Skiing is a wonderful family activity. Expense aside, it is a sport that all ages and genders enjoy, and when kids are old enough, families will appreciate the time spent on vacation together—versus a pool or beach environment where everyone may be doing their own thing.
Qualifying what makes a ski resort great for families is important since terrain, facilities, and amenities vary widely. Age has a significant impact on things to consider, but there are some general attributes that contribute to making a ski area truly family-friendly.
Ski School
A well-run ski school is an absolute must. If you are an expert skier and you’re going to teach your kids to ski on your own, this may not be important, but for the rest of us, we need and want a safe and reliable place to bring our children. I’ll write a dedicated post on this in the next few weeks, but suffice to stay that skiing can be a dangerous sport and ski school is set up where you drop your kids off and leave them in somebody else’s care for several hours.
You wouldn’t drop your kids off at a day care facility without knowing anything about it. Ski school is the same deal, not to mention that most day care facilities don’t involve chairs perched high in the air. We picked our six-year-old from ski school a few weeks ago and realized that they outfitted him in his gear without a helmet. You can imagine the follow up conversation I had with the head of the ski program.
Of course, learning to ski is the point and you hope your kids acquire skills while they are there, but this is secondary to an organized and safety-oriented program.
Terrain
The beauty of skiing is that once kids are off the magic carpet and can take the lift, you can spend time skiing with them on your own. Plentiful kid-friendly beginner terrain that is easy to access is critical. Easy in this context means you don’t have to take a gondola and two lifts to get there, but you have some options from the base of the mountain.
Beginner terrain that is also the main thoroughfare for advanced skiers to return to the base of the mountain is terrifying with very young kids that are just learning to ski. It’s not about what you or your kids are doing, it’s about what everyone else is doing! Once nice thing about Sun Valley (ID) is that there is an entire mountain that is practically dedicated to kids learning to ski. This is the ultimate, safe and comfortable environment.
Once kids reach intermediate levels, new options open up, although, it’s nice to find resorts that have quite a bit of intermediate terrain in a concentrated area—Northstar (CA), Deer Valley (UT), and Beaver Creek (CO) are great examples or resorts that fit this description.
Skier Profile
The different ski resorts seem to attract certain clientele. Squaw Valley (CA) is a teenager’s dream with a younger vibe. Subsequently, your five-year-old may learn some choice new words in and around the lift line. There are certain resorts that are all about families versus the twenty-something ski crowd. Northstar is a great example of a resort that fits this profile. Young kids are everywhere and for the most part, people behave accordingly. I also love Sun Valley for a family-oriented atmosphere. Sherman’s Travel has an excellent round up in their top ten North America ski resorts for families article.
Convenience
As much as I love skiing, cranky moments are likely and convenience is essential to avoiding parent and child meltdowns. Skiing takes gear and there is nothing more aggravating then carting all that stuff around and realizing you’ve lost $50 gloves or goggles somewhere along the way.
Where you stay makes a huge difference. Of course, ski-in/ski-out facilities are wonderful—but not critical—as long as there are other ways to get family gear to and from the ski area. Things that help:
