Looking for a quick getaway from winter's doldrums that's local to Sioux Falls South Dakota? Here it is.

Great Bear Ski Valley and hiking Park has a fair number of amenities for a local ski park. The hill isn't big but it still is challenging for most skiers. From beginners (lessons available for Skiing, Shredding) to intermediate and somewhat advanced down-hill'ers, this is a terrific park. There is even some terrain dedicated to hikers and Telemark skiing. I guess one could even snowshoe here?

Even if you are an expert skier, this property is nice just to get some turns or a little vertical in until you can get out to a larger property. The hill even offers a tubing alternative for those that do not care to ski or board or just want something different.

The food is typical cafeteria style offerings but one is not allowed to bring in foods/drink from outside. The hours and pricing is pretty decent and I suggest that you check for specials on their site for occasional half priced events. Great news, this is one of the few venues that offers military discounts!

Additionally they have rentals of skis, boots, poles, headgear, Snowboards, tubing tubes and they sell a number of accessories (goggles and the like) in case you forgot yours. The Skiing equipment is decent considering it's rental gear. Most is pretty up to date gear.

I liked the night time skiing as the hill and the beginners area were well groomed and well lit up. So for a local or a quick getaway spot, give this a try this (or any) winter. I probably should have mentioned this from the beginning, the staff here are very nice and helpful folks. They answer questions repeatedly and patiently and that's hard to do hundreds of times a day/night. The hill is mostly staffed with High School and some college folks so experience isn't always up there but the desire to help mostly is.

I would like to see the Beginners Carpet lift given some much needed TLC. The on/off sections are barely adequate and potential dangerous bottle-necks occurred while we were there. Also on occasion, the on ramp part wasn't covered by staff so newly arriving folks had zero direction/help and had to figure it out. Other than that, nice job!