12 Aug Alpine Slide and Mountain Tram at Lutsen Mountains

We sprinted toward the chairlift just as they closed the rope to the entrance. After an out of breath, “are we too late?”, they told us to hop on, but quickly! The alpine slide was closing for the day and we made it on with only seconds to spare.

Neither of us had ever been on an alpine slide before, but it was something I’ve wanted to try forever. Since Lutsen Mountains, a ski resort, was so close to our campground, we had to indulge our inner child and pop over for a quick ride down the slide.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, we hopped off the chairlift and were handed our carts. We really had no idea what we were doing, so we stumbled over to the starting point in a hurry while trying to catch a glimpse of the instruction signs. Micah had a GoPro attached to his head to catch our ride down, and I couldn’t help but giggle when a nearby tween whispered to her friend, “Woah, he’s like a professional! Look at his camera!” That made my day–if only they could have seen how fast we flew down that hill…we were flying so fast I bet a kindergartner could have beat us! All joking aside, after reading the warnings about injuries and hearing numerous wipeout stories, we were a little chicken to head down at breakneck speeds. The whole ride took a couple minutes, and was filled with twists, turns, ups and downs–it was awesome! We had no idea what to expect or how to control the cars, so once we reached the bottom, we were wishing we could give it another go! The next time we will most definitely be a bit more daring.

Here’s a short video of our ride:

Prior to whipping down the hill on our slides, we took a nice relaxing ride on the nearby Mountain Tram for some beautiful views of the hills and Lake Superior. The tram cars are tiny, but they will fit 2-4 people comfortably. We hopped on and at first had no idea where the ride would end.

Eventually, after soaring over rivers, trees and out of season ski hills, we saw where the ending destination was: practically straight up on top of the tallest hill around. The ride was pretty smooth, but I’m not going to lie, when the cart started shaking in the breeze, I got a few butterflies in my stomach.

Once we reached the top, we were able to get out and explore a bit, but we were on a tight schedule as we were trying to catch the alpine slide next (clearly we didn’t do too great with our time management). The views were gorgeous, and it was fun to check out the chalet and restaurant at the top that were just getting ready to close. If you want a meal with a view, you need to get there an hour before the trams stop running. Since we didn’t have much time to gaze at the horizon, we took a few photos and had to start making our way back down fairly quick. It was a fun experience, but I just wish we had a bit more time to explore!

Exploring Lutsen Mountains in the summer was great, but I definitely want to get back up there during the winter for some skiing and snowboarding. The views would be spectacular with all the white shining snow, and as long as I don’t wipe out too bad on the way down, I’m sure it would be just as enjoyable!

Have you ever been on an Alpine Slide or a Mountain Tram/Gondola?