When I think of great skiing and snowboarding areas, I don't think of the Midwest. Perhaps I should change my way of thinking as there is a hill in Iowa that has a 300 foot vertical drop.

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I have to confess that I had completely forgotten about Mt. Crescent near Honey Creek, Iowa. Only In Your State just did a new feature on it and it's more than worth a road trip if you'd like to defy gravity on snow. It's just a hop, skip and a jump (snowboard pun intended) from Omaha on the western side of Iowa.

The official Mt. Crescent website mentions that the hill is 3 football fields long and yes, it drops 300 feet along the way. Casey Willax is a popular snowboarder who shared his experience at Mt. Crescent late last winter. Gnarly moves, dude.

It's worth noting that you need reservations if you plan to road trip and sled at Mt. Crescent. It's also worth following them on Facebook to check out what snow is like on the hills before you devote road time to get there.

It's easy to forget we have a place for virtually every fun activity you can think of in the Midwest. No need to fly to Breckenridge or Vail for a small fortune, when there are lots of places like Mt. Crescent that are a day trip away in our backyard.

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