Midwest Minnesota Bargain Skiing?

[TonyPlush]

I moved from Denver to Minneapolis a few years ago, and one thing that's always amazed me is the relative price of the local Minnesota ski hills.

$55 for a one day lift ticket at Wild Mountain and its 30 second runs and wooden chairlifts seems surprisingly high, especially for what you get compared to the rest of the ski world. (Likewise, Welch is $60 and Afton Alps is $62)

Considering that elsewhere in the country, the $80 price range gets you walk-up tickets to world class mountains like A-Basin, Grand Targhee, or even Alyeska, what's up with Minnesota pricing?

There's almost never anybody at these hills, and I have to think the fact they're competing in the "front row at the live concert" price range instead of the "impulse trip to the movies with some popcorn" price range is part of the reason. Personally, I'd love to stop by for some 2-3 hour impromptu visits to the local hills (which is about as long as I last anyway, given the lack of terrain) but at a sticker price of $50-60, I find myself just saying forget it.

Rant aside, is there a way to do Minnesota skiing at a little better value? Discount codes? Maybe some sort of season pass I don't know about?

 

[Dwight]

Check out liftopia. Usually discounts for quite a few Midwest hills. Many do have discounts/specials on nights of the week too.

You could go to Granite Peak in Wisconsin. Out West prices, Midwest skiing. $82/day for walk up.

 

[focker]

IMO you really need a season pass to the one closest to your house to make it worth it, especially if you want to do any day skiing. I agree that the day passes are too high, but remember, these hills have overhead just like a hill out west would have. Wild, Welch and Troll all offer season passes for a pretty inexpensive price, especially relative to what their day passes cost. You only need to ski ~5 times to pass off the pass cost.

Night skiing is also a great value for your $. Most of these places offer night skiing that starts at 4:00 pm or so and you can ski 4-5 hours for $25-30. It's hard to get out to hill anyway most days before the sun sets. There are also usually very few people out skiing weekday nights.

Wild Mountain and Trollhaugen also run some weekday specials which are quite good. Afton has no deals at all it appears. Welch has a few deals but they typically involve buying tickets in the off season at a discount.

Lastly, Wild and Troll offer Friday night specials which are insanely cheap. $20 at Troll to ski from 10pm to 3am and the same deal at Wild goes from 8:00pm to 1:00am.

 

[focker]

Also, Wild mountain is in desperate need of some monetary investment in their hill IMO. Which nearly all the other local hills have done several projects lately aimed at improving the experience Wild has done none in the 8 years I've been skiing there. They only spend $ on their summer operation now it appears. Disappointing.

 

[TonyPlush]

Also, Wild mountain is in desperate need of some monetary investment in their hill IMO. Which nearly all the other local hills have done several projects lately aimed at improving the experience Wild has done none in the 8 years I've been skiing there. They only spend $ on their summer operation now it appears. Disappointing.

I'm assuming Wild's wooden chairlifts are the slowest around? I found myself sitting on their dreadfully slow chairlifts thinking, "You know, these runs are pretty fun, but it's a shame I've spend 80% of my day here waiting on the lift."

Runs like their Ego Alley actually have decent length and let you get some fun turns in. Some of the best local skiing I've experienced. But 30 seconds down and 8 minutes up gets old really quick.

 

[crgildart]

Ya, I get that more and more investment is having to go towards better snowmaking infrastructure and keep those guns blowing whenever possible these days. Still seems like gouging to charge the same price to ski a 75 acre, 5 lift hill as people out west pay to ski thousands of acres over countless lifts. The pass deals out west are also better..

 

[focker]

I'm assuming Wild's wooden chairlifts are the slowest around? I found myself sitting on their dreadfully slow chairlifts thinking, "You know, these runs are pretty fun, but it's a shame I've spend 80% of my day here waiting on the lift."

Runs like their Ego Alley actually have decent length and let you get some fun turns in. Some of the best local skiing I've experienced. But 30 seconds down and 8 minutes up gets old really quick.

Yes IMO Wild's lifts are slower than Troll's. Wild does have some good runs (better than Troll) but their lifts are noticeably slower and not comfortable at all

 

[Slim]

There is a 4th grade ski passport that’s a great deal.

