Anybody here ski? We are thinking of going and taking our 2 boys (ages 8 & 5) skiing for the first time. Any recomendations on on family friendly resorts? What's the budget on something like this (not including airfare).
http://www.breckenridge.com Been there many times (not very recently however), but I have family who lives in Denver who frequents there often.
I am a snowboarder so dont know if I am of help or not :grin:. Tickets to Denver is usually cheapest, but the draw back to flying into Denver is the drive up the mountains. It is usually an hour and a half to two hours.. I currently live in SLC for school and even though the night life here sucks, you have easy access to 8-9 world class resorts, all of which are 30-45 mins from the airport. A few kid friendly resorts around the SLC are: Park City, Canyons, and Brighton.
I am a children's ski instructor in Vail. So, I could probably answer most questions you have. My first recommendation would be Breckenridge. It's the most family friendly in my opinion and a lot more affordable than Vail/Aspen, but with pretty much anything those places have to offer. Breck just opened up peak 6 this season so they have gained a lot of new terrain. The town of Breckenridge is also the best in Colorado IMO. Next would be Beaver Creek. Great skiing although not a huge place, and also not very crowded compared to close by vail. I've skied there some days and not seen anyone for an hour. It's a really relaxing town with laid back skiing, and chefs pass out chocolate chip cookies around town at 3:00 pm every day. third is Vail. The mountain itself cannot be denied. It's huge and has everything you can imagine. There is a good amount of stuff in town, but it's VERY expensive. If you can afford it, vail is a great place, but if you have any kind of budget, it might not be worth it.
In my old skiing days, I found Copper Mountain to be the most convenient, affordable, and enjoyable but it's been quite a few years. Red River NM is the cheapest and maybe best place for beginners. Heavenly in Tahoe has the best views and total runs. Breckenridge is a great town to stay in. Vail/Beaver is the quintessential experience. Winter Park is ruined by the coal trains that run through it all night. Taos is really steep.
All my kids learned to ski at Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe. Pros: Warmer weather than Colorado resorts Great runs/kid friendly Beautiful setting Cons not easy to get to unless you can fly to Reno Snow can be a bit dicey I now live in Calgary, which has easy access to lots of great resorts, but my-oh-my it is cold.
I'm currently on vacation in Breckenridge. Went skiing today for my first time and had a blast. It snowed hard today for some fresh powder. Skiing isn't the cheapest thing in the world, but its worth doing at least once. We are staying at a place called Beaver Run that is right on the base of Peak 9 so its a great place to ski from.
Brian Head in Utah is great. Inexpensive with lots of greens and blues and not all that crowded. If you are not an adrenalin junky or if you are a novice or a beginner thin it's a great place. My favorite place is Brighton in Salt Lake City. Great Snow and lots of long runs for every ski level. It's ski board friendly if thats what you want to try and they have a great ski school for the kids or adults. If you ate a beginner then I suggest putting your kids in all day ski school, it's not that expensive plus your kids will learn a lot better if you are not around. You can take a half day lesson to get you started and then you should be good to head out on your own with out too much difficulty. Just remember not to ski past tour level 1st time out. In Salt Lake you can save money by staying at the base of the mountain and taking a 30 minute drive to the resort and rent a locker once your their. If you go to Brian Head, it's a lot further out of the way but ski in ski out is a lot cheaper. Any of the resorts around Salt Lake are great and you can fly in and ski the same day in most cases. Park City is really nice as we'll but pricy. By the way, I used to live in Colorado and I can tell you that Skiing in Utah is a lot better experience because of the snow and convenience.
Thanks OP for starting this thread! I'm in Denver at the moment with the family, and have been to Colorado several times in recent years but have never taken the family skiing. I'm thinking of taking them skiing/tubing either tomorrow or Friday, and have yet to make up my mind which resort to take them to. I'm leaning towards Breckinridge/Copper Mountain at the moment though, unless someone can direct me to a better option! ....... ....... .......
