Skiing with Kids

1,894 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by cadetjay02
ag009
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AG
We are a couple of years away from doing our first ski trip with our 3 kids. This would be our trifecta:

1) Kid friendly skiing
2) Driving from Texas, so close as possible
3) Affordable

Any suggestions?
bam02
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AG
Red River NM. Perfect for all your reasons. Cool family friendly town too. Snow can be iffy but it's usually decent.
ChipFTAC01
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AG
Texas is a big state. Where are you coming from?
ag009
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AG
Great question. Coming from Bryan, TX.
HollywoodBQ
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AG
Time of season, ages of kids, parents ski abilities?

Answers will vary depending on on those questions.

Generically, I'd do Keystone or Breckinridge without knowing anything else about your situation.
Txhuntr
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AG
Wolf creek, CO. You'll see more Texas license plates than any other state in the parking lot. Skied there exclusively while growing up because we could get there in one long day from Texas. They also boast the most snow in Colorado
bam02
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AG
One of the things you may want to consider is proximity of the town/lodging to the ski mountain. We don't care too much as we all like to ski from the the time the lift opens to the time it closes, but a lot of the southwest mountains (Taos, Santa Fe, Ruidoso, Wolf Creek, Purgatory are a good 30-60 minute drive each way depending on weather. Red River is really convenient from that perspective. I've never skied Angel Fire but I think it is also convenient.
2wealfth Man
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AG
Second the above. With kids I would choose based on driveability, convenience to the slopes, variety of terrain and amount of other things to do for the family. Breckenridge checks all of those boxes if you are asking me.
The Lost
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2wealfth Man said:

Second the above. With kids I would choose based on driveability, convenience to the slopes, variety of terrain and amount of other things to do for the family. Breckenridge checks all of those boxes if you are asking me.
...except affordability.... sheets so damn expensive now
HollywoodBQ
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AG
The Lost said:

2wealfth Man said:

Second the above. With kids I would choose based on driveability, convenience to the slopes, variety of terrain and amount of other things to do for the family. Breckenridge checks all of those boxes if you are asking me.
...except affordability.... sheets so damn expensive now
.wrt affordability - the best deal I ever got was taking my kids to Alyeska in Alaska, late season in April.
I bought it from Costco and essentially stole it. Bought some cheap flights on America West which got gobbled up by US Air and later American I think.

The big differences in Alaska versus Colorado are the steepness of the mountain and the thick, wet, heavy, Pacific Northwest snow. None of that nice Colorado champagne powder.

Given the situation with the Covids, I'm certain Alyeska will be open. Don't know about others in the Lower 48.
http://www.alyeskaresort.com/
Ag CPA
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AG
Red River and Angel Fire are very family friendly and Taos is next door if you want to change things up. As mentioned above, NM snow can be iffy but it's been great the past two years.
2wealfth Man
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AG
Taos is a tougher mountain for newbies IMO; lots of steep runs at the base.
Stive
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AG
Monarch checks all of those boxes but stay out. We're full.
Donnys Element
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Your Trifecta is pretty hard to achieve. Some other things that I would consider is cost of ski school for your kids and ski storage availability. My kids learned mostly at Wolf Creek which is affordable for lift tickets, has cheap ski school and had free overnight storage of rentals. Wolf Creek is also big enough where you probably won't get bored if you are a good skier.

There are deals out there. I have 5 kids and like to ski, so I always try to find deals. Before Christmas in 2018, we skied Aspen for cheap. We had a 3BR condo for 4 nights and lift tickets for 4 days for 8 people and it was $2100. They happened to be doing a cheap promotion. It was by far the cheapest place I could find at that time despite Aspen's reputation. Aspen Buttermilk is an amazing mountain for kids, BTW. Ski school at Aspen is costly though. All that to say, just look around. I think kids ski free at Keystone if you book lodging thru them.

We had Ikon passes this year. We did two family trips to Steamboat. We liked Steamboat but if you are a beginner you'll be doing a lot of the same runs again and again.

Christy's Sports normally lets your kids rent free if you have 4+ days of an adult rental. So we have used them quite a bit.

I'd like to hear more about Monarch as I've thought about that for next year. My kids want to learn snowboarding and it's far cheaper to put them in lessons at the smaller resorts.
tdm89
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Granby Ranch checks your boxes, except it is a little further than Red River or Angel Fire. It's affordable, great for kids, has nice ski in ski out lodging and is about the same drive as Durango/Purgatory.
Donnys Element
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Granby Ranch was where I brought my oldest kids for their first ski trip. It is a good small mountain for kids to learn on and relatively cheap. It was also my wife's first ski trip. She had trouble as they only taught "direct to parallel", so no wedging. Which I am sure is great to teach the correct way, but she really struggled and panicked to not be able to stop without wedging.

Another plus on Granby is that Winter Park is driveable if you want to go to a bigger mountain.
Motot
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AG
If you end up in NM, you might check out Sipapu. It is small, but has easy stuff to learn on. Meets the affordable criteria $50/day adult. You can rent cabins there. It is not glamorous. If they don't have good snow, it is unlikely that the others do either.

