 had purchased both resorts. The merger was bolstered by the grand opening of the Arnold Palmer–designed golf course, The Legend, which truly put northern Michigan on the map as a golf destination.
The years passed. Club Corp moved on and in 1999, an all-suite hotel was built and the Tom Weiskopf masterpiece Cedar River Golf Course opened.
In 2006, an investment group from St. Louis, Trinidad Resort & Club LLC, would purchase the resort and instill the capital needed to renovate the aged Lodge at Shanty Creek.
As the resort’s growth continued, the 2021 golf season brought with it a major announcement: the acquisition of the Hawk’s Eye Golf Club. With this new addition — just a mile down the road from Summit Village and sitting adjacent to the Cedar River Golf Course — Shanty Creek become one of the 14 largest golf resorts in the world.
SHANTY CREEK MOVES FORWARD
In the spring of 2026, the resort announced the transfer of ownership to Shanty Creek Ski and Golf Resort, LLC, a Michigan-based investment group.
Shanty Creek Resort remains one of the most scenic destinations in Michigan with 260+ lodging options, five championship golf courses, 42 ski runs, 28km of Nordic trails, multiple dining options, a full-circuit fitness center, and endless outdoor recreation options across its 5,500-acres in beautiful Antrim County.