Joining Skipatrol is another

Here in Duluth, we have Chester Bowl, community ski Hill. Besides being very affordable, the other nice thing is they have deals for many other hills in the area.

Spirit Mtn evening ticket is $35

Mont du Lac has cheap weeknight tickets, I think on Tuesday’s.

Lutsen has on demand ticket pricing where you can get real good deals.

Mt. Bohemia has a $99 season pass.

This is going off your thread title, which is “Minnesota bargain skiing” if all you care about is the Twin Cities, well they are always going to be in a tough spot, lot’sof People and little terrain*.

*edited

 

[focker]

I like how Spirit Mountain has different pricing for full day tickets on Weekdays and Weekends. Most hills need to realize and do this type of thing.

 

[MN_Drew]

if all you care about is the Twin Cities, well there’s a reason we call it the Shities...

Uncalled for.

As mentioned upthread, a lot of the smaller hills run good evening and weekday specials. Trollhaugen's Tuesday & Thursday deals are great for families. I'm not aware of an affordable way to ski weekends around here without getting a pass, unfortunately.

 

[Nathanvg]

To be fair walk up rates are more than 80 out west. Abasin is 105, GT 90(95 holiday). Not to mention 200 for Vail. The midwest ski areas have expenses too and there aren't any mountains around so you make the most of what you have.

 

[focker]

This is going off your thread title, which is “Minnesota bargain skiing” if all you care about is the Twin Cities, well there’s a reason we call it the Shities...

Really? I'll leave it at this but a lot could be said right now.

 

[Slim]

@focker, @MN_Drew and others,

I am sorry. I truly didnt’ mean to offend anyone.
It’s an expression I am used to hearing in my group of friends, (1/2 Twin Cities, 1/2 outside, I have lived in both). It was only meant as a joking pun. Obviously not construed that way, so I have edited my post.

Again, please accept my apologies.

 

[focker]

@focker, @MN_Drew and others,

I am sorry. I truly didnt’ mean to offend anyone.
It’s an expression I am used to hearing in my group of friends, (1/2 Twin Cities, 1/2 outside, I have lived in both). It was only meant as a joking pun. Obviously not construed that way, so I have edited my post.

Again, please accept my apologies.

No worries Slim. I get tired of the ripping on the Twin Cities from my friends/family up north so I've become defensive after a number of years lol...

 

[MN_Drew]

No big deal. I think most of us are used to hearing that sort of talk from people who don't understand that outstate would be a whole lot worse off without the economy and institutions of MSP to boost them up. Our state is a lot more connected and interdependent than the political peanut gallery realizes. Anyways, enough of that. Hope you can all get out and enjoy the some spring skiing Saturday before the rain!

 

[ejj]

MN skiing is no bargain. We scan the deals on FB or homepages for night deals. Went to Welch on New Year's eve--I think the tix were $20?

We go to Wild/Welch/Spirit a few times a year. Otherwise its road trips to the Mountains. Also consider a spring Lutsen trip. They sometimes have great snow conditions in early April. And the pricing is sometimes fair.

 

[Wilhelmson]

lol people call us Massholes and we just laugh it off!

 

[focker]

MN skiing is no bargain. We scan the deals on FB or homepages for night deals. Went to Welch on New Year's eve--I think the tix were $20?

We go to Wild/Welch/Spirit a few times a year. Otherwise its road trips to the Mountains. Also consider a spring Lutsen trip. They sometimes have great snow conditions in early April. And the pricing is sometimes fair.

I have a Trollhaugen pass as my son does his HS racing and practicing there. I like the place, but mainly I like the people who work there and the vibe. The actual skiing is pretty boring. Once my son is done racing after next year I doubt I will buy passes there again.

I'm not sure what my skiing will look like once my son stops HS racing. I'll probably get a Wild mountain pass as the terrain is better and the season passes are actually a bit cheaper than Trollhaugen as well. I could see myself getting an Epic pass to Afton at some point just to make trips out West happen for less $$ and more often, although the thought of skiing Afton on the weekends is pretty depressing.