Crystal Ridge is an awesome place to ski for recreational skiers/snowboarders and the prices are hard to beat. It’s a smaller place with a friendly staff. Everyone from the rental crew, ski patrol, dining staff, and bartender were gracious and attentive. The lodge is unpretentious yet accommodating. I happened to go with a group on the warmest day of winter so far and the terrain was ice and slush but I understand that it is not the staff’s fault. The place is easy to get to from the interstate and a short 70-mile drive from Chicago.