Been to AF twice and not impressed at all. Taos is as pricey as Colorado.

Wolf Creek is nice, dependable snow. Cheaper lodging. Well worth the extra 3 hours to get there over all the NM locations with the exception of Taos, which is not a good place to learn, generally.
Philo B 93
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Granby Ranch is a kids and beginner's dream.

Red River and Angel Fire are very good choices with less driving.

As far as I know, those are the best choices from Texas. They would all be more crowded, but I doubt they get as much repeat business as the more advanced slopes. Skiers master those three after a trip or two and then head for the big Colorado mountains.
JustPanda
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AG
Im going to flat out disagree with almost everyone in here.....As a certified powder chasing ski wook thats lived on a couch at Damn bear every major mountain in the Rockies...every mountain from Cooper to Copper to Taos to Jackson to Pajarito to Vail has a slopped and graded section of hill for beginners. The key to learning isn't value it's quality terrain and instruction.

You want to learn where they slow things down and understand how to teach the technicals (edges weight transfer body positioning and how to grow from a level 1 to 3+ without feeling pushed). Most ski schools are a glorified day care that push pizza and french fres and then push you on the hill because they want to be on the hill and don't really care about you or your progression. Go somewhere that does it right. Pay the premium and realize the extra $300 will put them in a fundamentally more dynamic position as the progress.

Also, depending on what type of lift tickets and ages and dates, it's foolish to speak in absolutes about price. When people throw out "Taos" prices and "Vail" prices what they are forgetting is that's the day rate walk up quoted price. If you do the legwork, you can cut those prices dramatically. For instance - day rate at vail is $219 - that $219 ticket is on sale for $112 right now. Don't ever look at the day rate - look at the advanced window ticket purchase price along with the season pass options - a little leg work can save you hundreds.

Find somewhere that you enjoy that vibes w your level of woke and don't worry about the labels - just enjoy the space however you choose to enjoy it.
ag009
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AG
Thanks everyone for the great feedback!
JustPanda
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AG
How old are your kids? I work in the Vail ticket office snd would be happy to help anyway possible.
ag009
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AG
By the time we want to go, my kids will be 5.5 and 3.5 Have a one year old but obviously won't be skiing! Three and a half year old is more coordinated and active than the 5.5 year old. Ha!
JustPanda
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AG
3.5 will be free - 5.5 will be a children's pass - However - don't buy him a lift ticket - have him enroll in what's called Colorado Kids Ski Free - it gets him a free lesson rentals equipment and lift ticket for 2 days as long as you travel on a CSK sanctioned weekend - and no he doesn't need to be enrolled in a state of Colorado school (they won't ask) - I tell people if they ask about your TX address tell them it's the non custodial parents residence.
The Lost
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JustPanda said:

Also, depending on what type of lift tickets and ages and dates, it's foolish to speak in absolutes about price. When people throw out "Taos" prices and "Vail" prices what they are forgetting is that's the day rate walk up quoted price. If you do the legwork, you can cut those prices dramatically. For instance - day rate at vail is $219 - that $219 ticket is on sale for $112 right now. Don't ever look at the day rate - look at the advanced window ticket purchase price along with the season pass options - a little leg work can save you hundreds
You do know 112*5* 3-4 days is still expensive as **** right? and that lessons if you go that route are still more expensive at the vail mountains. Especially when you can get 4 packs at costco to angel fire for half that day rate.
JustPanda
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AG
The kids passes and CSK lessons and equipment are free - again people that don't know they system can speak in absolutes - people that know it - won't
cadetjay02
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AG
My boys are older, (12 & 10) but we did their first ski trip over Christmas this year. We drove from Dallas to Crested Butte, spent 4 nights at the lodge at the base by the lifts with 3 days of skiing. We rented equipment on the mountain as well. We did prepay for lift tickets which saved a little money.

There was nothing cheap about this trip but I don't regret it. You pay a premium to walk 200' from your hotel to the lift but it's worth it. You pay a premium to rent equipment on the mountain, but with kids and all the things that could go wrong, it's worth it to me to be able to swap stuff out quickly. I do wish the ski school was better. They both spent the entire first day with the instructors but as a poster above mentioned, it's basically daycare and they didn't really get anything out of it. I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time, but not far from it. It's a Vail Resort so I would guess they have a similar lackluster curriculum.

As for Crested Butte, it's a great little ski town. The town itself is a free 5 minute shuttle ride from the mountain with lodging options at both locales. There are several dining options on the mountain, but a whole lot more in town.

Finally, if you're not used to driving in Colorado snow covered mountain roads, be ready to be patient. They shutdown I-25 in Raton for 4 hours on the way up. Then going over Monarch Pass in a snowstorm was pretty sketchy. The drive home was was sunny and clear, except for our washer fluid was frozen and I couldn't clean the windshield. Be sure to put in the -20 stuff before you go.

Good luck
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