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Lutsen Mountains resort snow
Lat Long: 47.66° N 90.71° W
Ski USA - Minnesota

Lutsen Mountains Resort Reviews

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Issued: 6 pm 30 Apr 2026 (local time)

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Visitor reviews for Lutsen Mountains Ski Resort

Lutsen Mountains Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 3 votes and 6 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.7

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Lutsen Mountains is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.5

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Lutsen Mountains has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.0

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.5

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.0

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Lutsen Mountains

Public Transport: 2.0

  • There are no buses or taxis to Lutsen Mountains
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.3

  • No places to stay in/near Lutsen Mountains
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 1.5

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.0

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Lutsen Mountains

Ski in/Ski out: 5.0

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.5

  • There are no child care facilities at Lutsen Mountains
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.0

  • Lutsen Mountains relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.0

  • There are no snow groomers at Lutsen Mountains
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Lutsen Mountains are groomed daily

Shelter: 4.0

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Lutsen Mountains is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.3

  • If snow conditions are poor at Lutsen Mountains, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 5.0

  • Lutsen Mountains usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.7

  • The staff at Lutsen Mountains are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Lutsen Mountains are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 4.5

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 2.7

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 5.0

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.7

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.5

  • No intermediate terrain at Lutsen Mountains
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.3

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 4.0

  • Not even a kicker at Lutsen Mountains
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.3

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Lutsen Mountains
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Lutsen Mountains has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.0

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.3

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 3.0

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.7

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 4.0

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.3

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 4.5

  • Overall, Lutsen Mountains is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.3

  • Overall, Lutsen Mountains is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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January 28, 2023
Alex from Ski USA - California USA - California
Lutsen is about the best you can do if you are in Minnesota and craving some downhill skiing, but that’s not really saying much. For one, the lift ticket prices (as of 2023) are over a hundred dollars a day, and on-mountain food prices are hitting as high as 60$ for a couple beers and burgers. Most of the runs are blues, but they may as well be green - they’re short, tedious, and chock full of children. The handful of black/double black runs are usually closed and if they are open, expect something that might pass for a boring blue out west. The lifts are old, slow, and most are two seaters that cause giant lines to form with massive wait times. Excited yet? Let’s talk about run/lift closures. Lutsen is notorious for closing their lifts without warning and will not issue refunds when doing so. They closed the main lift for Moose Mountain on 1/28/23 which is home to more than half of their total runs without any warning, and when I asked if I could be compensated the extremely rude female manager at the ticket office tried to bribe me with a $15 voucher (you couldn’t even buy a burger with that on the mountain). Kind of disgusting behavior given that the lift closure was not due to weather but their own stupidity (I heard from another skier that they had actually frozen the lift gears by accidentally pointing a snow blower at it). If you value your sanity, dignity, or bank balance please ski literally anywhere else than Lutsen, Minnesota.
February 28, 2022
Victoria from Ski USA - California USA - California
Lutsen Mountain ski package website is taking part in a scam! The insurance offered is a scam! The numbers listed on the Lutsen site go to a scammer that tries to steal your information! After discovering this I contacted Lutsen and they deny it and allow it to continue! They are involved in fraudulent activity and continue to allow their customers to be scammed!
December 20, 2011
Jeremiah from Ski USA - California USA - California
Lutsen is good for Minnesota, but another review is 100% B.S. [note from the editor: preference to avoid personal responses]
December 18, 2009
Nate Walther from Ski USA - California USA - California
Mike's totally wrong, Sam summed things up pretty good. Although, I would like to add that the non-lift serviced portions easily push the overall vertical to about 5,500 feet. I make the best of this vertical up in Frosty Bowl (Moose Mountain's infamous 3rd bowl, nestled on the other side of "The Plunge"). The other bowls have a little more of a runoff, but Frosty covers about 3,000 big ones in less than a mile. It's sweet, man.
February 16, 2008
Mike from Ski USA - California USA - California
Most of the other review is not true.
October 15, 2004
Sam Panning from Ski USA - California USA - California
This is massive ski resort in the heart of the Sawtooth Mountains in Minnesota. The beautiful snow capped peaks are about 16,000 feet tall. The anual snowfall here is over 500 inches because of Lake Superior.(Largest Fresh Water lake in the world)At Lutsen you can choose from for different expansive mountains with over 150 runs combined and a total vertical drop of 4800 feet. One thing to look for is the massive pine trees which Minnesota is known for. Some trees are over 200 feet tall and hundreds apon hundreds of years old. One thing that is a downside is the fact that temperatures at Lutsen can be very cold at times. In February 2, 1996 the temperatures fell to 68 degress below zero. But usually the temeratures are in the teens and twenties for winter so you have to bundle up. Lutsen also has four massive lodges with hotels. Each having well over 500 rooms. In the summer there are 6 different golf courses to chooses from that very from the cliffs of Lake Superior or a top the Sawtooth Mountains. Two have been designed by Jack Niclaus. Lutsen is simply the best in north ameica