Afton Alps

A beautiful area right next to Afton State Park. I am not a skier but this is the third ski area to review based on looks and amenities without being too generic.A few years ago I was fascinated with the multitude of machines making snow and thought more movie production companies should be using these machines to make a more realistic snow scene. At any rate the chalet is top notch there are scenic slopes and they are constantly updating the site. Urban development is creeping down from the north into Afton so enjoy the ride out here as a respite from cookie cutter developments and another Applebees before the snow hilly countryside is gone.

These are my favorite hills to ski locally as they have so many runs and it is very kid friendly with their slopes. They have many chalets that offer hot food and drinks. The French fry deals they have are cheap and worth trying. The burgers are always good also. I like that we can hangout in the parking lot for breaks and watch the skiing hills.

Not the Afton Alps of my ski-loving youth...but that's not such a bad thing. We were here on a Sunday afternoon (so not too many insane bombers coming down the runs). Afton is now part of the Vail Resorts, which has committed the environment with their EPICPROMISE: advancement towards a zero net operating footprint. So, there are recycling & compost containers by the trash, as well as compostable plates/glasses/silverware. When we visited, the Covid restrictions had been lifted.

It seems like most of the negative reviews for Afton are due to a vaccination card requirement for the food court. Coming from Los Angeles, this is pretty standard for me so wasn't an issue. This is my favorite ski resort I've been to in the twin cities area. The staff was so friendly, from purchasing the day pass to the folks working the slopes. I came on a Friday morning and it was pretty empty which meant I got to ride every available slope with almost no wait time. The park was also really well maintained - I was worried it'd be a bit slushy with the warmer weather, but they did a great job making there was enough snow for a smooth experience. They also have a nice fire pit out front if hanging out in the chalet isn't for you. Ample parking, wide variety of runs, and immaculately kept slopes. I'd strongly recommend!

The location is closer which is nice, but we paid close to $65 each to go down twice. It was the Saturday after a relatively big snow, aka they should be prepared for the influx of people purchasing tickets, showing up, coming just to take pictures for Instagram, etc. Only got to go down twice before we got tired of waiting for 45 minutes for the lifts. Each line had almost 200 people waiting - I actually counted because I was bored.The employees working that day were nice and I'd be open to going at a less busy time (after work on weekdays), but otherwise, I'd maybe check out somewhere else until Afton starts running more efficiently.

My husband and I decided to get season passes here as opposed to any other hill and the Twin Cities area because of the epic discount and because it is one of the largest. We've been going since December and find that usually a new hill opens up as they are creating more snow and grooming it. There are a couple different chalets that you can visit, and though the lines can be long, the staff is friendly and fairly efficient.

It's less an hour from the St Paul/Minneapolis area. Especially from St Paul. It's large enough that one day is barely enough to run down every slope. The runs are longer anything Illinois and Wisconsin has save maybe Devils head and Granite Peak. But both of those is no where near any major metropolis. Here you eat and party anywhere the St Paul/Minneapolis area - that's a definite plus

Three reasons for not going five stars: 1) there are times of year when racing shuts down normal customer access to a reasonable number of trails, and this is in no way made clear by their website, or on the parent company's websites (EpicMix / Epic Pass / Vail / etc). 2) There's not beginner (green) ways to get between the various beginner trails; i.e. Meadows to Alps, Alpine to Meadows, Highlands to Alpine, etc. 3) The parking lot turns into a mud pit on warmer days.I'll also say that this is a far cry from mountain skiing, but I'm not taking points off for that because anyone visiting here should already know that and have set their expectations properly. I visited recently to give my five year old some time on a less intimidating hill compared to Colorado, where even the bunny slopes can have a couple hundred feet of elevation change. It worked perfectly; she felt more comfortable and even did a black run after three days.Parking gets interesting; if you show up on a weekend after probably 9am, you will likely be parking in an area that involves walking through mud. This is not as big a deal going to the slopes, but if you were not prepared for this, your vehicle is going to have its carpets / mats covered in mud when you get back and take your gear off.Regarding my #1 (at the top) comment; I learned from people I talked to, and other reviews, that the resort will sometimes shut down several runs for racing, not just De's Dive, which was only racers for Fri/Sat when I was there. I flew to Minneapolis for no other reason than to spend three days at this resort with my kid; if I'd arrived and was told several of the runs had been shut down, I'd have been really pissed given I'd spent a lot of money in advance to do the trip. Their website doesn't mention any of this, and it should, prominently.Other than that, seemed to be well run, and was a lot of fun. The concessions are not too bad unless you want booze, then you're at full resort pricing, but I've become used to that anywhere snow and people mix. I did see some complaints about the lines at the Epic Pass check-in. You can buy a pass online in advance and have the card mailed to you; I already had one for my kid and simply bought the lift tickets in advance, never even set foot in the Epic Pass office. No reason anyone needs to unless going to Afton Alps is a last minute decision, in which case, you may have to wait if you've never been to any Epic resort even once, in which case, you would have a card and can load it online.

Been skiing here since 1988 as a wee lad, but after the most recent experience its doubtful I will ever return, not just this year, but any year after. Actually, maybe I'll come back a few times this year to hand out free food in the parking lot since Afton Alps is discriminatory against people who have decided to engage in freedom of choice regarding their personal health.This place is the biggest rip off you could ever experience at a ski hill.Super long, super slow lines. Draconian, fear filled COVID restrictions. There was actually some employee guarding the door to the cafeteria and harassing some young kids as they walked in about COVID cards. Great experience for the family I'm sure (not).They are straight up stealing from people to be charging what they are when it takes 15 minutes to get on a chair lift.This place needs to be investigated for selling as many tickets as they do without providing nearly enough chairlifts. Has to be something illegal about providing such poor service, not to mention overly crowding the hills and making it that much unsafer.So they're worried about COVID and the health implications, but they're not worried about packing in as many people as possible and having crowded hills and crowded lines with people in close proximity while they spend an hour to go on one or two dinky runs?Makes no sense. Terrible place, terribly run, unscrupulous business practices all around .

Poor park management and maintenance, poor overall management, and lack of consideration to pass holders and customer. Sucks to see how vail ruined aftons community with great people.