Let’s face it: winter in Ohio is the worst. At the first sight of a snowflake, everyone suddenly forgets how to operate a car. The snow is pretty for awhile, but quickly turns to hideous gray sludge. The air is bitterly cold, your skin is dry and everyone is grouchy.
But there is one good thing about winter, and that’s ski season.
As much as there is to hate about Ohio’s winters, there’s really nothing to complain about when it comes to skiing. Even the worst part about skiing – wearing the painful boots – can be the best part. At the end of a long day on the mountain, you get to wrestle off the boots in exchange for cozy cabin socks.
Here in Ohio, we’re not exactly known for our towering mountains, groomed moguls or technically difficult runs. If you want to ski something really hard and get the true mountain experience, you’re going to have to leave the state. But for those who love to ski, you can still find slopes here in Ohio, and not too far from Columbus. Let’s talk skiing: nearby and far, far away.
Mad River Mountain
Zanesfield, Ohio
Many of us Ohioans cut our teeth at Mad River Mountain. For anyone who had the privilege to join ski club, going to Mad River every week of the ski season with their best friends, the resort is near and dear to their hearts.
There was nothing quite like the freedom of escaping your home town for a night as a 12 year old, ditching half the clothes your mom sent you with and freezing your butt off at the top of the lift, horrified someone let you on this thing without a seatbelt. And even if your first experience with Mad River wasn’t during middle school ski club – or as an angsty pre-teen, trying to look cool as you bombed down the mountain, poles lodged in your armpits – there’s something special about Ohio’s largest winter resort.
Pro tip: Encourage your kids or grandkids to join ski club. Skiing is a sport you can love for life, and it’s the perfect winter activity to enjoy as a family.
Whether you prefer skiing, snowboarding or even tubing, Mad River has a run for you. While none of its trails are particularly long and you’re not likely to experience many powder days, Mad River’s charm comes from its family-friendly atmosphere, its focus on fun above everything and, of course, the fact that you can leave work and be on the slopes within the hour.
In summer 2015, Mad River was devastated by a fire, which completely demolished the iconic A-frame lodge. However, the 2016 Mad River skiers got a new, gorgeous lodge, the result of a $6.2 million effort. The new lodge is bright, beautiful and pays homage to the beloved old lodge with its gable roof.
If you’re accustomed to skiing out west, you might find Mad River to be a change of pace. But Mad River perfectly matches Ohio’s pace, and any ski trip to Zanesfield is the ideal way to break up the Buckeye State’s bitter winters.
Mad River by the Numbers
- Elevation: 1,460 feet
- Vertical drop: 300 feet
- Trails: 20
- Lifts: 12
- 1-hour drive from Columbus
Breckenridge Ski Resort
Breckenridge, Colorado
Unknown photographer / Vail Reso
116980
If you’ve never skied outside Ohio, Colorado is an interesting experience. You wait in painfully long lines, ride the startlingly high lift and decide on a winding trail with your group. You dangle your ski tips off the peak of the mountain, looking down on the mogul-dotted trail below you and the stunning little town in the distance. Somewhere not too far off, an explosive echo off the peaks – ski patrol conducting routine avalanche control.
Suddenly, something occurs to you: I might die here.
Breck is exactly what you picture when you imagine a ski town. Whether you’re skiing in November or March, the picturesque town is locked in Hallmark Christmas movie mode all ski season.
For novice skiers, it’s also an eye-opener. There’s nothing quite as humbling as getting smoked by a child a fraction of your age, on a trail on which you’ve already yard saled twice. There’s nothing that compares to the shame after a big fall, brushing the snow from between your gloves and sleeves, hearing hoots from the lift above. Then, you realize you have to hike back up the mountain to collect your poles and skis.
Pro tip: If you’ve only skied in Ohio, you might think you don’t need lessons. Skiing out west and skiing here in Ohio may as well be two different sports. Spend the money on a lesson, or spend it on a trip to the emergency room.
And yet, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of hearing the whistling of the wind against your helmet, feeling the strength in your legs as you turn (and the subsequent soreness after you wake up the next morning) and the calm a simple cup of hot chocolate from the lodge brings after a few exhausting hours on the mountain.
A vacation on the beach may relax you for a moment, but a week skiing out west is like hitting the reset switch. That’s mostly because, after a few days on Breck’s slopes, you’re too tired and sore – but blissfully happy – to remember what was stressing you out back home. It’s not rare to hear fellow skiers and snowboarders shriek with joy as they descend down the mountain face, and who can blame them? Skiing Breck is like magic.
And who knows? Maybe next year you’ll brave the T-bar.
Breckenridge by the Numbers
- Elevation: 12,998 feet
- Vertical drop: 3,398 feet
- Trails: 187
- Lifts: 34
- 20-hour drive from Columbus, or a 3.5-hour flight to Denver plus a 1.5-hour drive to Breckenridge
Amanda DePerro is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
