ski snowstar winter sports park

Highly recommend if you are a first timer. Tubing hill was great to. Wife said the lodge was not really what she was expecting. Still nice though.

Background: I've skiied a lot in the Rockies and enjoy black diamond runs. And Ski Snowstar is not Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe -- but neither is the price or the distance to get there. What it IS is a great place to learn to ski (or snowboard) or to tune up your skills or have fun day trip at a very reasonable price. If you're headed to the Rocky Mountains but haven't been on skis in 12 months, this is a fun place to get your feet back under you and give yourself some mild challenges. Or if you've always wanted to learn to ski, this is perfect. For about $70 per person, you can get an all day lift ticket and full gear rental (skis or boards) and can ski till 10 pm (with well-lit runs). The beginner slope is perfect for your first time, and the advanced slopes will give you some challenges to master. If you're into terrain obstacles, they have some good runs with many rails and jumps on them.Being in Illinois, the downside is the relatively short vertical drop, but the runs are laid out well enough that you get a fair amount of skiing done on each run. Wait times at the lifts (4 of them!) are very short. The restuarant/snack bar has very reasonable prices (3 tacos = $5) and plenty of space, and the bar is very quaint for a beer or hot chocolate by the fire after a long day of skiing. There are also tubing runs, though I've never done them -- thought they do look fun.There are also several nearby hotels listed on the website that have ski/sleep packages. We stayed at a nice, clean, Best Western for $104 per night that included two lift tickets (about a $60 savings). Great package.Overall, I highly recommend Ski Snowstar for a fun, family-friendly day or two of skiing. There's enough there to allow all skill levels to have a good time.

We took a large group of young men to ski for the first time. They had plenty of equipment and the instructor was great. No complaints.

I live in a Chicago suburb so snowstar is a 3 hour hike for me. But for family fun I think it is worth it. My daughter had a 2 hour lesson package with instructor Jim. He is awesome. Not only does he know how to teach but he was able to related to my 12 year old daughter. We liked Jim so much that we asked him to do a lesson with my son in the afternoon. My son is an intermediate skiier and needed help with some of his technique.One thing I really liked is everyone was friendly and willing to help out. The front desk was friendly. The rental counter workers came around and helped my kids with their boots while I changed. The lift ticket operators and even the lunch counter were friendly. Maybe it is a small city/mid city mid west attitude. A few things to keep in mind.1. There is not a sign where to turn, so keep an eye on your GPS. I went past and needed to back-track. It is very steep hill up to where the resort is.2. The easiest blue, North Star, is not really that easy. So beginner skiers should be careful and take wide arches side to side. 3. I couldn't tell much of a difference between the black diamonds and the blues. My summary would be if you are looking for family fun to take your wife and kids this is a great place. If you want beginner instruction on skiis or snowboards, this is a great place.If you are an advanced skiier used to Breckenridge, this is probably not your type of place.

Always enjoy skiing at Snowstar. I agree with the post that the jump from bunny hill to intermediate is a little too much for beginners, but doable. I do think there is enough here to offer all skiers for a family day on the slopes. Rent skis, snowboards or tubes. They have a nice area for advanced snowboarders, with obsticles and rails, etc... This area blasts music and has a hip vibe. (yes, I used the words "hip" and "vibe" in the same sentence!) It is small, but worth the trip. We are about 1 1/2 hours away. Because the weather here is pretty mild most of the winter, the slopes tend to be somewhat icy and really not the best snow. But for a family day out, it's nice. If we were to do a big overnight ski outing, I would probably travel to Dubuque or Galena, which is 3 hours from us. Go to Snowstar! Keep them busy so they have great years every year. We want them to be around for a long time!!!

To have any kind of Ski area is great! If you are looking for black diamond you won't find it here, but it is a great family day for a reasonable price. The tubing is also fantastic even for our 2 year old! Great family fun day.

Not a bad place at all, its only about a two hour drive from where I live, so traveling is nice to here. Snowboarding is always much more fun at night with the lights on, its usually much less crowded! If you go I recommend staying until it closes or at least later in the day. At night they have fires going as well by the lodge. Overall, its nothing crazy, but for being somewhat close to home; I'll keep coming back.

We chose this ski resort for the proximity to home and the cost. I guess we get what we pay for. We had a lot of fun, but as beginners we were quite limited on what we could do. After taking lessons and going on the beginner hill for a while, we decided to purchase an upgrade to our ticket for the bigger hills. However, the jump between the beginner hill and lowest level intermediate hill was too much. We tried for awhile but half of us decided to go back to the beginner hill and be bored, rather than spend the entire time falling down. The entire park itself seems a little "rickety", though we had no real problems. For the hills we went on, the main grounds (lodge, lockers, parking, etc.) were at the top of the hill. You skied down and then had to ride back up to the main level. After we spent the day skiing, we then purchased a ticket so we could go tubing. You take a large blown up sled up a tall conveyor belt. Then chose one of four sections to slide down. You can go two at a time or chose to race each other down. If you ask, the guys even spin you as they pushed you down.

Inexpensive day outing with kids 5,6,12. Tubing - even though our Chicagoland snow was lacking..we drove near Quad Cities, and they had all lifts open. For Tubing you stand on a magic carpet conveyor belt (enclosed) to the top of a giant hill, with 4 runs. Well staffed, and controlled. Jump on a tube, let them spin you, or go straight down like a luge, or attach your tubes together for groups..Kids loved it. 2 hrs is plenty $15, after 4pm $12 pp., that price includes parking, tubes, admission. Been there twice this winter Jan and Feb 2012. Worth the 2hr drive, not crowded like the WI Dells. Easy access off 280.in Andalusia, near Jumers hotel/casino.

Man-made snow is a must because of the location about 1/2 hour outside of Moline. Offer tubing hill, snowboard and ski rental, and lessons. Group pricing available, but this is still a tiny hill for any hardcore skiers or snowboarders.

If you are around the Quad Cities and you want to ski or board, Snow Star is your place. They make snow, and the youngsters especially get a lot of enjoyment out of it, but there are really no challenges for even the one of average ability.

We enjoy the Tubing Hill for a small community provides teens and adults both with fun entertainment.Instructors are very helpful and work well with kids.

Has all the ammenities, nice slopes, always making new snow, very helpful staff.

Small ski resort across the river from the Quad Cities. Okay ski runs and trails. The management seems a little iffy and the season pass prices are rather expensive compared to other bigger midwest ski resorts. If you have nothing else to do in the Quad Cities in the winter I would suggest SnowStar, but if you have time drive the extra distance to Dubuque's ski resorts.