This ski area is maybe the easiest to drive to that I've ever been to. There's no big mountain drive with hairpin turns and the road is well maintained. The area itself is a mainly for snowboarding but it accommodates that well. They've added a 50ft. x50 ft. deep airbag for doing trick jumps without tearing yourself up. very cool. Nearby Spingerville or Show Low offer plenty of dining and hotels.In the fall the autumn colors are spectacular.
It was fun with all the different activities even though I don't ski. But those that do ski were having a wonderful time.
Is this how we treat kids?My son (12) and his buddies went for a weekend ski trip. The mountain closes at 4pm. After saving his money for this trip, at 2pm my son took a fall and his lift ticket came off his jacket. Upon telling the lift operator, she said "go buy another ticket", so he went to ticket counter an explained with them what happened (mind you he is 12), with all his buddies there. With an hour and a half left in the day, they made him buy another full day lift ticket! Are you kidding me? My son is non-confrontational and bought the ticket. I emailed sunrise to ask if this is standard protocol and no response yet. I'll keep the world updated both good or bad what they decided to do....So far, I'm extremely disappointed and will not ski there again...
My husband and I have skied Sunrise for years, and it's generally a great experience if you pay attention to snow reports and ski condition reports and have realistic expectations for skiing in Arizona. We put our daughters in the all-day Ski School last weekend, and our youngest ended up with Kevin as her instructor after accidentally getting separated from her class. He did such a good job with her, had her up to the midway, and just went above and beyond. After the lesson was done, I was able to take her up to midway myself and she safely traversed all the way down, never out of control or anything. I was really impressed with what was accomplished, and I'm grateful to Kevin for the unplanned one-on-one instruction! I would request him anytime.
It's a big mountain and definitely the best in Arizona. Visited several times over the years with our family and it always makes for a great day of skiing. Snow is terrific and the resort works very hard at snow making and keeping the hills in good shape.Sunrise offers free season passes for kids 12 and under! Go up in October and sign them up- check the website in August or September for details. One of the best deals I've ever heard of!If you're going to ski more than one day per season be sure and check into the Sunrise card for discounts and direct-to-lift access avoiding the ticket line.Resort management has improved over the past few years, and they're making a lot of changes to make it a better resort. That being said, it's important to manage expectations. This is not Deer Valley... It's a great place to ski close to Phoenix and Tucson. Go for the snow and be prepared to overlook some inconviences and customer service glitches.
My husband and 2 young boys, 3 and 6 yrs, recently stayed at the rv spots at the base of this park. Yesterday we went to the park, dropped off our boys at the childcare center and hit the slopes. My husband is a more seasoned skiier than I am and experienced more of the runs with satisfaction. I enjoyed my time and am grateful for the friendly and helpful staff. This place was not busy, no waits for anything. We got lucky and visited just at the beginning of a nice winter storm which gave us great snow for several days while there. The childcare center was good for our purposes. Our boys were the only children there and the childcare worker took them outside to play and sled during their 4 hours there. We felt the prices were fair and we would recommend this place to ski, especially for people who prefer less crowd.
For my birthday I took the family to sunrise ski park. We stayed at the closest resort to the slopes. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the acomadations, my wife is notoriously picky and I was expecting some push back but not a word. Although not new the facility was well kept and clean. We dined at the Restraunt on site and again pleasantly surprised, great food great service, my wife has several food allergies that they were able to acomidate. Overall pleased and the prices were fair.All you can eat breakfast buffet $8 dinner menu 9-23 per plate
Services are basic, at best - the facility is weathered, but the snow is usually good, plus its only 3.5 hours from Phoenix. Lots cheaper than trekking to Colorado.
We live in the Washington DC area and make one trip a year to AZ in Feb to visit family in Mesa and Show Low. We usually try to get one day of skiing in at Sunrise. I am a meteorologist so was a first highly skeptical that you could even ski the White Mountains given the infrequencey of snow storms. But from our first visit 4 years ago, I am always amazed how well the snow holds up, especially on the Cyclone lift. Even today, with the official snow report only listing a 12" base, the coverage on Cyclone was great and the snow was firm, but managable. And steep. Even though they are short, I would put the "run quality" of "Donnies Dream", "Suicide" or "thunder" right up there with anything at Breckenridge, A-Basin, or Winterpark.And while I was punishing myself on cyclone, our 5-year-old was in a 1/2 day ski package that included a lesson, equipment and a full-day lift ticket for $125. This was his second lesson at Sunrise (last year he would not let go of the instructor's pole), and he and I skied the greens together all afternoon...touchdown!There is a sort of strangeness about the place though. They seem to have made massive investments in day lodges, grooming and snowmaking...great. But the staff can't seem to close the place down soon enough. We quit skiing about 3:30, and the bar was already closed, even though it was advertised till 4. The staff is friendly enough, but you do get the sense they'd rather be somewhere else. Given the light crowds and indifferent service, it's hard to imagine how the place turns a profit. But...they keep opening year-after-year, and I will keep making my annual pilgrimage!
We checked the website before we drove the 4 hours from Phoenix and it said 65 out of 65 runs open and that they had a 19" base. When we arrived only around 25 runs where open and you could see rocks and such coming through the snow. The runs that where open where sheets of ice and very dangerous, of course when you buy your lift ticket it says "No Refunds" and you can't see that stuff until you take the lift up. Another complaint was they charged Holiday Pricing $68 when it was February 20th, no holiday that I know of that day or weekend. With the conditions they should have only charged half of that. Save your money and do not go to Sunrise everything is run down and over priced. It is a shame too because that resort could be a great place if ran properly