Sundown Mountain

Highly recommend this place. We visited all the way from Oahu, HI to visit family here in Iowa and Sundown Mountain was thee place on our agenda. We’ve never seen snow before and never experienced lift rides, skiing, and snowboarding and coming here two days in a row gave us a great experience. Our family had such a great time. It was well worth driving the hour and half from Bettendorf to play here. Luckily the first day we were here, our family members was chosen to be on the local news. It was awesome.
The staff here is very welcoming. They are awesome. Our instructors, Nick and Jon, was so nice, informative, and they were very patient to our kids. Wish I could give them more than 5 stars. Even the General manager and rental manager had some time to chit chat with us. The second day we came back they even recognized us n welcomed us back. There facility here is clean and organize. Big area to have some fun.
If you’re near sundown mountain come and visit these guys.

Okay let’s be honest – there is not a lot of great places to ski in the area. I learned to ski at Sundown and I do think it’s a great place for beginners. There is a good mix of runs when you are learning to ski.
The lift lines have never been too long and they are usually good about opening up the additional lift when it is busy. The food in the lodge is overpriced but when it’s cold the hot chocolate is necessary. Plus there are plenty of places to sit and relax.

This was the place where my kids got their first taste of skiing. Though it was ski week back home in California, we decided to take a trip to Iowa (no, not just for the skiing). As a family of non-​skiers, this seemed like a good place to start.
This is no Squaw Valley. The elevation change is a mere 250 feet, but for beginners it’s enough. The teachers are friendly and generous with their time. The runs are reasonably challenging for beginners and they will test your skill, but once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take very long to get to the bottom. During the week, the lift lines are nonexistent, and you can go down the runs several times an hour.
The ticketing and rental area are in different buildings, for reasons that escape me. The lodge has a fairly standard bar and grill for lunch with prices that aren’t too bad.
Overall, this is a fine place to learn to ski. It’s a hidden gem in Iowa.

4.0 — 4.5 — I loved how sunny and great it was to ski here! =) Great prices! Great skiiers! Loved every minute of getting away from Chicago to ski and eat some good yum yum polish dogs and onion rings. Checked out some museums and tried out a great restaurant only 15 min away from this ski resort!