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Arizona/New Mexico Skiing the Lemmon - a day at the most southern ski area in the US

Core2

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Not many people know there is a ski area 30 miles away from and 8000 ft above the city of Tucson, AZ. Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley has been on my hit list for many years and today I finally checked it off the list. Being where they are located and relying completely on natural snowfall, they are lucky to have a month or two of skiing per season if they even open at all. The ski area offers 200 acres and 900' of lift served terrain nestled in north facing valley filled with old growth trees. The base lodge sits at 8200 ft and the summit is 9100 ft. There are two double chairs, the main summit lift and a feeder lift on the beginner terrain. This place is a total throwback to old days, no snow making, old snow cats, minimal grooming, stinky old lodge and no f*cks given. These things just happen to be everything that make me like a ski area. Add in the fact that the terrain is incredibly well setup with steeps, bumps, glades in old growth forest, and nice cursing groomers and you have everything you could want in a nice small package. I skied for a few hours and even though the snow conditions were not the best I did not find myself wanting to leave. My pics really do not do this place justice. It was a blast to ski and if any of you ever get the chance to check it off your list I highly recommend it.

Parking lot looking at the base lodge/ticket office/gift shop
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$45 lift ticket, take that Vail 2.jpg

Looking down Hot Dawg towards the base area with a good view of the two lifts 3.jpg

Base terminal, lift is named Clarence? 4.jpg

Up the main run 5.jpg

Heading up Clarence towards the summit 6.jpg

Top terminal of Clarence and summit 7.jpg

View from the top with Tucson in the distance 8.jpg
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Random ski run pics
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TexasStout

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Thanks for the review and the pics!

I remember there being a ski area on Mt Lemmon because i rode my bike up to the base lodge with some acquaintances on a January day about fifteen years ago. Have been wanting to ride it again, but haven't been back to Tucson since. Would love to ride up and then ski before riding back down.
 
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Core2

Core2

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Awesome little review there Core2, love it. I'm a bit concerned about the clearance on that lift..... seems very close to the trees! How's the clearance Clarence?

Those trees are massive. A few of them were wider than my pole length. I didn't see many dead or dying trees so it seems like they are on top of things. All it would take is one to bring down that lift line.
 

Andy Mink

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Those trees are massive. A few of them were wider than my pole length. I didn't see many dead or dying trees so it seems like they are on top of things. All it would take is one to bring down that lift line.
I went up there in November just to ride the lift. They do that all year. The lifty told me that few years ago one of the trees did take the cable down. I don't know how much snow there is now but in the trees to the right of the main lift as you go up there are a lot of downed smaller trees.

It's on my list too. Was it crowded? The ride up is worth the trip.
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Core2

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I went up there in November just to ride the lift. They do that all year. The lifty told me that few years ago one of the trees did take the cable down. I don't know how much snow there is now but in the trees to the right of the main lift as you go up there are a lot of downed smaller trees.

It's on my list too. Was it crowded? The ride up is worth the trip.

It was crowded with gapers in the parking lot but no one was skiing. I killed 10k vert in like 2.5 hours and never waited to get on the chair. They close the road to get up there every time it snows, sometimes for a day or two after which makes it tough to get a powder day. If you can get up there before it closes with the ski area open you basically have a private resort.
 

Pajarito-bred

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Early-pre-ski-season surfing on pugski/skitalk found me reading Core2's nice write-up of the Mt. Lemmon. Here's a shot of an old wicket ticket repurposed as a tree ornament. Many other great photos only in analog format.....
I skied there plenty in the 1980's and early 90's, until the quality/quantity of AZ skiing became intolerable and I moved to CO. I think one too-many powder days when the road was closed to keep the RWD-looky-loos off the icy road, preventing us from skiing what were great conditions was the tipping point.

I have had the good fortune to have quite a few fantastic 2-ft+ deep-powder days at the Lemmon, especially 1983 which was an epic el-nino year. There do not appear to have been many changes over the past 20+ years, I suppose it's great that they can even continue to operate, suffering from sketchy post-storm access, fickle snowfall, nearby wildfires, etc. I'd bet their summer ridership is greater than skier traffic.

In the 80's we always complained about how slow they ran the lift (which was already ancient in 1983), and were always told by the lift they were going to get new gears "next year". I've never gotten over how they claimed they had 20 runs. Only place I've ever been bitten by a mosquito while riding the lift.

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Core2

Core2

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Early-pre-ski-season surfing on pugski/SkiTalk found me reading Core2's nice write-up of the Mt. Lemmon. Here's a shot of an old wicket ticket repurposed as a tree ornament. Many other great photos only in analog format.....
I skied there plenty in the 1980's and early 90's, until the quality/quantity of AZ skiing became intolerable and I moved to CO. I think one too-many powder days when the road was closed to keep the RWD-looky-loos off the icy road, preventing us from skiing what were great conditions was the tipping point.

I have had the good fortune to have quite a few fantastic 2-ft+ deep-powder days at the Lemmon, especially 1983 which was an epic el-nino year. There do not appear to have been many changes over the past 20+ years, I suppose it's great that they can even continue to operate, suffering from sketchy post-storm access, fickle snowfall, nearby wildfires, etc. I'd bet their summer ridership is greater than skier traffic.

In the 80's we always complained about how slow they ran the lift (which was already ancient in 1983), and were always told by the lift they were going to get new gears "next year". I've never gotten over how they claimed they had 20 runs. Only place I've ever been bitten by a mosquito while riding the lift.


I would've loved to have been up there back in those days. I think they have the finanicals figured out where they do make most of their money in the summer now and if skiing happens it is bonus money. They definitely don't depend on the snow play revenue or they would be out of business. Pima county still does the road closures so it makes it really tough to get a powder day unless you have resident access or get lucky. I'd love to get down there this season if winter ever materializes.
 

MichBadger

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Reading this brings back memories of visiting my snowbird grandparents in Tucson 40 years ago. We tried to drive up to Mt. Lemmon one day just to see the ski area. Even though we knew what we were getting into, I think the temperature change caught us off guard. We came around a corner into the shade to encounter black ice covering the road and a pile-up of the RWD looky-loos (reference from above, lol) up against the closed road. I never did make it back and have always wondered about trying to get to ski the southern-most ski in the US.
 

Andy Mink

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I did manage a morning at the Lemmon last January, along with a day at AZ Snowbowl. Conditions were not what I expected. Frozen coral, and overall very hard. Still, a good day.
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Core2

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The Lemmon is looking rough this season. Barely a dusting up there right now from the pics I saw yesterday.
 

Jay Marcoux

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I drove to see this a few years ago, April 2018. I love seeing the pics with snow on the hill. Hope to get back there someday!
 

Andy Mink

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Someone started a "ski tour bucket list" thread....this is the type of area that would be on my itinerary.
It's definitely a "you gotta be there when it snows" kind of place. No snowmaking capability so it's boom or bust. If they get a few weeks per season it's a success.
 

Dryheat

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I started looking going up there a few weeks ago. Really didnt end up with much of a season after all with how our snowfall happened this year.
 

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