Afton Alps, Hastings

I'd probably give Afton a 3.75. Skied with my daughters the other day. Dare I say our home hill Snowcreek has better vertical? It's close. Anyways, there are a good amount of runs here but they are all pretty easy. The blacks didn't offer much challenge but offered some good cruising. There was a nice route that goes through a pipe with a nice jump at the end. We did that over and over. The terrain park was a bit too ambitious for us, they could use some smaller stuff varied in. Pretty much everything was expensive. I did appreciate being able to park at less crowded chalets and ski right down with the epic pass. The runs were groomed and in good shape after raining a couple days earlier. The merch store is strong. Good stuff in there. Solid resort just expensive without too much variety in terrain. Welch Village is a better value and better skiing, especially when the back bowl is open.

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.