Yes! You can ski in southern Arizona! Actually at the southernmost ski area in the entire United States, Mount Lemmon Ski resort was founded by some pretty famous people who came together because of their love for the mountains outside of Tucson, Arizona and because of their love for skiing. The journalist Lowell Thomas, a future Governor of Alaska, and Olympic ski jumper Art Devlin formed the original Sahuaro Ski Club which years later morphed into a small ski area with one rope tow and many of the founders' friends coming to ski.
Today there are two chairlifts and a tow lift taking skiers up to 8 expert black diamond trails, 10 intermediate blue trails and a few green beginner trails. The ski area is entirely unique in being located in the Grand Canyon state of Arizona just a one hour drive away from the heat and desert of Tucson in southern Arizona. It is nestled into the Santa Catalina Mountains in the Coronado National Forest. The beautiful Catalina Highway is a scenic drive favored by tourists and skiers who take it from Tucson to Mount Lemmon.
The ski area is small but it means you can ski during the winter if you are in the area or Tucson and want a relaxing and quite beautiful escape. The small lodge has a restaurant on site and you can rent skis and snowboards there if you are traveling without yours.
Breakfast at the Iron Door Restaurant at the lodge is hearty and sophisticated with offerings including the Woodsman Breakfast of French toast, eggs with cheddar cheese and refried beans on a tortilla, pancakes, their European breakfast of eggs with bratwurst and strudel, their Bavarian breakfast of potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream, and the Coronado breakfast of a Southwestern style quiche with green chilis and cheese. For lunch the Iron Door serves sandwiches, soups and chili sided with cornbread and honey. You can also eat at the casual outdoor patio café with a sunny view of the slopes or go back inside and warm up by the fireplace.
For dining, try Mount Lemmon's favorite food truck Planet of the Crepes! The variety is fantastic, including gluten-free crepes, veggie, smoked duck, and breakfast and Nutella crepes.
At 9,000 feet above sea level and near the ski valley you can try the Mt. Lemmon Café, well loved for its homemade pies and giant burgers. Also in Mt. Lemmon you will find the Mt. Lemmon Cookie Cabin, a bakery located on N. Sabino Canyon Park Road that bakes unbelievably huge cookies. Try the one that is an amalgamation of all the flavors so you can try all of them! You can also go shopping at the Living Rainbow Gift Shop in Mount Lemmon.
If you would like to find lodging near the mountain, there are several motel chains nearby however it would make more sense to book into one of the wonderful hotels or B&B's in Tucson and the surrounding desert and drive back and forth to ski the mountain. Tucson is a mecca for world-class resorts as well as fascinating smaller hotels. The famous Canyon Ranch is right outside of Tucson if you are in search of one of the best resort spas in the country.
If you are skiing at Mount Lemmon you simply cannot miss the chance to visit the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory, a one of a kind experience for amazing star gazing from a perch 10,000 feet above sea level. Since you will be there at night, when you drive away or back down towards Tuscon you will have before you an amazing spread of city night lights with the stars above.
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