We hadn't been skiing in over two years, so getting back on the slopes at Mad River Mountain was such a treat. Our daughter had a great 2‑hour lesson, and it was wonderful watching her confidence grow. Nicole brought her own snowboard, and I borrowed my father‑in‑law's skis--felt like a true family outing from the start. Even though the weather was warm and rainy, it didn't take away from the fun. We still enjoyed cruising down the hills together and making the most of the day. I needed a fresh pair of ski socks, and the ski shop had exactly what I needed--comfortable, warm, and ready for the slopes. Around noon we headed into the lodge and grabbed lunch by the fireplace. Sitting by the hearth with everything warm and toasty was such a cozy break. We enjoyed hot chocolate, a Miller Lite, honey hot tenders with fries, a bowl of chili, and a cheeseburger--everything hit the spot. We're wrapping up the day with a few more runs, and honestly, it's been the perfect mix of family time, fresh air, and winter fun. Mad River Mountain made it easy to enjoy the experience, rain and all. Highly recommend for families looking to make great memories together. read more

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We got in line at 4:00 PM for Midnight Madness and somehow ended up stuck in the snowboard/ski rental line until 8:16 PM... and we're STILL here waiting. Now they're telling us all the boards are out and we just have to wait around for people to return theirs. We booked everything online, paid ahead, and were genuinely excited for our first snow event -- and this is what we get? No refunds, no compensation, nothing. Honestly, save yourself the headache: BRING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT because clearly they can't handle their rentals. EDIT: We were able to get the board at 9:30PM read more

Mad River Mountain - Still so many ppl waiting in line since 4PM. Currently 8:30PM and boards are out. No refunds. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

I didn't ski here (just took a quick road trip up for a much-needed change of scenery) but it looks to be a nice enough spot if want to "hit the slopes" but stay local. Rentals and lessons seem readily available, the lodge facilities look pretty nice, and there seems to be plenty of parking. It did look like a couple of the runs were closed; not sure if that was staffing or weather-related. Snow was made, but some of the trails looked a bit "bald" (not sure if that's the right term!!) with lots of grass showing. Lots of complaints about lines, but they didn't seem too bad to me, I've seen A LOT worse back east, especially on the weekend. Looks like they have some fun special events, esp. since this is their 60th year in operation. Worth a visit, for young and old, to get your skiing "fix" in for the season, or to whet your appetite for the "real" mountains...... ENJOY!! read more

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So first time trying out the tubing area. This was so much fun. Make sure to reserve in advance as time slots fill up fast. Once you are parked you walk up to the ticket booth and give them your name for the reservation. They then give you a tag that you attach to your clothes. While you wait for your timeslot, you can sit inside the building to stay warm. Once you are ready you head out to the tubes where they will give you instructions. Then, take your tube and head to one of two moving ramps that will take you up the hill. Once at the top you can choose your lane. Some lanes are for adults and some for kids and some are for doubles. Meaning you can tie two tubes together and head down the hill. 7 lanes are available and they are so much fun. The workers help get you setup and then off you go!! So much fun and not too pricey and perfect outing for any adult. Not just for kids . Plenty of parking with clean bathrooms. Go have fun read more

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If you live in Columbus and don't wanna drive, it'll do. Lines are too long, slopes are mediocre, and since Vail bought it it's really is just an overcrowded mess. Drive a few hours South to Perfect North or a few hours North to Michigan if you have time. Much better skiing. read more

Had a great time snow tubing! Directions were simple to access. Staff were kind and helpful. read more

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They have a very inconsistent refund policy. One person in our 4 person group was sick and could not go. I saw a refund could be gotten at the gate. When my husband got to the gate they said no refunds. I was given 3 different bits of information about refunds. They need a uniform policy. Terrible customer service. The tubing itself is fun but they don't care about your kid getting sick enough to refund. read more

A lot of people trip on this place and make it clear they're expecting some 5star Colorado resort. We're in the foothills of Ohio. Not aspen Tweak your perspective a little bit. also if you struggle with long wait times, try going on less busy days/hours, like Monday's -Thursday's. Cool and nice staff, nice ski shop, large warm lodge, and a nice set of slopes for where we are. I recommend :) read more

