This place destroyed me being somewhat okay with snowboarding the hills in the metro area. Even though it's much more expensive, it's totally worth it. Moose Mountain is the place to go and the lift to get there is an experience in itself. The chalet at the top has a breathtaking view so make sure to bring along your smartphone and snap a few photos. There are hills for every skill level and the runs take more than a minute to get down. The staff are incredibly helpful and seem to love their jobs. All in all, if you're into snow sports, a trip here is a must. read more

I'm going to dare to say that the skiing at Lutsen is the greatest in the Midwest. The vertical is 1,000, so nothing like the resorts out West, but the prices are also a lot more affordable and there are no crowds to speak of, plus if you live in this region it's easier to get to. I taught my husband to ski here on our 1st wedding anniversary, and we've now skied from Winter Park to Nagano, but we still enjoy coming back here. The ski-in/ski-out rooms are really affordable, and the mountains offer something for everyone from Green to Double Black. The ancient red gondola is super cute, and even though the lifts are old school and kinda slow, the view of Lake Superior and out into the expanse of the Superior National Forest makes it worth it. You will often have an entire run to yourself, and there is rarely a line of more than 2 people at the lifts, making skiing here a very relaxing and pleasant experience. For apres ski there is the cute bar at Papa Charlies, which occasionally has some decent acts and serves some good spiked hot chocolate, and staying on mountain at Eagle Ridge is a treat. read more

It's definitely the biggest in these parts. There were some options in the runs. But in the end, they were all pretty similar. I loved the old school gondola. I'd suggest using the lutsen website if you're planning on staying the night. We got a great deal. The food choices were limited. The one on the other side of the gondola lift pretty much ran out of food (not everything, but they ran out of burgers, chicken, and more). read more

So we've been here for the last two days with some really great points and a few disappointments. The runs are easily the best in MN. They have a 1000' of ski-able elevation. Nice selection of everything from easy to double black diamond. There was rarely a wait longer than a couple minutes at the lifts. They had the gondola running which was quite unique to this region and a nice addition to the experience. There were some great views from the gondola. I'll add some pictures. The things I was disappointed with; their website claims that they can handle some 10k people per hour on the lifts, yet they can't figure out how to provide food to more than 20 people in 20 minutes at their chalets. We ate at both chalets and both were designed by a moron. I waited in line on Monday to get a hamburger. After 20 minutes and not going anywhere my wife and I left to go back to our room to eat. The other big thing I was disappointed with; "largest and best" ski location in the state, yet they don't have a ski shop on site. My wife came to the conclusion that she needed new snowboard boots. No problem, we are at the start of a 3 day trip, lets get some new ones. Their "Mountain Shop" has a lot of nick-knacks & books and a limited selection of hats, gloves, coats and pants. They have NO snowboarding or skiing equipment. What the heck. Do they not like money? Somebody at the top of this companies chain of command has dropped the ball. The last thing I wasn't impressed with was the trail grooming. They seemed very beat up early in the day. I can't say 100% for sure that they weren't groomed at night, but it seemed this way. So I'm very happy with the geography of this place. However, most of the man made aspects of it should have been done better. read more

Had an amazing spring ski trip. Drove up from The Chicago area to get one last trip in before Spring took hold. The runs were a mix up of terrain which made for a fun day. The staff in the pro shop was helpful on where to start and friendly to talk to before the lifts opened up. If I had two complaints they were the short open hours, and old ski lifts. It would be nice if they would invest in some lights for one mountain face, and upgrade a few more lifts for faster transport up the hill. Overall it was a great trip and I hope to return this coming winter. Thanks for the last minute spring trip!!! read more

Lutsen is a great place to ski for any level of experience. We went two years ago in February & had a great time, so we were excited to return again this year. Unfortunately for us, only 1 run was open on Moose Mtn this weekend due to lack of snow. Thankfully lift tickets were half price! After 10 or so runs, we got tired & headed to the chalet for food. This is the one area that could definitely use improvement. Whatever their system is, it isn't working. We waited 30+ minutes for our food. The staff was very polite & apologetic for the wait, though, even offering us fries on the house! Overall, Lutsen is a great time & definitely worth the trip! read more

The gondola was expensive, but worth doing at least once. We rode the gondola up to Summit Chalet for lunch. The food was good, the beer was good, and the views were stunning. Afterwards we rode the alpine slides, and they were much more fun than I imagined! In fact, the gondola was so expensive that if I'm in the area again, I'd rather spend the money on multiple alpine slide rides! read more

