I received the following message from Vail Resorts through their Employee Newsletter. Interesting new acquisitions. I’m wondering how you make these into “feeder” resorts beyond including them in the Epic Pass? We’ll see.
This time next year, could you be skiing on the same pass as your friends in the Midwest? Last week we welcomed two premier urban ski areas in the Midwest, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan, to the Vail Resorts family. Both ski areas serve major snow sports markets in the Midwest with more than 468,000 active skiers and snowboarders in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas. Read the full story.
Afton Alps Facts:
- Located on the St. Croix River south of Afton, MN.
- Has a 350 feet vertical drop
- Has 48 trails and 18 chairlifts
- During the summer runs an 18 hole golf course and a mountain bike trail.
Mt Brighton Facts:
- The ski area has a 18-hole golf course called The Jackal, added in 2001.
- Mt. Brighton made a national appearance in the 1993 feature-length film, “Aspen Extreme.” The movie was filmed on location at Mt. Brighton and also in Aspen, Colorado.
- Although in the movie it’s indicated that Mt. Brighton was built on top of an existing land fill, it was actually created with excess road debris from the construction of Interstate 96 and US 23.
