Skiing and snowboarding lessons and open routes are available, with lessons beginning at age 4 and all levels of ability catered for with 20% green runs and 60% blue.
Additional snow sports include snow tubing available for kids over 42″. Friday to Sunday only.
There is also a beginner friendly terrain park for developing skills and confidence.
Summer activities include hiking, mountain biking and golf.
Place is super fun. It’s the midwest so of course it’s small, but the snowmaking is on point, the park is great, and it’s got a positive vibe. If you’re looking for real mountains, obviously go to Colorado, but if you’re looking for a local way to get away from Minneapolis’ endless sprawl and get some turns in, Afton Alps is pretty awesome.As a added benefit, if you get a season’s pass, its good at a slew of resorts in Cali, Utah, and Colorado, so vacations end up being basically free if you can make it out there.
Just before our first time visit, we read a comment from yelp review dated on 26 Dec 2013 that this place has been taken over by Vail and has 1 hour line waiting for ticket. When we got there today 28 Dec 2013. The ticket line was ~15 minutes, but the chair lift lines are awfully long all over the mountain, we had to wait for 20 minutes on almost every chair lift. But each run only took us about 3 minutes the most to finish!! Sometimes the chair lift will stop in the middle. On 1 and 2 occasions, it stopped twice within the very short distance?? The runs are not very well sign-posted.We read signs stating that kids under certain ages have to be accommodated. However, this rule is not enforced at all!Considering that we have skied all over the country including Keystone and Heavenly, which is the same owner. This facility is very disappointing to say the least! Every chair lift definitely needs replacement on speed and loading capacity! Where does the $10 million improvement go?
I enjoyed my experience at Afton. One thing that stood out was the staff, they were extremely nice and always said hello. At night especially, it can be a bit difficult to get around the place. If you are one who loves terrain parks, rails and jumps, this place is for you. Terrain parks for beginners, intermediates, and pros.
Best ski area for the Twin Cities greater metro. They can get very busy on weekends and expect lines for lifts, etc. They do run things “on the cheap” during weekdays (closed lifts/trails/chalets), but shorter lines when you ski during the week and you can also get reduced rates when you sign up for a free Advantage membership. The chalets look spotless since Epic took over ownership, but no longer can you bring food from home and microwave it in the chalet. They took the microwaves out, so now you must buy their overpriced food unless you want to tailgate it in the parking lot and bring a grill along.
Awesome mountain biking! It’s a lot more “legit” then you might expect. The main trail has plenty of nice downhills, mild “jumps”, and banked turns. Even if you’re not skilled at mountain biking, you’ll definitely like the ride. If you’re up for a challenge, there are plenty of side trails that are difficult yet enormously fun.