Mount Lemmon Ski Valley

Mt. Lemmon is a bare bones facility, famous for spotty conditions, about 45 minutes up the hill from Tucson (via the Sky Island Parkway). This is the Coronado National Forest in the Catalina Mountains of southern Arizona. You can ski and golf in the same day, or have dinner and an evening an hour to the south in Mexico.

While Mt. Lemmon doesn't offer a lot of terrain it does offer variety, including a terrain park and halfpipe. The base area at Mt. Lemmon also offers equipment rentals, ski instruction, a gift shop, snack bar and the Iron Door Restaurant. Overnight lodging is available nearby at Summerhaven. If you're going skiing here, call first and find out about the conditions... Most folks wait for a good snowstorm to pass through, then head up the hill for some fantastic powder.

I remember going tubing up on Mt. Lemmon as a teenager. The ride was pretty wild and there was only a rope tow... so we on the tubes (and cardboard boxes and sheets of plastic) flew down the hill and then staggered back up. But what an incredible view... and then to go back down the hill into 80°F and go for a dip in the frigid waters of Sabino Canyon...

The chairlift on Mt. Lemmon is in operation year round for those who'd like to get an incredible 360° view of most of southern Arizona.

Ski trails at Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley