Glen Eden Ski and Snowboard Center

[Part 2/​2] Onto the rest of the hills… I find this place only fun for beginners and intermediates as the hills are not very steep, challenging or long. There is not a lot of flat area at the bottom of the hills so you have to stop really abruptly. Since it was so busy that day, the line took up most of the space at the bottom of the hill so many beginners were crashing because it was hard for them to stop in control. The chairlifts were constantly stopped due all the kids failing to get on/​crashing getting off, which did not help the line-​ups.
I like to think of myself of having the gift to be extremely patient so that’s why I gave this resort 3 stars. It’s close to the GTA and Mississauga and it’s affordable. The staff were even more patient than I was and delivered nothing short of excellent service. I think a typical person who experienced what I did that day wouldn’t hesitate to give it a 1 or 2 star rating instead. [/​Part 2/​2]

I found this place great for beginners in the GTA, especially for the cost of Blue Mountain or other better known ski hills. It cost me $ 83 on a Sunday for an all-​access lift pass and boot/​ski/​pole/​helmet rental.
The all-​access lift pass was a waste as I stayed on the bunny hill — the cost for just bunny hills is, I think, $ 20 while the all-​access was, I believe, $ 37. They also discourage beginners from getting distracted by using poles so I didn’t use those either.
The outstanding feature here was the wonderful instructors. They are so friendly and made a lot of effort to learn or names and spend time with us for instruction and guidance. They also checked in on my throughout the day as I kept trying and they spotted me, which was wonderful.
Bring your own lunch… It’s horribly overpriced greasy junk here.
Hills were getting fairly icy by midday and going there first thing in the morning made it smooth — no lines.
The boots are awful … Rough on shins and hard to walk in, especially with the narrow stairs everywhere. I appreciated the wagon rides between parking and slopes/​rental.

I really like Glen Eden, not just because it is a quick drive from Toronto but its just… nice.
This was my second time trying snowboarding after 3 days of having intro lessons at HSV. We came during the day and bought a day ticket for $ 20. We were sure before coming on the website it said $ 20 for all day and night but even so $ 20 was a fine amount to pay.
So on arrival my friends who were experienced on the snow urged me to try the main runs. Told them to f*k off and leave me on the bunny hill to practice some of the things I had learnt last time and watched on you tube since.
The onsite facilities are nothing great but they do have wifi which is great.
It would have been nice to see some instructors on the bunny hill just offering advice but none seen in the 2 hours I spent on the hill.
The bunny hill is okay to learn on, it is not too steep but long enough to practice ploughing, only thing is there is just the magic carpet to get to the top. No chance to sit and rest on a lift.
From looking at the trail map, Glen Eden is less than impressive. They have two beginner runs but the first one «escarpment run» is not so great and a bit flat for the most part. The Quarry run is great for a beginner run. I don’t think I tried any of the other runs but I am sure i will be going here again to try those out.

Glen Eden is a beautiful, scenic ski area just outside Toronto. Although the ski area is small, the ski part of the operation is well run. Unfortunately the price list is confusing and misleading. We were charged double the price listed on the web site. When I asked the ticket booth attendant to check the web site, he simply refused and gave me a brochure. Unfortunately, apparently there were no managers to discuss this with so I reluctantly paid double the price. Although the staff were not rude, they were not knowledgeable or friendly. If you do decide to visit, call ahead to check prices and hours (do not trust the web site). Bring food and drink. The food is expensive and scarce. The only food We found were $ 5.00 hot dogs.
With a good management team at the helm, this could be a five star ski area (for southern Ontario).

Wasn’t very impressed with Glen Eden :(
Seems when designing the place they couldn’t figure out the basics, for example the lockers are 2 levels above the rentals and the staff doesn’t keep your shoes. We wasted lot of time and effort in going between the runs and rentals. I don’t mind paying for the lockers but make them available on the same level as the rentals.

Visited Glen Eden a couple weeks ago with my little brother.
They’ve got descent hills for skiing, enough amount of lifts, not causing huge lineups.
Lockers were only $ 1 or $ 2 (don’t remember, but definately a lot cheaper than blue mountain)
They’ve got great daytime weekday deals $ 20 lift tickets
The only thing I found really fustrating which caused me to give a 3 star is because of the walk between the beginner and regular hills, fustrating to walk down the stairs and through the tiny tunnel with all the gear on.
Its very heavy to carry around up and down the stairs, also I’ve seen numerous people trip on the stairs because of the ski boots.
I found that extremely inconvenient, but no can do because of the train tracks there, which kind of scared the little one with our first time being there.
Overall the hills were easy but quite icy the last time we went.
But its definately a shorter drive compared to Blue Mountain as im from Markham.
Try it out!

