Paul Shirilla

Review of Buck Hill Ski & Snowboarding A...

Our family has always enjoyed skiing at Buck Hill....

Our family has always enjoyed skiing at Buck Hill. We live in St. Paul and like the proximity, price, and snow quality for a quick day of skiing with our children.
We won't be returning anytime soon after our experience this past Thursday, Dec. 28. We knew the day would be challenging with the cold temperatures but our children were eager to get outside and ski. We bundled up and were prepared for the conditions. They basically have one good run down the center of the hill that we like skiing. However, we were appalled that they had the snow guns on, which made the run unskiable. To get to the other decent run, we had to ride up the chairlift with ice shrapnel blowing in our faces. My kids were miserable and wanted to go home after an hour. I spoke with a ski patrol about turning off the guns and he empathized but said this was an operations decision- that they have to blow snow when the conditions are right. Look at the current forecast- you can blow snow non-stop in the evenings for the next 3 weeks.
I have grown up skiing in the Midwest and never experienced this type of operation. You shut down the guns during the day and provide a good environment for your paying customers to enjoy- especially when we are paying holiday rates during the prime week of skiing in the year.
We will go somewhere else and pay a bit more to have an enjoyable experience.