Fall is a marvelous time to visit the North Shore. We recently were up, and decided to ride the Lutsen Gondola to the top of Moose Mountain. The price was kinda steep, but the views seemed like they were worth it. And they were. The trip was amazing, and I highly recommend it. With one caveat. Be sure to ask the ticket taker if your tickets include seats at a wedding. My wife didn't do that, and as a result, we got to the top only to find that a wedding party had rented out the entire chalet, and the glass of whiskey I was dreaming about all day was hidden behind the velvet ropes. If I were getting married, the last thing I would want is a wedding venue surrounded by a mess of random strangers, many of whom are pissed that my wedding had prevented them from getting any mountaintop libations. And If I were a random stranger, which I was, the last thing I would want is a wedding party booking the bar where the weekend's most anticipated drink was being stored... read more

We were there in early July and only took the gondola ride up the mountain. So I can't rate the restaurant at the top, the resort, or the alpine slide. While the view from the top was very pretty, we felt we had just a good of view of Lake Superior from Palisade Head. It just wasn't worth the $20 per person to ride the gondola up to the top. The view from the gondola was nothing spectacular at all. read more

Was not impressed workers did not know what they were doing. Ticket booth was a joke make sure you sign the waiver before you go otherwise it's a mess and no where does it say this not a good experience. Alpine slide was fun but sketchy slide needs some repair would not go again read more

The skiing (when not a sheet of ice) is absolutely amazing!!! Excellent views of Lake Superior and very much has an out west mountain feel to it. You won't disappointed with the ski terrain. The pricing has recently become completely out of line!! +$80 for a lift ticket??? The price for lodging at Lutsen is completely asinine!! The lifties...typical up north crappy attitudes. This was once my favorite place to ski in upper Midwest. It no longer is due to the above. If not for the amazing skiing I would never recommend Lutsen. Pricing needs to be corrected ASAP! read more

The Alpine slides were Lots of fun but way too pricey. 3 people, 3 day passes for the slide and gondola ride at $44/person- way too much. The views at the top of the gondola ride are nice but there isn't much for hiking trails at the top. Don't eat at the restaurant at the top! Huge disappointment. Super greasy and overpriced. Are you ready for the kicker? No sinks or running water in the restroom for that restaurant. There are compost style toilets and hand sanitizer. Yuk! I'm not sure how that could possibly pass a health inspection. read more

I took my family here earlier in the week for spring break. When we first arrived and starting getting rental equipment, my daughter had a rough start because her boots were very uncomfortable. We were told that's just how they are. After we a bit, a worker finally agreed to get her some new boots. My wife, son, and I spent time while that was happening working on our own gear. They switched out her boots and she said they still didn't feel right, but were again told - "that's fine, they're supposed to be that way." We went on our way to start skiing. We weren't given another other direction at all from the staff. We ended up asking a fellow skier where the bunny slopes were to help my daughter get started since this was only her 2nd time skiing. He sent us to a hill that ended up being a green hill. It took my daughter about 45 minutes to make it down the hill. When she got to the bottom she was in a ton of pain and in tears. After some time talking, she said she just needed to get her boots off. I sent my wife and son off to continue skiing and we went back to turn in our gear. She took her boots off and as I went to turn them in, I noticed she'd been given 2 LEFT BOOTS. No wonder she was in pain and had such a difficult time skiing! We asked if there was anything they could do for us since it was the employees mistake and were told no. So, hundreds of dollars spent and my daughter made it down the hill once and I ended up turning mine in too because I couldn't just leave my 12 year old daughter sitting alone in the lodge. I couldn't be more disappointed in everything about this place from start to finish. So, if you're looking for a good place to ski...look elsewhere! I saw plenty bad reviews and ignored them. Don't make the same mistake! read more

