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January 2024 by Peter L Kelly
Great spot for kids to learn. Fun crew.
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January 2024 by Nazish “Naz”
Had so much fun !
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December 2023 by David Trecker
Their reservation system is the worst. We couldn’t enroll our kids even though we tried the minute it opened. Couldn’t get anyone on the phone and didn’t return our vm.
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April 2023 by Jessica Laffey
We have been to Thunder Ridge many times over the past few years and have always had a great experience. I just wanted to give a shout out to Andrew. Today (3/19/23) my 7 year old daughter did a Level 2 group lesson with him. She showed so much improvement that she agreed to take a private lesson with him. He was amazing with her and had her on the chair lift and skiing down all the greens by the end of their hour together. Great instructor and a great way to finish off our ski season!
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April 2023 by Suhbat Shugan
Good place to practice. Not really a resort more of a local ski hill with trails for a nice weekend trip to get some family skiiing in. If you are looking to shred and explore this is not it. If you are looking to home your skills as a boarder this is a good place to do so as the trail park is well designed and challenging. The blacks are not really blacks but rather blue+ (Disclaimer: I am an adrenaline junkie).The facilities are quaint and cute, very friendly and homey. Lifts are slow, aging infrastructure but who cares, shred til 9 pm.Bathrooms are a bit old and poorly maintained there is a smell but hey this is a random ski hill in upstate NY.The value is a mixed bag. It beats going to the Catskills for a true resort due to the drive and hours open. If you are looking for a better deal then I suggest Wyndham mountain.
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March 2023 by Violet B.
Just one hour from New York City. When you get to Patterson station, there's a shuttle that brings you to the ski place. Rental of ski, pole and shoes, no helmet rental! Great for weekend get away. Lots of ski school option too.
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March 2023 by david knox
This resort is perfect for us. As casual boarders and parents of a 4 year old who received an excellent ski lesson, that was affordable and super fun for her, we'll be coming back regularly!
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March 2023 by Matthew Lease
I like the ski area, but the reservation system for the first come first serve ski lessons package is sorely outdated. I appreciate that there is high volume of requests, but you are made to leave a voicemail for a callback (at their convenience). When they do call, you have to answer because they leave no voicemails and if you call back the number that dialed you (which differs each time) no one answers and you are forced to call the general number, which as noted above is just the voicemail service. No email support, no online form submission process. After three rounds of phone tag, the lessons became full (but weren’t full after the first two rounds per their website which noted updated statuses). Process can be a little more modern.UPDATE 2/14/23: Raised the review from 1 star to 3 stars. Was able to take my child to Thunder Ridge this past weekend for a ski lesson. Hardly any snow in NY, so this was like a winter oasis. He had a great time and the staff did very well corralling the “Thunderbolts” class. I was able to use the online reservation system to book his group lesson and that worked well. I had a small concern about availability for Level 1 vs 2 (because the only available was Level 2 online for same day purchase), but the staff ask the children some simple questions to demonstrate their skills and he was appropriate placed where he needed to be (almost a first timer). Related to that, it was $132 for this experience because all except the Parent + Child session (which he is aged out of by a year) requires you to pay for a lift ticket even if you are only taking the Thunderbolt session (roped off small area, not going on the bunny hill, not going up any lifts). Same as my prior review, I understand the business reasons for things, but I would be more inclined to come back if the (more or less) $132 covered two separate days of ski lessons for my child instead of one. This doesn’t account for him needing me to be with him on any other part of the mountain (like the bunny hill), therefore I would need to also pay for a lift ticket whether I ski or not. Other than it being a bit pricey to repeat frequently, super proud of my child and the experience was much like my prior fun filled trips to Thunder Ridge. The days before children when a snow day meant offices closed early and my roommate and I raced up to Thunder Ridge for some evening fun ?.
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March 2023 by Alice Auth
Such friendly staff and positive atmosphere. The trails were as smooth as could be with this unusually warm February. For those learning to ski, there are so many good learning options! Multiple "bunny hills," including one that is a significant ride, to really give the learners a sense of what a "real" trail will feel like. I had several nieces and nephews who were learning and they all ended up taking the real lifts up by the end of the day! My only critique was that the bunny slope mini ski lift wasn't operating. In the past, that was a perfect place to practice getting on and off the lift - which can be scary for those learning.The more experienced skiers in the group did their first-ever black diamond trails and they felt very proud. A great place all-around!
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February 2023 by Justin D.
Great location to learn to ski and snowboard. Easy access, great instructors and super friendly rental staff.
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February 2023 by ROOR BERLLOU
Had my first ski class on a Tue morning which is off peak hours with discounted lift charge. Rentals in generally good conditions and the Instructor Heimi is super friendly and supportive. Crowds show up when school finishes around 4 pm. Highly recommended for beginners.
