If you have ever visited Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia, you know who “Ballhooter Mike” is. Pictured above and within this post, Mike Williams, AKA “Ballhooter Mike” is a bit of a legend and personality – and he is as much a part of Snowshoe’s landscape as the slopes and trails themselves.
Mike needs our help; YOUR Help.
As shared by Snowshoe, on Saturday, August 17th, our guy Mike Williams was doing his thing at the bottom of Western Territory, greeting everyone with a huge smile, scanning tickets & jamming to some Motown, as always. Mike was working with another Snowshoe staffer, Chris that day. It was a warm day at the bottom of Western; not much of a breeze. (If you know the bottom of Western in the summer, you know.) Mike told Chris he was hot & wanted to sit down for a minute. That’s when things took a turn for the worse in a really bad way. Thankfully, Chris was quick to react as he got on the phone and Snowshoe Patrol does what they do best! Thanks to Chris’ & Patrol’s quick actions, Mike was in a helicopter headed to Roanoke.
Tests & scans were done revealing multiple cancerous brain & lung tumors. More tests & scans to come, and we will update as soon as possible. In the meantime, please keep Mike, Dayna, Mike’s daughter & her family in your thoughts & prayers.
A fundraiser page has been setup via the link below and $24,000+ has been raised of a goal of $150,000 or more.
We know things are a bit tough out there with groceries, gas and rent prices being out of control, but if you are blessed to even be able to donate $10, that would help. Heck, if 10,000 or so of you, snow-loving fans donate $10, we could see that goal reached quickly. Click to donate
Just a Bit of a Share About “Ballhooter Mike”
I was skiing at Snowshoe in my late 30s, well before I had even dreamed of SkiNC or SkiSoutheast – and even before the WWW as we know it now. I had been to Snowshoe once before in 1988, but I was visiting Snowshoe Mountain right on the heels of Tokyo Tower Development Company’s (then) purchase of Snowshoe. The year was 1990 and my wife and I were enjoying a weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, Colleen & Bob Comer. They had kind of introduced us to skiing and specifically to Snowshoe Mountain.
That weekend, the weather was COLD, with temperatures struggling to get out the single digits and teens. It was puking snow…and the lift lines at the bottom of Ballhooter were long. (No, I MEAN LONG.)
However, not one person was complaining and nobody seemed to mind at all because of ONE MAN. Mike Williams. I’m a marketing guy and not so easily impressed, but “Ballhooter Mike” was impressing us all with his non-stop promotion of “all things Snowshoe”.
Mike would be hyping us with shares like, “Hey, what are you guys doing after the slopes close? If you’re open to some suggestions, man the Comedy Club in the basement of the Mountain Lodge is featuring a hilarious comedian [by a name that escapes me now].”
Seconds later, Mike’s attention was, “Oh yea, guys, anybody like some Italian food? MMMMM, mmmm, you ladies and gentlemen have GOT to check out Auntie Pastas in the main village.”
(The main village wasn’t what it is now, and Auntie Pastas was in a quaint little sliver of shops on the grounds that NOW occupy Seneca.)
But THAT was “Ballhooter Mike”. Mike Williams, who could have always easily made money as a body double for Snoop Dogg, was never paid a nickel for his impromptu, promotional banter. The benefactors were those of us in line and the Comedy Club, Auntie Pastas or any other place he promoted. He simply did so because his heart and soul was and still IS a part of that mountain. He could have simply taken his paycheck from Snowshoe’s brass and quietly shoveled snow and cleared chairs at the Ballhooter Lift, but that isn’t Mike.
Over the years, Mike has aged (haven’t we all) and he kind of stopped the marketing banter. But even as late as last Saturday, “Ballhooter Mike” as doing his thing; with a warm & inviting smile; helping others enjoy the mountain.
Mike – BROTHER, our prayers are with you. We are all praying for your doctors to provide an accurate diagnosis of the cancers AND that their surgical talent is on the rarest and highest display. We pray that the medication and treatments they provide you will work with God’s Grace and provide you with such wonderful healing that you will SOON be making rounds all over that mountain again very soon.
Again, if you guys can possible lend some financial support, please do so.
https://giveahand.com/fundraiser/ballhooter-mike
Email me as you like at [email protected]