An absolute ripoff if you visit for the (admittedly fun) gondola and alpine slide. The concession we purchased tickets from charged us over $400 for a group of mostly kids to ride once on the gondola and evidently just once on the slide.We thought we'd purchased unlimited slide tickets. Our receipts were completely un-itemized, so we had no way of knowing. When we went to ask to exchange for multiple rides on the slide, they had to get a manager in to handle it. Turned out that when we exchanged tickets for arm bands, we were comped only the price of the single slide tickets, losing $100 on the one-time gondola fees - evidently un-refundable because the tickets were collected at the gate. Who would ride the gondola all day, I don't even know. They also declined to exchange single slide tickets for 5-ride tickets because each concession has different offerings, and they claim they can't exchange purchases at different concession booths. Then, of course, after about 3 or 4 rides, a thunderstorm rolled in, and we had to leave. A family who had just purchased unlimited tickets in front of us went home out probably $200 having never used the slide, because the place doesn't issue refunds. Stay away and find something else to do in the summer months. read more

Paid a lot of $$$ for 3 people to ski and rent equipment. The guy at the ticket window was pissed cuz we didn't fill out form online and so he had to keep his little window open while we did. He actually yelled at my wife when she couldn't see the form on the device. Mr. Happy's brother worked in the rental shop handing out ski's. You'd think with the money you pay to ski her they may have a course in customer service that their employees could take!!!! read more

Crazy staff was recording us..... We stayed here with my family and my daughter in law was uncomfortable at dinner. The waiter had sneakily put a phone on a table nearby pointed it directly at her and was recording!!! We confronted the wait staff and picked up the phone to clearly see it was directly pointed at her and the video showed her directly and no on (creeper)!!! The wait staff lied to are entire family and said they went recording ? Wtf there was 11 of us there and they eventually said they were recording as a joke. So the manager said he would look into it. so IF YOU WANT YOUR GIRLs RECORDED WITH CREEPER PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE I WOULD RECOMMEND THERE RESTAURANT! read more

A terrible value and total ripoff. I lived in two ski towns, Park city, UT and Eden, UT. I have no problem paying to ski or live in a ski town. However, Lutsen is a ripoff. This place is very "Minnesota Nice". Which, if you are a native Minnesotan like I unfortunately am, knows that "Minnesota Nice" is more of a backhanded insult then a compliment. I travel a lot for work and often stay a few days later at my expense to ski or mountain bike where I was working. Last time I did this was this past summer in Bend, OR and Government Camp, OR. I arrived at the mountains solo (because I originally came for work) and left with many friends. At Lutsen, its very "Minnesota Nice". This means that people wont bother you, unless you experience Minnesotans other, "Passive Aggressive" side. However, no one will talk to you. Thankfully, I brought family with. Staff - They are pleasant but not outgoing and don't seem to enjoy their job. Only one liftie at the top of the gondola wearing dirty Carhartt pants had enthusiasm for the job. The other litfies either said nothing to you or were hanging out with other employees. Staff will talk to you the bare minimum required for their job. Ski patrol - Must be volunteer. They seem more interested in skiing for their own benefit and hanging out in the ski patrol chalets then interacting with the people who overpaid for a lift ticket so they can ski free. Chalets - Somewhat clean, overpriced bar food, congested. Not to western standards or what I expect for a $82 ticket. Charge Buck Hill prices for a lift ticket and we will be good. Gondola - Very nice, however this is the first year in operation. Lets see how well they maintain it. By the looks of the rest of the property, it will be in poor shape in a few years. They left the towers for the old gondola which looks trashy. Mountain - Its expansive for Minnesota. It also had poor grooming partly from Snowboarders ruining the snow and poor snow maintenance from Lutsen. They close at 4PM so get here early. Very congested. Confusing layout, poor signage. No staff on mountain to direct you. If you are in the Twin Cities and thinking of going here, don't. Its a 3 day trip, minimum. 1 day to drive 5 hours (took us 7 because of snowy roads), 1 day to get the most of their short hours, 1 day to drive back. The only ski out hotel is over $500 A NIGHT! You are much better off flying to Colorado or Utah and be around staff that has a better vibe and excited to work there with much more and better terrain. I recommend Deer Valley. read more

This is the best ski mountain in Minnesota. Been here two times and they have both been great! They just installed new lifts and gondolas which work great. read more

I agree, it's expensive. ..I'll ski spirit with cheaper lift tickets and less driving time and i can still see the lake. ..

