Mad River Mountain — Attraction in Jefferson Township

It's not the Canadian Rockies and shouldn't be rated against that baseline. For the Midwest, it's a good hill, reasonably accessible, with good chair capacity and a surprising selection of trails.

Check-in was smooth, rentals went quickly. I broke my boot and had to rent. Since they don't rent individual pieces, I just used the rental skis and poles, too. Equipment was in good condition. The techs were friendly and efficient. As with just about every slope everywhere now, lockers are outrageously expensive so I didn't rent one. The lockers are rented at ATM-like kiosks and iirc once you've rented one you can access it unlimited times throughout the day. So, that's a plus but not enough to get me to rent one.

The lodge is one of the better ones in the Midwest region, IMO. There's the usual high school cafeteria area on the main floor and it has a pretty nice fireplace at one end (gas, not real logs). There's a nice quiet lounge area upstairs, which would be even better if they limited access to 21+. I was there on a quiet day so there was lots of room, available seating, and very few loud kids/teens. Pretty lame selection of beers, but I found that to be true everywhere I went in Ohio... The lodge does have mixed drinks, so there was that. We had a chili cheese dog which was pretty good. Typical slope pricing but not crazy. There's a cafeteria style area on the main floor but we didn't try it.

The lift crew was super friendly and accommodating and kept things moving smoothly. The lift on the "family trail" was considerably more crowded and that side of the hill had quite a bit more traffic. The more challenging trails were relatively quiet when I was there. Good snow coverage (even though no place else in the area had any snow). Apparently Vail slopes (this is one of those) aren't allowed to make snow when the slopes are open, so it wasn't fresh powder when I was there. Pretty decent conditions, though. Maybe just slightly grainy but totally skiable.

Plenty of parking (free!) when I was there. Gravel lot.

There's a little town not too far from the slope but nothing on site besides the lodge.

Overall, I'd recommend it and...

You get more than you pay for at Mad River Mountain! This is totally a family-friendly ski area close to all the major cities and towns in central Ohio. Anyone who lives here knows that the weather is unpredictable all year, especially when it comes to wanting a great, snowy winter. However, the crew at Mad River makes the sweetest lemonade out of some pretty sour lemons. They make TONS of snow when mother nature refuses. They groom daily and change up the features on the park all the time so there is always something new and fun for everyone. When it does snow, they tend to that, too. The staff are all amazing from the office to the cafeteria to the lift to the bar. The lift attendants keep the crowds moving quickly and smoothly. They also have RFID passes for season pass holders so the ticket lines are not nearly as long as they were in previous years. The food is not great, but it is just fine for a day at the slopes and the bar is well stocked with mixed drinks and several craft and domestic brews. Mad River also has tons of events from slope competitions (slalom, big air, rail jam etc...) to live music to visits from the Columbus Zoo. There is something for everyone! NOTE: if you have kids- there is no childcare on-site. That is my only complaint because I have a 5 year old and 3 year old. They can take private lessons and kids 4 and up can do "Adventure Place", but the rest of the time you might be stuck with your kids since they don't have on-site childcare. But for me, this is OK. We live within a hours driving time and I want my kids to learn to ski independently, so the fact that I can't just stick them with a babysitter all day is probably doing us all a service in the long run. Overall, I give MRM 5 stars because I always have a great time and it is a fun and safe environment for my family. When I go night skiing on a Friday or Saturday, I have a great time being "just me" without the kids. Nobody works harder than MRM to give you a great...

Terrible experience. I don’t know what was going on, by my goodness, it was horrible! They require reservations, and to buy tickets online because they are limiting tickets because of covid. Great! We buy tickets online. Get there, and we have to wait an HOUR to pick them up. Why. What? Why does it take so long? Then! And this was the worst part IMO. If you have to rent equipment, you have to wait for that too, I waited an HOUR AND A HALF to rent a snowboard. AN HOUR. AND A HALF. As I’m standing there I see the line getting longer behind me, I see the lift lines are a mile long. Limited ticket sales my a**. I’ve never seen anything like it! So i’m waiting outside and when I finally get to the building, there’s one staff member handing out forms to fill out for the rental ok cool. You don’t get a pen though, you have to wait for a pen, can’t fill it out while you’re waiting. When a spot opens at the boot table you move to the boot table, and there’s 2 people giving boots out. And there are pens on this table, but only like 5 and that’s it. I fill out my form as fast as I can because I realize I have to get BACK IN LINE to get my snowboard. !!! There’s TWO staff members grabbing skis and boards for people. It takes for. ever. I get my board finally, drop my shoes at the car, go to strap in with my friends who have gone down several times because the didn’t have to rent, and I see that my bindings are on the wrong side of the board! You could even see a big “L” and a big “R” on the bindings and they were in the wrong. spot. So I had to switch them around myself. And then one of then was loose the entire time. But the quality of the board is whatever honestly it is, after all, a rental. If you plan on going this season, plan on long wait times and mediocre conditions on the hill. Waste of...