If you don't already own skis or equipment, renting can get pricey, so we decided on tubing. Honestly, we had a blast! It's incredibly simple, but you'd be amazed how fast time passes. Each ticket allows for two hours of tubing, which was a perfect amount of time. We went earlier in the day, so we didn't have to wait in line much. I bet it gets packed in the middle of the winter though. There really wasn't any set up for tubing - just grab one from the pile and get on the lift! There are people at the top who give instructions before you slide, but it's nothing extensive. After the first ride, I was hooked! Even though the temperature was in the mid-40's, we were cruising! My group of friends who are in their early 30's had an awesome time, so I can only imagine how happy little kids would be. Definitely recommend trying this place out if you're looking for some fun in the snow! read more

It's Ohio. This isn't Colorado or New York. Thank you, Mad River, for giving the local Midwesterners a mountain to ski on quick day trip. I dropped a star because I think the prices are a bit high and slopes were a bit icy and a lot of brown patches (it's late February) -- although I can only image the difficulty in managing a business in the midst of inflation and an impending recession. Cafeteria style cheeseburgers at $9.25 and a soda dispenser (no refills) at $4.00 is why I see very few people in the lodge and families in the parking lot eating home-brought subs. Rental area very spacious and all staff we encountered we very good. read more

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Now i know why its called mad river, because by the end of the day youll be mad that you ever came. If you like standing in line for tickets, come here. If you like standing in line to get rentals, come here. If you like standing in line for the lift, come on over. If you want to stand in line to use the bathroom, this is the place. Really though I've been coming to mad river for 20 years. Its completely lost its soul. The new lodge is an amazon warehouse. Prices are un sat. Its just no longer a fun place to be. And i don't get how people continue to come here? Guess they just don't know any better. Would highly recommend you save your money. read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

Great place to go on a snowy day. This is the best park in Ohio but if you can get more into the Appalachian mountains to ride you are better off. Though for city slopes they aren't bad. They have some great learning trails. read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

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Went today at lift opening and waited no time to grab our lift tickets and get skis in the rental building! Given the Ohio conditions, the runs were great. As soon as the main lifts became a bit crowded they opened up another one. The longest we waited to hop on was around 5 minutes! Thank you to all the kind staff for a great day. My advice- get there early! Rental line got long by noon. read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

I always enjoy coming back here when in town and in the winter of course but those girls that helped us in the rental building getting our gear were not very helpful. I get it, they're young but they weren't helpful, they didn't ask any questions, just sent us on our marry way. Had no care in the world other than what they were talking about and the music.. I think at one point I even heard them making fun of people which I thought was odd.. Definitely one of the worst customer service experiences there by far! Everyone else was great, ticketing, on the slopes. Thank you. read more

I'd give 2.5 stars if I could. With that said when we actually have snow the place is not that bad. read more

Mad River Mountain - What most of the mountain looks like wasn't going to waste anymore time taking pics of the actual mountain. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

Mad River Mountain, the place for snowboarding, skiing, tubing, and enjoying some time in the "loft" if that's what you want to call it. I had the image built in my head of what I expected it to look like or sort of look like. Wooden log cabin like interior, but not at all. This was just a bland, basic type building. Nothing special about it at all. If you want to ski or snowboard, you might want to have your own equipment. The prices at this place are insane if you want to rent their equipment. My girlfriend and I visited recently to watch a "competition" and just enjoy our time sipping on some drinks and eating pizza. Well there did not seem to be a competition to even watch and the pizza was not good at all. (I highly recommend not getting their pizza). Honestly, I am okay with not going back to this place. read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

This was my second time skiing in my life. Just like the first time, super fun! Skiing is definitely hard & annoying going against the snow but a bunch of laughs all day. Expect to fall on your ass for sure. There was a bit of a mishap in my reservation where I didn't get my lift pass so make sure to check your envelope when they hand it to you! my instructor, Bill, was awesome!! During my session there was also another instructor working with pee-wees and i just want to say he is AMAZING. He was so engaging with the kids and it was really awesome to watch the whole thing. The instructors are all so patient and joyful, you'll be sure to have a great time here! read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