Bought lift tickets/rental the night before. Myself and 2 first-time skiers. Asked for the best deal for first-time skiers that need a lesson. There was NO mention of a ski school special for just the bottom lift that would've saved us $200. I was told that it is mentioned on their website but they do not go out of there way to sell the package. So we paid TOP dollar for 2 first-timers that never got on a single lift. Found out about it at end of day - brought it up to them and no adjustment made. They kept saying the tickets state there are no refunds. Thanks a lot Lutsen. We'll never visit your mountain again. read more

Gondola ride was amazing during fall color season. Note that the ride is completely and easily accessible to those who use wheelchairs. I drove my large motorized wheelchair on and off with ease, and the attendants were very friendly and helpful. There didn't seem to be an accessible restroom at the restaurant at the top, but there is one in the gift shop building before you go up. They even allow dogs on the gondolas if you're traveling with one. This was the highlight of our trip to the North Shore, and worrh every penny. read more

Pricey, yes, a long drive from here, yes, worth it? Yes! We drove up from the DM IA area and were very impressed at the quality of skiing in a winter lacking of snowfall. Good facilities, staff, and an awesome view. We will be back again this winter. read more

We hosted our daughter's wedding on top of Lutsen Mountain. Beautiful in so many ways. The chef and kitchen staff (male) were amazing to work with, the lift personnel also professional and kind. The Eagle Ridge personnel, wonderful. The wedding coordinator, Amanda Plummer, was difficult at best, to work with. She was hard to reach by phone leading up to the wedding. It often took a few days for her to respond to questions we had. Once there, we were treated as if we weren't the boss of her. (Although our checkbook says different!) I was scolded by her for peeking into the kitchen, while there were guests around. A blond, young female kitchen worker felt the need to tattle on me, thus spurring the lecture from Amanda. (As if I wasn't under enough stress already!) I was my daughter's florist, having been in this business for 27 years, I understand rules and timing. We set up cupcakes earlier in the day and I asked the coordinator where the boxes should go. She told me they would be taken care of. I was horrified to find that the boxes were sitting out , still, when there were guests already seated at the reception. All in all, the scenery can't be beat. I would say about 1/2 of the employees were delightful to work with. The other half were on some sort of power trip, with their favorite words being "YOU CAN'T...". I have two more daughters that will be getting married. Not at Lutsen unless there is some change in the guard. DL read more

The Summit Chalet at Lutsen was TERRIBLE!!! The service was horrible; the cooks stood behind their grill and slandered the guests who were dining... The food was very expensive... the adult beverages were priced as if we were at a stadium watching a game - TERRIBLE!!! Save you money and pack a lunch, bring a cooler!!! BEWARE! read more

We have been frequent visitors of Lutsen for years, but have been really disappointed with the current spike in day pass pricing. Although the slopes may be the best in the Midwest, if this trend continues we will be better off heading West to the mountains to save money. read more

At $75 per lift ticket, they are over priced. The hills are nice but not mountains. The chair lifts are sub par, welch villages are much nicer. They need to be more competitive on price to get people to make the long drive. If your a family of 4- lift tickets for a day are over $400 !!! read more

I have been skiing at Lutsen Mountains for years. I am an advanced skier and have skied all over the world. Every year they make improvements, to what is already the best ski hill in the region. A few years ago they added the 10th Mountain Chair lift, it services the south face ski runs on Eagle Mountain. This greatly improved the enjoyment of skiing down, Manitou, Hari Kari, Koo Koo, and all of the other connecting runs. This year they added the Caribou Express Chair, this is a hi speed six person chair lift. In the past I had never skied myself to exhaustion at Lutsen, (like you can at the big resorts out west or in the Alps) this year I did. This year I was getting in twice as many runs on Mouse Mountain. Normally in the past the lift linea on a Presidents Day weekend were very long, specifically at the old Caribou lift. This year the longest wait that I had at the new lift was maybe, 5 or 6 chairs. I know they have plans to update other lifts at Lutsen Mountains, please make it sooner than later. By the way the snow this year is the best they have had in a few seasons,120 inches so far! Customer service at the hill: This is the first time this has ever happened to me. I lost all three of my families lift tickets walking to the chalet, $240 just gone. I went to customer service; I had used my credit card and still had the receipt. They replaced all three lift passes and voided the ones I had lost. It took a few minutes, but this is not what I expected after reading over and over again people whining about poor Customer service. I have all ways been treated very well on the ski hill so all the negativity has always surprised me. read more

This isn't the hill to cut your teeth on (not literally). If you are somewhat experienced or above, you are going to enjoy yourself here. No one that has skied out west will truly appreciate one of the better spots in the midwest. It has some good runs and a lot of variety, which most hills in Minnesota don't tend to offer. read more

