Grand Rapids State Bank occasionally participates with other community banks to help fund loans that one bank on its own cannot or chooses not to finance alone.  Earlier this year GRSB agreed to work with the North Shore Bank of Commerce (Duluth) to finance a new ski lift at Lutsen Mountain, a popular winter skiing operation 90 miles northeast of Duluth and 20 miles south of Grand Marais.

The installation of a new Leitner-Poma six-passenger high-speed chairlift on Moose Mountain brings big change for Lutsen skiers and snowboarders. The new detachable “Caribou Express” triples the lift capacity from the load station and reduces the 10 minute ride to a quick 3.5 minutes.

“The new lift will dramatically change time spent on the slope,” says Jim Vick, Marketing Director at Lutsen Mountains. “The efficiency of a high-speed chair is fully realized on Lutsen’s longer runs. The Caribou Express will save more than 5 minutes per ride. When extrapolated with the increase in capacity, the number of runs in a ski day will grow three or four fold.”

The new lift at Lutsen is also expected to boost the economy in Cook County and the north shore of Lake Superior.  “Alpine skiers are a driving force in the winter economy,” says Linda Kratt, executive director of the Cook County Visitors Bureau. “About two-thirds of winter tourism is tied to alpine skiers. An investment of this scale and the impact it will have on the ski experience is expected to translate to millions of dollars for our local economy.”