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I really couldn't contain my excited when arriving to this place. I made the trip to Ohio from Florida, and this would be my first time in snow. So obviously skiing and snowboarding is something I've never done in my life. My brother and I went on a Friday in March so maybe that explains why the place wasn't that busy. We purchased the Never Ever Package which is for ultra beginners like myself. The pass included: admission, a lesson, gear rentals, and all day lift rides. That was an excellent deal if you ask me! The snowboarding and skiing lessons didn't start until 2pm so we had some time to kill and decided to have a go at snowboarding and then attend a skiing lesson at 2pm. The rental area is separate from the main building where you purchase the tickets. They had lockers you can purchase to store your belongings. We got a medium size for $5. Next thing we did was check in with one of the workers to sign waivers and we were instructed to pick our boots. They have two different sections for snowboarding and skiing boots! Pick the right one (I didn't at first). The boots are kinda heavy and make you walk funny too. Then we were given our boards and we headed to the slopes (bunny hills for us). Since it wasn't very busy, we had a lot of space to work on and not worry about running into other people. I really enjoyed our time snowboarding but we were trying to make the best out of our stay there so we took our snowboarding rentals back, then grabbed a bite to eat at the cafe in the main building. They have a large dining/seating area and a place on the wall to charge your phones. Checked in to get our ski rentals and met with the instructor outside. He went to show us the basics of skiing and spent a good amount of time with us. We had 4 people in our group and he did a great job of having us perform what we learned one by one. We were exhausted after a few hours of snowboarding and then skiing. Our bodies also hurt from falling a lot! So as much as we wanted to try tubing, we just did not have in us physically. I gave it a 5 because I got the experience I was looking for as a first timer! read more

Mad River Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

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I of course didn't except as this is Ohio, there are no mountains and Ohio is not known for skiing, so I keep that in my mind when I make a review. Basically , my expectations were not that high. With that being said I had fun and enjoyable time so that was enough to bump up the score. There was a line to check in but it seemed to go quickly as did the rental line. The skiing was decent, a variety of hills and different abilities I really liked a lot of the intermediate hills down at the other end from the bunny hill, I enjoyed being over here and the double lift seemed to quicker than the other ones and I seemed to be less crowded at that end. My only cons is there weren't enough signs showing you were to go to check in and such and that really seemed confusing to me, more signs would be helpful and all lifts could be open to help get more people up to the top. I really enjoyed my time and will be back read more

We went on a saturday late afternoon, the line was short and quick. The pricing is $25 a person regardless of age, for 3 hours at a time. They have a little snack cabin on the right where you can buy snacks and wdrinks, and the bathrooms are locsted towards the back. The tubes are conveniently located and they are all nice looking, nothing ratty as far as I can see. One tube per person, toddlers have to ride their own tubes. They have a little conveyor belt to take riders and tubes up the hill. There were 10 lanes. I learned some only accept single riders, but they are not clearly marked. I went with my toddler, amd we are allowed to tie the tubes together. The kid was terrified at the idea, but loved it after we went down the first time. Towards the end it was single rider only but our lane guy check checked with the guys in the booth and said it was ok for us because we had tiny humans as our tie on. Tip of the day? There are conveyor belts to tske you up top on both sides! The food court was disappointment, but maybe just bad luck. The hot choclate machine was out, the coca cola syrup was out, the nacho cheeseachine broke and took for ever to get us a cup pf sauce and the mustard dispensor was out! Just fyi... they cannot refund money apparently, cause the lady didnt know what to do qhen i brought them the chocolate dusted water. The ladies behind the best did the best they good, service was the best they could do given the situation. read more

Great place to ski, go during the week, it gets pretty busy. Place seems to get a lot of hate online over their new ownership and lodge. Lodge is great and clean. Food is ok, not great, not terrible. Rental lines can be long on weekends, go down the street to the place by the highway exit, cheaper and probably faster. read more

Terrible experience indeed! The staff just don't care and the whole organization is a mess. A terrible snow day for a ski class and road is terrible, first of all no person answers the phone even with messages left, make the class 20m earlier with an hour ahead start on the road, suit up and whole group ready to go, 20m past the class starting time and the group coach is no where to be found, and nobody even care to check on us. Asked and found out our coach is somewhere helping a situation?! What situation they will not comment on, then when asked about the delay some staff just literally say they will refund us for the day and let us get our ass out of their office, what a business you guys have here! It is not always about the money you know! it is the basic integrity of running a business, treat your customers with respect but guess Mad river does not have such principal in mind.. read more