This is a summer review. We stayed at Lutsen Resort which is maybe 4 miles away. We drove to the ski lift/tram/slide area. It's confusing. Where to park? Where to get tickets? There are red lifts and open lifts. Open lifts take you to slide, red lift takes you over a valley and to a big large cafeteria type place that serves snacks and beer. It's all kind of under construction. It was pretty but not spectacular. BTW, if you lose balance off the slide it will take skin off, like when you scrape yourself so deeply it is white. You have been warned read more

Really good week skiing. Snow was still good. (Even though there was no snow in the surrounding area). They are still grooming every night which is fantastic. The rental area was amazing at helping with equipment (even though we didn't rent from there). Not every lift was open but the 6 person was very fast. Mr. Gene gave a great lesson for the kids. All in all, we are very happy and it was well worth it! read more

I am a fan of Lutsen, we have been going to Lutsen for many years skiing, mountain biking, alpine slide, hiking. I found myself so angry at their customer service department and how they handled a rain check that was given to us evidently to be used by Feb. 2012 (we had not seen the expiration date). We were unable to get back in 2012 but we saved the rain check and headed up to Lutsen this past week. The rain check was given due to extreme fog in 2011 so severe that there was no way we could have skied safely. My husband brought the ticket (rain check with receipt) of a 147 dollars to the ticket office to use, they denied him, so he paid and we skied. We talked about this while skiing and felt that this was very unjust and it should be discussed with management that we were willing to pay the extra in fee's but they could clearly see we paid 147 dollars with the paperwork (receipt from 2011). Any courtesy would have been accepted from their customer service department, even a half price off lift ticket's due to this misunderstanding of having to use this rain check in a specific amount of time. The manger came out and said "well you should have called". It was explained to her that we did not know that it was to be used in a timely manner, she did not care she continued to be rude and dismissive. There were two young employee's at the ticket counter who were polite and helpful and should be running customer service. The employee (not the manager) gave me a number of who I needed to call to resolve this issue which should have been the first course of action. When I called this manager she was polite and understood and reached out and made this customer satisfied. She offered to have a 100 dollars taken off lift tickets which we felt was fair based on their policy and the mistake we made as customers of not reading the expiration date which was on the receipt not on the rain check receipt stapled on to the cash receipt . Legally gift cards have no expiration dates, we probably should have asked for a gift card instead of a rain check. Thank you to Melisa the manager who did get back to us and made us feel satisfied with the treatment of this situation. read more

Dec 31 2015-Jan 2 2016 Let me start this off with the fact that I've been to Breckenridge, CO, Big Bear, CA, and Mt. Kato, MN for my snowboarding experiences. The 7 hour drive to get here will never happen again. This place is overpriced and the runs are not labeled for the difficulty that they should be. There is a "green" run that takes you back to the main base side and it's absolutely way too steep and narrow to be a green run. The lack of terrain features is very disappointing. For some reason unknown to man, they didn't have Mystery Mountain open, which cut back a lot of the experience. They made snow the entire 3 days that I went, yet they didn't bother moving any of it around and making new runs out of it. In order to be able to do anything at all after a day on the slopes, we were forced to stay in Duluth, which is a good hour and a half drive. Once people started really showing up on Saturday, the staff was all discombobulated and in a state of panic because they couldn't handle the amount of people there. They were in no way prepared to take on the couple thousand that were there, let alone being close to their max capacity. The only thing that was nice was the Gondola, because it gives a great view of Lake Superior and is a rather quiet and peaceful ride. I'm so disappointed in this place that I'll be going back to California for snowboarding again soon, to get my worth. read more

We booked a ski package for a weekend, 2 days stay/2 days ski/concert for $700. The skiing was great, concert was excellent, but the hotel...not so much. We specifically booked (one month in advance) a stay at the main lodge at Caribou Highlands (ski in/ski out) for a king bed. We knew we'd arrive late, so I called the resort a few time to let them know and got a voice mail both times. So, I emailed them to let them know we'd be late and listed our confirmation # with the reservation information (including hotel room type). When we arrived, the staff was pleasant and stated "I just got your email and was going to contact you". She gave us the room cards and sent us on our way. Never did she mention what we got...which is a two queen beds hotel room. WE RESERVED A KING BED!!!! We didn't complain, because we knew they were busy. I'd probably go with AmericInn 9 miles away with shuttle service to the Lutsen mountains and continental breakfast. At least you get what you reserved. read more