The line to rent skis is 1hr and 45 min long. Are they serious??? They want me to stand outside for almost two hours with a 7 y old?
I am shocked. Never seen something like that. First time here. Last time here. Going to Collingwood

Really didn’t like it here. When I went snowboarding, the snow was really awful quality — lots of slush in some areas and ice in others. Was pricey and busy. Would rather make the long drive to go somewhere better

What’s great is that they are 40mins away from Toronto. Close by, and lift tickets start at $ 35 for a full day, $ 30 for evening, $ 20 during the week. I don’t know much about these things, but from what I hear, that’s pretty good.
I am a beginner and this place seemed perfect for me. However, on a snowy sunday afternoon, it was impossible to get a lesson. They were fully booked — tip: call ahead to book your lesson.
Their website, doesn’t seem to show the lesson prices, and seems like you can only get them in a package. I don’t think this is the case. It’s a disappointing that it’s misleading.
Instead of Skiing today (after so much planning and trying to convince me, the ‘fraidy cat that scared of everything) we decided to go tubing.
The Tubing park is one big hill and you slide down one of the very sturdy tubes they provide for you. You sit in the tube and you get pulled up backwards on their own tube lift. It’s quite relaxing and it over looks the train tracks. I spent most of this time composing this review, which I promptly forgot.
You get up there, and if it’s busy, you have to wait again, but it’s a short wait. Then you get in the tube and the person will drop you down the hill. They will also spin and push you down upon request.
For someone like me who doesn’t like this kind of thrill, it was actually fun and I survived. I thought I wouldn’t. I did end up enjoying it… on the 5^th run.
It’s $ 4 a ride, $ 20 for 6 rides. You’d want to go for 6 and it takes about 2 hours. That’s the price per person. It’s a bit $, however, worth it for some snow fun that’s not skiing/​snowboarding.
The are two chalets here where you can get food and drink, however it’s all hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers and the place just smells like grease. It’s a great place to rest your feet.
I’d want to come back here for a lesson proper. From what I can see, there was a fairly big bunny hill, and one beginner hill (not steep but long) in the main ski area.
If you’re experienced, you might find this place boring, but I think it’s great for kids!

Glen Eden is located 30 min west of Toronto and right off the 401, making it the most accessible Ski option for the city dwellers. The park offers ski and snowboard lessons, night skiing, and tubing. There are apparently 5 lifts at the park (according to the site), although I only observed 3 and I am guessing other two may be referring to the magic carpet and the tubing «lifts». The site also claims that Glen Eden is «anything but lame», and has even dedicated a blog with the same name in an attempt to provide proof for this statement (
)… As for my experience, perhaps the only thing that saved me from having a lame experience was the fact that I was in good company. Here is why:
I arrived on a Saturday afternoon for night skiing with plans to also try and possibly buy a pair of older model Atomic carvers from a friend. My first complaint is that I saved a single dollar renting only boots and poles in comparison to a complete ski package! It makes no sense to make the rental of boots and especially poles so expensive. Moving on, the equipment room is one of the dirtiest I have seen and I had a very difficult time putting my boots on without stepping into a pool of mud/​slush. Finally the all teenage staff had no idea how to fit the boots to the skis I was going to buy. This would be ok except for the fact that as soon as I stepped out I realized they were already adjusted perfectly by coincidence meaning that the staff did not even try to fit the boots.
The two lifts furthest from the main chalet essentially lead to the same spot. The central lift is perhaps the most exciting and also the least busy. The night I was there it was snowing quite a bit and every time the lifts stopped midway I would be turned into a snowman by the time the lift started moving again! These delays were quite frequent and lasted up to ten minutes at some point. This was especially frustrating considering the runs at Glen Eden are quite short and you will be down the hill in about 2 – 3 minutes. The trails themselves are not too exciting bar one or two! Another issue is that with the snowfall, there were rough bumps forming all over the terrain and this made for a not too pleasant experience. I was told by one of the staff that they only ‘comb’ the snow once overnight and this was also quite disappointing.
The food options were also more disappointing than the usual Canadian ski centre which says a lot.
On the positive side, there are a lot of instructors/​staff that can be easily identified on the hill and these people are very nice and personable despite being in the cold all night (5*)! This factor and the easy runs makes Glen Eden a decent place for beginners.