I would give zero but one is the lowest, long lines, charged full price even when half the hill is closed, keeps going downhill since vail toke over read more

Amazing for a cheap ski resort and if you are a beginner this is the place you will want to go there is 4 different size mountains

This is a great spot in the Midwest to get your fix for skiing, snowboarding or tubing. No, we don't have mountains here (surprise, surprise) but we DO have large hills that make for a great space for enjoying those winter sports! I've always enjoyed skiing and I love that Mad River Mountain offers up a variety of runs for the beginner all the way to the pro. You can rent your ski/snowboard on site as well as your boots. They provide lockers for rent so feel free to bring in everything you may need into the main building. The upstairs of the lodge is The Den, which offers more seating AND A BAR. Can't beat that on a chilly day! They always offer food/non-alcoholic beverages on the first floor. Every time I've come to Mad River Mountain I've received great customer service and will continue coming back. It's truly a nice little gem in Ohio. So if you live in the Midwest and don't have the capabilities to escape to the mountains, I promise that you can still enjoy the slopes here. Enjoy! read more

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Used to be a nice place but ever since Vail bought it, it has been terrible management. They do not care about their customers, the lift ticket sales is the worst, very slow and long line up to 4 hours waiting in line just to get in. By the time you wait 4 hours for your ticket they will be closed and you don't actually get to ski. read more

LONG wait lines - waited over two hours just for lift ticket and you can't eat here unless you have proof of vaccine. This place used to be awesome - but clearly guest service is not important under new ownership. Stay far away and go somewhere else. Also, DO NOT buy your tickets online, it does NOT allow you to skip the line... even though it was advertised as so.... I never complain... but this is just straight up a rip off. Not to mention, the ski lift lines were long also. read more

they open the bare minimum amount of lifts to always ensure large lines, plenty of lifts could be opened, maybe they don't want to pay employees to operate them or they want to limit the amount of runs we can do but there is always unnecessarily long lines for lifts when they have plenty more lifts they could easily open up to free up the long waits. read more

Unfortunately in the 3 hours we were there we only went down the hill 3 times. While they said this was atypical from what others were saying it was not. Would not recommend if you want a fast tubing experience and the opportunity to go down a hill more than 1 time an hour. The staff were great and apologetic, however, and the facilities were excellent. Just wish we had a better experience in the tubing area. read more

Mad River Mountain - Lines for days. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Zanesfield, Ohio

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I have been going here for years and this past opening weekend was horrible. They wouldn't serve you food unless you had your vaccine card but not for the upstairs Lodge. The hours are horrible, people where showing up at 5 when they where closing on Saturday. The line was an hour long to get your lift card. The management is short of staff. Hoping it will return to normal so I can return. read more

The resort is getting worse and worse. Only few chairlifts work and few runs open. How can they explain that Snow Trails can cover with snow all their terrain and Mad River can hardly make snow for 3 runs. Kids working at the chairlifts often do not pay attention. So, I see skiers getting almost injured when they get on the lift about every time I go there. Prices on food and alcohol are getting ridiculous as well. Please go to Snow Trails if you want to ski in Ohio and have fun at the nice lodge. read more

This place has 3 hour lines to get your tickets then and hour line to get rental equipment. Then an hour line to get on the lift. If you want to spend half of your day just getting to the top of the hill I suggest you start to climb. read more

Terribly long lines and wait times. We bought the standard 3 hour for $25 snowtubing sessions. 4 adults and two 3 year olds who are still $25, whatever but they linked tubes with us so we weren't hogging lanes, we went down 3 people at a turn. We waited an hour each time to go down, we went down twice. The third time the line was basically to the ticket booth. There is no management, and no one seems to know what's going on. People are waiting at the top of the hill but it's so backed up, no one knows which lane they are in. They had 5 lanes open and no snow on the other side, not sure what that was about. I would not recommend or go back, pretty bummed that we were supposed to go to a different place but their conveyer broke at the last minute and we chose Mad River. Get your stuff together. I guess should add, I do understand it is the holiday season and going to busy but they literally have no way of seeing who has been there for 3 hours or longer and/or do not care. They should be capping the lines and tickets purchased. Also, if you know that it is a busy time why aren't all the snowtube lanes open? Ugh. read more

