Arizona Snowbowl

Visitors praise the access - a short drive from Flagstaff and a workable day trip from Phoenix. They point to a spread of runs from greens to black diamonds, decent natural snowfall topped up by snowmaking, and views stretching to the Grand Canyon on clear days. Families rate the free kids' skiing, the cheap tickets bought online in advance and the rental operation, where gear can be swapped mid-day and pickup and return are well run.

Parking is the loudest grievance: there is too little of it, and the lot itself is described as a muddy dirt field. Weekends and holidays mean long lines and packed slopes. Walk-up day tickets have reached 325 dollars, more than Aspen. The angriest reports concern days when more tickets were sold than the mountain could hold: no capacity signs, ticket holders turned back on Highway 180, traffic backed up for miles and nobody directing it.