Lutsen is one of the northernmost ski areas in the United States outside of Alaska, Montana, and Washington. It is located in the Sawtooth Mountains, which are hills that are part of the Superior Highlands on the north shore of Lake Superior. Lutsen receives natural snow, at times lake effect snow from the lake at its foot, and also has snowmaking equipment. Lutsen Mountains Resort is the largest ski resort in the Midwest, also having the 2nd most vertical drop in the Midwest behind Mount Bohemia. The ski season extends from November into mid-April, longer than most other resorts in the Upper Midwest.
Ski Runs and Terrain
The ski area consists of four hills, named Eagle, Ullr, Mystery, and Moose Mountains. The ski resort's "Eagle Mountain" should not be confused with Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota, which is actually in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The base sits at the feet of Eagle and Ullr Mountains.
Eagle Mountain
Eagle Mountain consists of 21 primary runs, 4 side-country runs, and two chairlifts. It is typically open from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM during the season. The run difficulty breakdown is 3 double black diamonds, 10 black diamonds, 9 blue, and 3 green. The base and gondola are easily accessible from multiple runs. Two junior race courses, 1 mogul, and 2 terrain park runs sit on the mountain.
Ullr Mountain
Ullr Mountain consists of 8 short runs, one chairlift, and one surface lift. The run difficulty breakdown is 5 blue, and 3 green. The base and gondola are accessible from all runs.
Mystery Mountain is accessible from the bottom of Eagle and Mystery Mountains. There is one chairlift that provides access to 10 runs, one of which consists of a terrain park featuring banked turns, jumps and rollers. The run difficulty breakdown is 2 black diamond and 8 blue.
Moose Mountain is the largest of the four mountains and provides views of Lake Superior from the Southeast facing slope. It features 52 runs, including 9 double black diamond, 13 black diamond, and 30 blue, 1 terrain park, and 1 mogul run. The mountain can be accessed from the resort base via Gondola or the Moose Access run from Eagle Mountain. Two chair lifts can be found at the bases of the two east-facing slopes. The Summit Chalet can be found at the top of the mountain right off of the Gondola. Three double black diamond runs drop off of the Northwest slope.
History and Future Plans
In 1989, Lutsen Mountains installed a German-made PHB Hall gondola to provide access between the base area and Moose Mountain. The gondola is the first, and currently the only, gondola in a mid-American ski resort. Lutsen is known as a family-friendly resort, being named as a Top 20 Family Ski Resort for two years in a row. Lutsen mountains is host to two resorts, the Caribou Highlands, and Eagle Ridge Resorts, which offer a wide variety of rooms, condos and townhomes. Many of them feature ski-in/ski-out access to the mountains. In May 2013, it was announced that Lutsen is installing a six-place high speed detachable lift on Moose Mountain to replace the current Caribou double chair. The existing Caribou double lift will be stored and re-installed on the backside of Moose Mountain to service expert terrain. In summer 2014, Lutsen installed a new pipeline to carry water for snowmaking from Lake Superior to the resort's pumping facility. This alleviates the need to pull water from the Poplar River, a designated trout stream. Within the next ten to fifteen years, Lutsen has put forward plans to expand its pedestrian village & skier services, as well as add additional skier services and base facilities on Eagle and Moose Mountains. Current plans outline a 150-acre expansion, effectively doubling the current skiing acreage, with five or more new chairlifts and several dozen new ski runs. This expansion plan would mark the first attempt by a private ski resort in Minnesota to expand on to public lands, namely the Superior National Forest and is therefore locally controversial. In December 2014, it was announced that Lutsen would begin its expansion and modernization efforts by purchasing and installing a $7 million Doppelmayr 8-passenger high-speed gondola to bring skiers between Eagle and Moose Mountains, replacing the current PHB Hall Skycruiser model, which was installed as a used lift in the late 1980s.
