Just went to afton last night and I have to say it's a very nice place. It is deffinetly one of the best places near the "Cities". If you don't want to spend the money on Welch Village....Afton is the way to go! The website says it's higher than Buck Hill but it's about the same.... it still offers way more runs and variety than Buck.

It'separated into 3 areas, "The Highlands", "The Meadows", and "The Alps".
The Alps is kinda the main area right next to the main chalet. It has some of my favorite runs there including "Belinda's Bowl". You're probably thinking how could there be a Bowl in MN right? Well that would be impossible, but Belinda's Bowl is lots of fun.
The Meadows is the beginners area. If you're not a beginner it's nothing more than an annoying traverse to the Highlands.
The Highlands is a nice area that is sort of secluded from the rest of the area, and if you are not afraid of crossing the ropes; it has some fun side trails.

The lifts at Afton are nothing to write home about. I would bet that all of them have been there since the place opened. And though there are, (as the awesome retro sign out front states), about a billion lifts, all doubles and a couple of triples and one quad. I think it would be a smart idea for Afton to take away pairs of doubles and replace them with quads.

The process of getting out onto the hill was a breeze. You buy your tickets at the entrance of the parking lot, from there you can just hop on your skis and go!

Over all I would say Afton is the second best in the area!

P.S......do not go to hyland hills....