Beaver Mountain Ski Area — Attraction in St. Charles

All in all, this is a fun little place, but it definitely has its negatives. I loved this place the first 2-3 times I went, but then I started realizing the major hang-ups.

As for the mountain: The mountain is small, so don't expect PC or Basin. The lifts are absolutely in desperate need of renovations and a guest limit. The fact that this is 2021 and they're using humans to control lines and hand-scan your lift ticket/pass is completely insane. They need RFID gates like pretty much every single place I've been to in the last 5 years. The lifts are also slooooooow, which causes huge lines to backup because there are just way too many people on the mountain Friday-Sunday (if you go Mon-Thu, you basically have the mountain to yourself unless it's a powder day). Seems like only 2 of the 3 main lifts open regularly, so that causes even more of a backup--don't know what that's all about. The runs are pretty fun but really, really, short, which makes the slow lifts and waiting in line even more aggravating. There aren't really a lot of options for beginners like some of the bigger resorts with long, gentle, wide greens--so if you're bringing your family it might get a little cramped down on the beginner side--only one lift and a couple small magic carpets over there so it gets super, super crowded on weekends.

The signage on the mountain is absolutely awful and often times confusing or doesn't seem to match the map. You'll look at the map and plan your route, then realize you have no idea where you are because there are hardly signs anywhere at the splits and lanes (comparing this to the bigger resorts that have an excess of signage). This is fine if you're advanced, but it's dangerous if you're learning as you can suddenly end up on a steep black, so be cautious. There are some fun powdery tree areas, but the trees are pretty freaking dense and/or on faces that are pretty steep making it fairly dicey if you aren't on top of your game. I feel like other resorts/slopes just have better natural tree-lines, but that's not exactly at the fault of the owners--just nature.

As for the facilities: They need bigger/newer/cleaner bathrooms (people also need to learn how to courtesy flush when in tiny cramped bathrooms... my god). The food options are pretty standard, but the COVID precautions have been virtually non-existent inside and there is zero attempt at social distancing or masking when in line for the grill. I also didn't see any alcoholic options, which is kind of ridiculous. Some parts of Utah still insist on living in the prohibition era.

The upper parking lot is NOT cleared of snow nearly well enough and can be dangerous. They really need better snow removal up there. The lower lot can often be extremely icy as well, so be cautious.

All in all, it's a fun little mountain for a $50 day pass, but if they made it $60-70 and added some much needed improvements it'd be a major step up. They 100% need to limit guest count on the weekends--move to a reservation system or something (especially after COVID is over and even more people start heading up). It just gets busier than is acceptable during the weekend for so few slow lifts and such short runs, and people aren't even parking along the HWY right now. I can't imagine things like lift renovations are cheap, so it probably is what it is for the foreseeable future. This mountain just isn't keeping up with growth. I'm sure it was fine 15-20 years ago.

TLDR: It's a really small mountain with few excruciatingly slow lifts, but it's a fun little place. Don't waste your time at the Logan ticket office, but do get your gear the night before at the attached ski shop in Logan to save hours of standing in line for rentals at the mountain. Recommend season pass if you're local since the mountain gets way too busy on weekends and is too small to accommodate. Definitely go during the week (M-Th) if you're going solo or as a pair. Get there absolutely no later than 8:30 AM if you want parking Fri-Sun. I'd even...

Beaver Mountain was an unanticipated surprise since we were looking for a ski area near Bear Lake where we had swapped for our Orlando condo. We arrived in Salt Lake City on a Monday evening after a nice snow that left a great powder but the roads over the mountain were cleared and very well maintained over the week we visited. The ski conditions were fabulous with new powder and the slopes well maintained during the entire visit. The prices were great, especially for the Senior Season Pass at $100 for the season, so you get your investment back after only 3 days. "Old Guys Rule" at The Beav but plenty of challenging slopes for all ages.

The staff could not have been any nicer from pass purchases to equipment rentals to food services. Special kudos to the volunteer Ski Patrol Team who provided a courtesy transport to my girlfriend after a wrong turn on The Grand Canyon slope at the end of our 2nd day. I got my turn with the Ski Patrol and medical staff on day 3 when a little girl accidentally cut me off as I was using the GoPro to video my daughter and grandchildren at the start of Little Beaver. Doug and the other Ski Patrol team members took great care in securing my leg with the torn calf muscle and transporting me via the sled to the First Aide Station where the physician and support staff did a great job of reviewing my injury and ensuring my equipment had been properly fitted. Doug was superb and stayed with me during the entire process to ensure I was well cared for.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to ski with the "kids" as much as I would have liked on our first family ski trip due to my injury, but the staff at Beaver Mountain still made it a great experience for all.

Thanks again to all who made...

I brought a group of 7 people to Beaver Mountain, 5 of whom needed beginning ski lessons. We paid $70 each for a 2-hour lesson, rentals, and an all-day lift ticket on Little Beaver. My group was composed of ages from my 55-year-old dad (who’s as a first-timer) to my 11 year old little sister, and we really enjoyed our time there. Our trip was on a Thursday, so It wasn’t too busy. -The Lesson: We all took a lesson together, even though two of us are experienced skiers. (We 2 are level one skiers, but I still wouldn’t recommend that. We got bored with the slow pace.) However, all of us were VERY pleased with our instructor, Madison, who learned our names, listened carefully to our questions, and made us feel comfortable on the slopes. -The Lodge: It never seemed too full except at lunch time, but even then we still had enough space for all 7 of us with various clothing articles and coolers spread out. We did get there at 9am, but even if we hadn’t, we still would have found enough cubby space for all of our stuff- coolers and the like. There’s also free wifi, which is a huge plus for checking in on the child we left with a babysitter. -There was enough space on the mountain for our beginners not to get nervous, which was awesome. -The only negative thing I have to say about it was how sore I was afterwards. I’ve done brief research, and apparently quite a bit of that could have been prevented with better-fitting boots. Next time I’ll bring better socks, and maybe some beer koozies to pad...