It was a family weekend. All the boys came home and we spent the days in the snow.
Son #3, his girlfriend and I headed up to Mt. Ashland Ski Area on Friday. We spent the whole day up there skiing the entire mountain. It was a blast!
The weather was perfect. A bit of snow most of the day, interspersed with some blue skies and sunshine.
It was my second trip to Mt. Ashland, the first being about 10 years ago. It was just as good as I remember it. The snow was soft and powdery and there was lots of it. Some of the runs were groomed, some were not. Skiers and boarders of any skill level will have no trouble finding runs to ride at Mt. Ashland.
There are four lifts which take you to four different levels of the mountain. We utilized three of them.
Skiing down from the lodge, the first lift is called Comer. You can get on that one which will take you back up to the lodge area or ski a little further down and hop onto the Windsor lift which takes you midway up the mountain.
From the top of Windsor you can ski back down to the Windsor lift or to the Comer lift or directly back to the lodge. You can also ski all the way down and jump onto the Ariel lift which takes you to the peak of Mt. Ashland. From there you have some intermediate runs, several black diamond (expert) runs as well as the bowl. The bowl – son #3 loved the bowl. Why? Because it has boulders.
He’s always been the kamikaze. A little crazy (in a good way) and fearless. Always adventurous and willing, if not wanting, to experience something new. If you look closely in the above photo, you can see him skiing down the face of the center boulders.
The fourth lift is the Sonnet lift which is for the beginner skiers and boarders. It is situated next to the lodge and the learning center so parents can have a break or a beer and watch their kids learn the ropes. Or those adults who need a little liquid encouragement (or reward) after a hard ski or board lesson, can do so. Oh, and there is also a rope tow for the very beginners.
After some morning fun, we headed back to the lodge for some lunch. It was snowing pretty good but it wasn’t very cold so we sat outside and ate the lunch we packed from home. However, if you chose to, you could purchase your lunch from the cafe inside the lodge. It all looked delicious and smelled amazing so I’m sure you would not be disappointed with whatever you chose.
The lodge which completed renovations in December 2017 boasts 4 levels. The bottom level houses the equipment rental location. The second level is where you can purchase your lift tickets as well as any food at the cafe. It has a large circular fire place in the middle which makes it cozy to warm up after a cold day on the snow and lots of tables and chairs. There is also a little gift shop if you forget a little necessity or want to take a souvenir home with you. Stickers and a shot glass were my souvenirs of choice this trip.
On the third level are more tables and chairs and a full size bar with an exit to an outside deck near the beginners lift and a view of the peak.
The fourth level is an open area with a few more tables and chairs.
For those of you that like to know the particulars, per their website here, Mt. Ashland has a summit elevation of 7533′ and a base elevation of 6383′ for a 1150′ vertical drop, 4 chair lifts (2 triple and 2 double) and a rope tow, 220 acres with 23 runs, and 265″ of annual snowfall.
All-in-all it was a great day on the slopes. If you have never been to Mt. Ashland Ski Area or haven’t been lately, put it on your bucket list while the snow is still awesome. It is a great family friendly, affordable mountain of fun. Your family members young or old may just leave with smiles like this.
