Alpine Valley — Attraction in White Lake Charter Township

Don't waste your time or money here. Saddens me to say it, as I came here when I was young, but the new ownership has shown itself to be interested only in maximizing profits by increasing fees with no noticable improvements to any part of the property. Major bait & switch here.

First, Alpine says they invested in new snow machines but, while other local ski areas have been making snow, I guess Alpine decided to save a buck by not doing the same. As a result, other places (who have had the same weather challenges) are have nearly all their chairs open, while Alpine has no more than 2 open.

Next, the chairlifts are not only rickety and dated, but also unsafe and out of maintenance. As you unload from chairs, there's a ramp which has safety netting along the backside of the ramp, for the uncommon event in which a person "misses" the ramp and falls backwards. This netting can literally save from serious injury, yet many of the lifts' netting is dry-rotted and/or not properly installed, meaning it wouldn't hold up if a person were to fall on it. I literally saw a young girl fall into it a few days ago - couldn't have been even 100lbs, and the netting broke away from the rusty nails that held it in-place. While the chairlift operator observed the damage (I spoke with him directly about it), nobody came out to repair it over the next several hours. In other words, the next person to fall won't have the netting at all, and an average adult would've gotten injured before the netting became dislodged. All the chairlifts look to be in a similar state is disrepair, and it feels like a larger (completely avoidable) accident is just waiting to happen.

The lodge has multiple half-completed construction projects inside. Not talking about big projects either, but the type that could be completed in a week with 1-2 capable carpenters. How you but a ski hill several months before ski season, and can't compete even a small project like this just further exemplifies that there is zero commitment to improving the experience of their customers - just feels like a cash grab where they increase prices, pocket the profits until more people take notice, then my bet is the new ownership looks to flip/sell after showing the next potential buyer the balance sheet after 1-2 years of gouging loyal customers.

The food/cafeteria somehow went downhill as well. It wasn't Alpine's strength before, yet the quality of the food went down while, you guessed it, prices went up. I'm not even talking about the typical price increases we're seeing everywhere due to inflation - these are much higher increases for the same dried up, burned-by-the-food-lamp burger and fries. Their fountain soda machine works about half the time, but worry but because they'll sell you a styrofoam cup you can use to drink their dank unconditioned well water instead for $2.

I sincerely wish I had something better to share, as this place was dear to me as a younger person and I'm a big supporter of promoting skiing/riding with the next generation(s), but I feel as if I've been taken advantage of for spending nearly $2000 on season passes for my family of 4 and this detailed and honest review is my best way of helping others avoid wasting their money, while also possibly getting the new owners to step up, even just a little, however unlikely.

There are other options within a 30-minute drive of Alpine - none are perfect, but all appear to be trying harder than Alpine Valley's new ownership. Choose and...

My son and I skied Alpine Valley last Sunday. We are both ski instructors and have years of skiing experience. We were blown away with the quality of the snow at Alpine Valley!

I had known that the snowmaking at Alpine is exceptional because of the cooling of the water prior to going into the gun, making them able crystallize the ice cold water faster to form powder and not ice granules.

The snow at Alpine allows holding an edge to provide more stability at all skier levels, so give it a try, you will see the difference the first run.

The resort has also been upgraded in the lodge, and it was clean, well appointed, and really cozy with multiple fireplaces for warming and relaxing.

My son and I both commented on the tree lined runs that give Alpine Valley an upnorth feel, unlike other local resorts that are devoid of trees or lacking in trees that not only serve as a windbreaker, but create a beautiful contrast between the white snow and the green pine trees.

Having skied all of the resorts in Southeast Michigan, I have to say that Alpine Valley is my choice. It has steeper runs that don't drop sharply and then flatten the balance of the run like other local areas. It also has wide beginning and intermediate runs that are serviced by easy to load and unload chairlifts.

Beginners should only consider Alpine Valley since their Bunny Hill has an extremely log carpet lift that feeds to two very long and wide beginner runs that are simply safer than others due to the expansive area for beginner lessons and practice.

I am not normally a reviewer, but I love skiing and am always trying to get others to give it a try. That's why I hope you will get to Alpine Valley yet this season.

Have...

(If you’re coming on a weekend— and plan on using the bunny hill to learn) This was my second time skiing. I’ve been once before last weekend at holly. Being new I wanted to start on the bunny hill again. The carpet ride on the bunny hill moves super slow.. no biggie but if there are ski lessons with small kids happening plan to wait an extra 10 minutes (at least per run) in line because every kid getting a lesson gets to cut in line every time they’re at the end of the hill. I loved watching the kids learn, honestly. But I paid $91 dollars for a ticket + rentals and lessons are $110 ($19 difference) ;.. I paid a lot to be here and to learn too.. but every person running a lesson cuts in front with 5-10 kids. How do I get to get any time on the hill? Not to mention I stood at the top terrified to run over a little kid because there are groups of 30 at the bottom during lessons. After letting two groups of 7 cut us in the line we asked the person teaching the lesson to send the next group behind us so we could get up he said “uh NO. These kids paid for lessons! Are you serious?” I mean it’s nothing against the kids learning but we paid almost $200 for the two of us and we wanted to learn too? I’m not confident enough to get on the lift but I ended up taking my skis off after every run and walking back up like many others who told us they had a similar experience. Maybe use one side of the hill and add another carpet ride for only those getting lessons? We had no issue last weekend (same day of the...