The Pink Panther

For about 20 years in the 60s, 70s and 80s, there was a fun little ski hill called "The Pink Panther" located in De Pere, Wisconsin just south of Green Bay.  They had day and night skiing.  You could buy a lift ticket or season pass and spend your entire winter out there.  It was a different time and our parents would just drop us off when the hill opened and pick us up at closing time.  

For the 1964-65 ski season, brothers Roy and Don Cain opened a ski hill that they called "The Pink Panther" on some land that they had skied with their family for a few years before that.  The Pink Panther was the place to ski in Green Bay.  Bart Starr and other Packers would hang out there.  Countless kids from the area learned to ski and spent their weekends there.

For the 1979-80 season, Roy took over the operation, and they changed the name to Snowburst in an attempt to cater to a more adult crowd because we kids didn't spend any money there!  But we still all called it Pink Panther, and probably still didn't spend any money.  They continued operations until it closed the mid-eighties.

In the late 70s and early 80s, there were 3 runs.  The "Bunny Hill" and the "Headwall" were served by rope tows, and the "T-bar Hill" was served (quite obviously) by a small t-bar.  The 3 runs were arranged in a rough triangle, and the "Headwall" had some trails off to one side.  The terrain of Pink Panther is highlighted here.

There were also "The Trails" to the east of the Headwall where you could ski through the trees and end up at the Headwall's rope tow.  Before the T-Bar and its hill were added in the mid-70s, there was a run that extended from the top of the Bunny Hill down to the bottom of the Headwall.  It was called the "Intermediate" Run, and it was served by its own rope tow.  It faced south and was hard to keep snow on it, so once the T-Bar was in place, they stopped using it ("Except for the occasional daredevil.", according to Mark Cain.)

If you learned to ski in the Sixties, Seventies or Eighties in Green Bay, you probably did it here.  The Green Bay Press Gazette had a ski school each year where you learned in big group lessons over the course of two weekends (2 hours each on Saturday and Sunday.)  Once you knew how to ski, you could have a relaxing ski on the Bunny or T-Bar hills or challenge yourself on the Headwall.  And goodness knows what was going on in the trails!

In the beginning of The Pink Panther's operation, there was a small A-Frame building that served as the lodge, office and bar.  Later on they built another structure that was mostly underground, called the Rathskeller.  During the ski season, this building was the lodge, office, ski rental and snack bar and the ski hill's bar was in the A-Frame.  But in the summer the Rathskeller operated as a bar and they'd bring in bands on the weekends.

I want to thank both Mr. Cains, and their kids, for the the time and energy they spent creating this little ski hill outside of Green Bay.  Both Roy and Don (and their families) spent a lot of time and creative, entrepreneurial energy making a go of the Pink Panther operation.  It's only now as an adult, and from talking to their kids, that I appreciate how much work it took to run a ski hill, keep everything in order, change things that weren't working and come up with new ideas to try to make it more fun and profitable.  I hope you had fun running it and take some satisfaction with the great memories you created for all of us.

I also want to thank Mark Cain, Roy's son, who has shared a lot of his memories and insider perspective with me.  His brother Jeff found my site and shared it with their family.  Their cousin, Heidi Cain (Don's daughter) sent me some great photos and shared some stories as well.  I realize I am talking about their family and I appreciate their support of me putting up these memories that resonate with all of us 'kids' who skied there.  From talking to Mark, I'm pretty sure the Cain kids had fun growing up there.  He has ended more than one e-mail to me with the phrase, "Those were happy times."  They were for us too!

About the Archivist/Author

I grew up in Green Bay and had a blast at Pink Panther.  On a visit to my parents' home in 2006, I took my then 8-year-old son for a drive and we found the land where the ski hill was and took some pictures.  I put them on a rudimentary web page to share with my friends.

Here's a video that my Dad took of my 12 year old self skiing on the Bunny Hill.  Thanks for capturing The Pink Panther on 8mm film, Dad, it's the only video we have of the hill in operation so far.  I think this may have been my first year skiing.  One of the "Mr. Cains" gave me a ski lesson early in the season, and I rarely ventured off the Bunny Hill that first year.  

Over the next few years, people stumbled onto the site and sent me messages.  I can tell from the e-mail that I get from people who find this site that The Pink Panther has a special place in all of our hearts.  I imagine people my age sitting back, thinking of their childhood and all the fun they had at Pink Panther.  On a whim, they type 'Pink Panther Ski Area' into google and are pleased to find some memories here.  Some of them sent me their own memories and pictures of the hill.  I made contact with the Cains and actually met Mark (at a little ski hill near my house!) and learned some new things, so in 2012, I did a re-write and added some content and pages.

In 2018, it was looking a little tired (late 90s html code), I had gotten some more content and I wanted to learn a little about google's blogspot, so I did another re-write, and moved it here.  Google's blogger and picture galleries allow for comments and talkback so I hope to hear from more of you.  If you have anything to add, I'd love to see it, and it should be easier to add to this site than the old one.

I really enjoy re-connecting with places from my past, so I am clear in my intentions that I collect this stuff and put it here for my own amusement, but I'm always pleased when it resonates with someone else as well.  We can't ski the Pink anymore, but we can remember it fondly here.  See you on the hill!

Eric Elfner
July 2018

      Eric's family at Ausblick in 2014