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February 2023 by Elsy Carlacci
I'm so disappointed with the lessons. Over $2K for 6 lessons for my 3 kids. Two of my kids got sick so I kept them home to prevent the spread. No refunds or make-ups(which I totally understand), but no credits for future use? The least you can do is give a credit.Gripe number two is that the lessons start about 15 minutes late because the rosters are changed and the instructors are not notified of the changes.Gripe number three is that the instructors could be more kid-friendly. I think it would help to have more instructors for a big group so the instructors don't get overwhelmed and frustrated. I'm not placing blame on the instructors. What is an adequate number of beginner students per instructor?I feel like this is not good value for the money.
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February 2023 by Jorge Bento
I’ve been twice in the last month. The 1st time i spent over $400 for semi private lessons for my kids and the ticket lady was extremely rude, even my kids were shocked at the way she spoke with us.I figured she was having a bad day and let it go…I went back today with my daughter and another staff member starts arguing with me regarding a parking spot!!! When I said I was leaving she replied “Good Don’t come back!”Well you are getting what you want Karen!!! I’m never go back there again!!!
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February 2023 by Pallavi P
Wish I could give a 0 rating! The coach Katie changed her lesson area today and we kept following her and lost her. When we requested them to ensure my kid is in that class. They did not allow me to enter that zone… to top it….They ended up taking my kid to the big mountains and forced him to ski.. this is horrible … worst experience ever.. I had to flag this only then they got it right! They need to majorly centralize system and ensure every kid is present in the right level and not assume and risk ppl lives… hope this does not happen to anyone ever…
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February 2023 by Melissa Zaug
The Good The Bad The UglyI live locally and have been a patron of Thunder Ridge since the 80s when it was called Big Birch. I skied weekly there as a kid and was looking forward to sharing this mountain with my children. It is a small but great learning mountain.The Good:*It is a small but good learning mountain*I appreciate the local "ski club" pricing for night skiing and lessons on a designated night based on the township you live in.*Most staff is generally friendly and helpful*The food is decent and has improved over the years* The bartender is super nice and there is a decent selection of "local" brews.*They work hard to keep the mountain open and snow covered given the last few lousy winters.*The lesson teachers seem friendly and helpful.The Bad: I don't have too much to add here as none of these bullet points were the "deal breaker."*It's very crowded and expensive on the weekends*I do not like that the Little Thunder lesson area can not be accessed by parents. This is particularly difficult for young children (all snowboard lessons take place at Little Thunder) who need their parents to walk them to their lesson group, help them get their equipment on and for parents that want to watch some of the lesson. Lessons are expensive and parents should be able to see what they are paying for. It is also hard to talk to the instructor when the lesson is over as the kids just walk out the gate, so you don't really learn of their progress or what they need to work on. It seems like Thunder Ridge could easily make this section of the mountain more parent friendly as this is mostly a "learning mountain" and the majority of the patrons are children.* No effort is made to allow for lesson makeups.The UGLY:This is the reason that we will not be returning to Thunder Ridge next season. This Friday (February 3, 2023) we experienced dangerous weather conditions here in the Hudson Valley. Beginning at 5PM the HV was dealing with dangerously negative temperatures and high winds with warnings of frostbite and hypothermia. Mountains such as Mohawk closed at 4PM. Construction workers were pulled off the roads. People were warned to stay inside and dogs were told to not be outside for more than 10 minutes. Thunder Ridge refused to reschedule ski and boarding lessons. This is unacceptable and unsafe. As I mentioned above, the Little Thunder area is not accessible by parents. My two young children who were taking lessons would have no way to get in touch with me to communicate that they were cold. Lessons are 90 minutes long which was way too long to stay outside, even bundled up in these dangerously low temperatures. Listen, Thunder Ridge didn't need to close the mountain. People have a right to ski and board and if they have the appropriate arctic gear for those conditions probably had a decent time as I am assuming it was not crowded at all. But they would have the ability to go in when they felt cold. When in a 90 minute lesson group this is not a possibility, which created a potentially dangerous situation. Lessons are expensive and I am very disheartened that Thunder Ridge did not take the safety of the children into consideration last night. Lessons should have been rescheduled. There was zero attempt to accomodate families that were rightfully uncomfortable with the conditions. My kids were supposed to have their lessons at 6PM when the conditions were only deteriorating not improving. There were tree branches flying around everywhere and they needed to close a lift due to wind conditions. Next year we will be going to Mohawk Mountain for our lessons as they are a bit more flexible and they made the right call, in my opinion last night. My kids have skied in rain, ice and cold conditions without a complaint. This was extreme and I did not appreciate Thunder Ridge's lack of empathy or willingness to make the situation workable for both the mountain and my family.
