Afton Alps is a good place to learn to snowboard or ski. The facilities are clean and well cared for. The groomers do an excellent job of preparing the slopes and the staff at the ski school are friendly, knowledgable, and inexpensive. With only 400 vertical feet, single speed lifts, and older rental equipment, you're not going to feel the burn from a long downhill run. However, for a beginner Afton Alps is a good place to start before moving on to the slopes of Colorado and British Columbia.
Its not Utah or Colorado but for recreational skiing in Minnesota (near the Twin Cities) Afton is okay. Of course the runs are short (its Minnesota remember...no mountains) and lift lines can be tedious but hey, where else ya gonna go for a day?. My son likes the terrain park area and I dont mind having a beer and sitting around the fire pit. Being familiar with the different chalets makes ticketing easier and the preferred program makes return visits easy. The food is not great but you can always bring own. There are a couple good micro-brews on tap. If you are expecting knee deep powder and mile+ runs dont bother, but if you want to get out of the house and enjoy a winter afternoon outdoors this fits the bill.
I have been going to Afton Alps this year since I purchased an Epic pass for CO skiing. A few free Afron Alps tixs come with the Epic pass since Vail now owns Afton Alps. A good central spot to park is near the rental/ski patrol area. For more advanced skiers stay on the Highland side for the longer runs. Since the area around is flat farm land the wind can be pretty strong (there is no protection), especially at the top of the chair lift. Be prepared.
I'm not sure where this 10million that Vail put into Afton went. I didn't see anything really that enhanced the place. It was over an hour wait for a lift ticket. Terrible!!! Lift lines were even longer with the scanning system. I think the park and jumps that they added were great for people that are doing that but otherwise nothing has changed at all just kind of a cluster. I wanted to do the preferred program so that the lift ticket was cheaper next time. Well I didn't have to do anything different. I even asked. She claims it will all work. I have my doubts b/c it's not what other friends told me they had to do and not even the same card. Seemed very unorganized.
The good: - Afton is a short drive from the Twin Cities metro area. - The variety of terrain was great for our family, from beginner to intermediate to advanced and several terrain parks. - Quite a few runs that are much longer than other metro ski areas - The lift operators were very friendly and helpful. Not so good: - We went on a Friday and half the lifts were closed! We were still able to ski most of the terrain but it was inconvenient in several spots and the lines got long in the Highlands area. - None of the runs have any signage! I don't understand this at all. There was very vague, not helpful, signage as you get off the lifts pointing the direction to different chalets but nothing at all to help you make sure you don't accidentally go down a black diamond. You need to be very observant as you ride the chairlifts and pick out your next trail in advance. I had a trail map but didn't want to have to stop and study it every run. - Also, we bought our tickets online because we were told we could just pick them up in the "express" ticket line. There was nothing EXPRESS about it. There were only two people in front of us and we waited over 30 minutes! Ridiculous.
We skiied all the runs in a short two hours. There were not many challenges. Everyone was friendly. Food was not very good - about like cafeteria food.
The only skiing in the east metro. Nice for beginners but has some black diamonds.also has some lessons. Is owned by vail up in Colorado.
I write this post with a heavy heart as I have been a lifelong supporter of this once great regional ski area. It's strenths were it's close proximity to MPLS/St. Paul, it's wonderful scenic views of the St. Croix River Valley, it's excellent ski school and great family venue. Unfortunately, the last two attributes have been tossed away along with the efficient ticketing huts into a dumpster into the Dark Side of everything Terrain Park and Snow Boarding Culture.Don't get me wrong, there are awesome, respectful snow boarders out there, but the new park design and confiscation of great ski runs for both beginner and advanced skiers is going to result in two things: Degradation of a Great Ski School and a Magnet for the kind of Snow Boarders that we don't need in an already crowded area: The Balls to the Wall, Get the H%ll out of my way show offs who could care less if they run into someone else as long as they get decent aerials. The kind who hit you from behind after jumping off of a blind jump, don't even bother to say that they are sorry or see if you are ok and when confronted by ski patrols state that skiers need to get out of their way. If that's the kind of clientele that Vail wants here...boy, that is a very sad and concerning Marketing Vision.If you are a parent...I would not advise you taking your kids here anymore, it's just not safe anymore. There are too many out of control people and the staff seemed more concerned about scanning tickets vs. insuring the safety and enjoyment of the visitors. (Didn't see the wonderful old Yellow Jacket's who used to patrol to insure safety and customer satisfaction...hint to Vail, bring them back) 50% of the park is devoted to terrain parks, the rest is now over crowded and it's tough to find a quite easy hill to learn. In a Nutshell: If you are a Parent, save your money and take your family to Welch Village, Wild Mountain or Trollhaugen instead. You will have a much more enjoyable time.If you are an advanced skier...your best choice is Welch Village (Check out the back section) or travel up to Spirit Mountain in Duluth.The chances at Afton Alps are probably the best thing that ever happened to the neighboring ski areas...at least they haven't fallen to the Dark Side.
Enjoyed our day at Afton Alps. Pretty easy drive from Minneapolis, lots of runs, plenty of space and not too crowded. Food at Paul's restaurant was good, too, with nice beer selection.
Really wish Afton Alps had stayed under the same management. Upgrades they made are minimal (not sure what they did with all the money they spent) and now the customer service is awful. Very impersonal and ridged. And to top it off, it's now more expensive. Would recommend trying Welch Village over this place.