If you've clicked here from the front page you obviously want to know who is behind MichiganSkier.com and why you should trust us with your ski news. Here is the full explanation.

The person(s) behind MichiganSkier.com is (yours truly) -- Jim Neff (with a significant assist from my wife, Ann). I served as Editor of Great Lakes Skier for all of its 17 years. GLS was Michigan's only ski publication during that entire stint.

In 1997, it became apparent to me, and to my partners at Great Lakes Sports Publications, Inc., that the life-cycle of GLS was at an end. Readers loved us, the ski industry patted us on the back for promoting skiing, but the advertising dollars necessary for our survival just were not there. Sure, we could work our tails off year-round and maybe break even, but that was not an option I wanted to contemplate. So, we decided to pull the plug while we had no debts. Plus, the company wanted to focus on our two other print publications, Michigan Runner and Michigan Golfer, and some Internet projects.

So, MichiganSkier.com was born. Originally, Great Lakes Skier was Michigan Skier (we changed the name in hopes of attracting a broader base). I dug out the old Michigan Skier logo, added a dot-com to the end, registered the name on the Net, and launched this site.

I wanted MS.com to be different from other sites in several ways. First, I wanted to feature news that I (as a skier) would be interested in myself (as a reader). Second, I wanted it to be "journalistic," with honest editorial, opinions, and a regular weekly features. And, I wanted to have a place to promote Michigan skiing, which I think is pretty darn good!

In the fall of 2001, Art and Jennie McCafferty of Great Lakes Sports Publications proposed including MichiganSkier.com in a venture that featured a web-based ski television show. So, MichiganSkier.com is now involved with providing content for that show and I'm the host of MichiganSkier.TV. All of this seems to fit together for the benefit of the state's skiers.

The Net is perfect for this because I don't have to worry about postal increases or pulp (newsprint) production in the Canadian wilderness. The banners and links that appear on our Skier's Mall page give us a small bit of revenue when someone clicks through from the MS.com site and buys something. We also allow some limited advertising on the site to pay for some of the expenses, that's all.

Last, but not least, MS.com will be a home -- year round -- for Michigan ski news. I'll link in "everything Michigan," because I'm not selling anything or producing websites for resorts, so any ski resource can come on board for free.

The pages will be simple in design, so you can get your news and get on with your life. For example, if you're still reading at this point why don't you turn your computer off and go skiing....after all, that's the point!