The issues with mad river is the hours. 10-5 has everyone coming at the same time. We waited two hours to get tickets and rent skis. This was after we purchased everything online. It was too expensive for the lack of time on the slopes. Everything else was fine. But we will not be going back until they change the hours back. read more

Mad river mountain is a great place to ski and snowboard and even snow tube. They have a great range of levels of mountains and they have something for everybody. The lodge is amazing,although they don't have all the usual options for food the food there is still pretty good. read more

2 stars for trying! Your much better off reserving tickets at Snow Trails for snow tubing. First we waited in line for an hour and half. Ok it's first come first serve I get it. But they sell tickets in 3 hour increments and have no system at all for who is staying and going. So you sit and wait for people to leave. It was just chaotic and very inefficient. Once in, it was fun. Unfortunately in 3 hours we only got less then 10 runs in. Because your waiting in line 30 min each time to get onto the ride back up. Plus time while the guys at the top finally get over to you to send you down. So if you go ... put your patient hat on and enjoy the couple rides you get in. And at least it's a pretty view. read more

Mad River is doing the best with what they got. Yes wait times are long and if you are renting equipment they are even longer, but when a lot of people flock here that's what happens. However, I noticed that a lot of the congestion could have been avoided or reduced if more employees were working the booths. Instead of two staff members per 4-5 booths, have three. Skiing was fun and the lines for the lifts were almost non-existent. Food was edible, but people generally don't go there for food. read more

Some friends thought it would be fun to go on a night ski and so we drove up here to give it a try. It is about 40 minutes from Columbus if you drive fast (not that I recommend that). We tried the "Never ever" ticket -It is $80.00 - and includes a snowboarding or skiing lesson. I decided to try the snowboarding since I'd never done that before, thank goodness my sister bought me a full set of everything needed for snow weather when we went to Gunflint to go Dog Sledding. http://www.yelp.com/biz/gunflint-lodge-grand-marais So I had a snow suit. and a ski jacket already. I wouldn't go up there in regular clothes or anything that would allow you to get wet down to your skin... you need some good ski pants, jacket and gloves... it's very cold and if you are going to fall down (and if you aren't a seasoned skier, you are GOING TO FALL DOWN!) you will get wet and freeze! Okay, so we put our stuff in a locker and got on the snowboard boots - which are more comfortable than ski boots but still make you walk like a duck. I got a board and went with my friend to take a lesson... SO... as soon as the instructor strapped the board to my feet, I had a full on panic attack - not even joking! Something about having both my feet on one thing FREAKED ME OUT.. so I let my friend take a private lesson with the instructor while I sat it out and texted to my two other friends who were so silly that they had just headed to Dicks Sporting Goods to buy snow clothes... and were no where near arriving... good thing this place stays open through 3am. So I traded my snowboard boots for ski boots and my board for skis (you can switch once on the same ticket) then I went back out and started skiing around.. very badly... I have skied nordic style/cross country on a trail, but downhill is not cool for me.. i need to do better next time.. LOL.. So when our other friends arrived, one of them chickened out of trying anything.. so I took the opportunity to suggest that she and i just watch from the lodge while the other boarded and skied. The loft in the lodge has a full bar but is very limited in food choices.. they had a live band and the atmosphere was pumpin... we enjoyed hanging out and watching people ski.. If you are an experienced skier, you'd like the hill.. very well groomed and not too busy.. no black diamond runs, but some good choices.. Next time, we are trying the TUBE place.. read more

this place is horrible first of all I've been skiing and I'm pretty experienced and I know people get injured. but this ski patroal team is horrible you cannot be joking around when someone is hurt. also you can just leave someone in the medical room for 2 hours unsupervised with out letting them have no socks on. get your mother f**king ski runs and your ski patro's shit together but I'm never coming back to this place because of what you have done to me read more

I ski at Mad River to get in shape for more challenging terrain. It's convenient, reasonable and has good snow-making ability. Not a lot of vertical drop, but they make the most of it with multiple lifts and runs - some even through the trees. Hey - it's Ohio, not Aspen. But, an inexpensive place to tune up. (Go on a weekday and the crowds are not bad. It gets crowded after 3 on Friday and through the weekend.) read more