Best Christmas Ski Destination
 

We are looking for a destination for our family (2 adults and 2 kids ages 7 and 8) for the Christmas holidays. Good skiing is a must but we would also love to have a place that has a special holiday atmosphere. We live in Charleston, SC and would be most interested in destinations we can get to with no more than 2 flights and a shortish (no more than 2 hours) drive.
Thanks!

What kind of skiers are you? What price range for flights and how long a flight are you willing to take; also what price for accommodations and lift tickets? And for how long? Where have you been, where would you like to go -this is a pretty wide range question. A bit more info would help.

Do some research on Bend and Sunriver Oregon. The snow may not be as good as Colorado but the towns are fun.
http://www.mtbachelor.com/summer/index.html
Redmond (RDM) is the closest commercial airport. From RDM to Bend is about half an hour ((Sunriver nearly an hour).
Sunriver has a nice private airport next to the Deschutes River.
Bend has a private airport north-east of town in the high desert. Be sure to arrange the rental car before you fly in.

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Pending the answers to DebitNM's questions, at least make sure you go somewhere with lots of snowmaking capability. Christmas coverage can be iffy and you just never know from year to year!

That said, the Utah resorts are some of the closest to a very easy major airport. In fact, our SLC International was just ranked #1 in the US for on time departures and arrivals.

Colorado resorts should be a good bet. I'm sure you can connect through Charlotte or Atlanta pretty easily. Vail is a 2 hour drive from DIA. Breckenridge and keystone a little closer.
They have good ski schools (as do all the places I'm sure), and that should be your goal for your kids' days--and maybe yours.
You will be going at prime time so expenses will be up.
You might look at packages, and I'd start right now.

We enjoyed a New Years trip to Park City a couple of winters past. DH loved the skiing (Deer Valley) and I loved the hotel, dining and shopping. Very easy in and out from Salt Lake City airport.

As the others have said, your best bet for finding snow would be the Colorado and Utah ski resorts. I've been to Park City right before Christmas, and although it was beautiful and we had a great time, the snow wasn't so great (but you never know, next year could be fantastic). I've also been to Aspen right after Christmas and it was also beautiful with great snow. It's a little bit harder to get to, though - a longer drive from DIA, although you can fly in to Aspen Airport (I did, but there's a nonstop from San Francisco).

Mainly what made both towns beautiful were the lights strung up around the downtown area - very festive. I don't know about events. BTW, I also really enjoyed the town of Breckenridge and Vail Village,, but wasn't there near Christmas.

I agree with the Utah/Colorado suggestion as well. Specifically Park City in Utah, or Breckenridge, Vail/Beaver Creek, Aspen/Snowmass or Steamboat in Colorado. All those areas are within 2 flights or less of just about anywhere, have nice towns and/or villages right near the slopes with lots of christmas cheer, have good snow-making in case mother nature doesn't cooperate, and of course great skiing.

All will be expensive and crowded, but that's the price you pay to ski over the holidays.

Aspen will likely be the least crowded (furthest from Denver) and most expensive (upscale town). Probaby the hardest to get to, although you can get direct flights from a few hub cities like Chicago and Dallas and Houston.

Breckenridge will likely be the most crowded (closest to Denver) and least expensive (but still not cheap). Denver airport has lots of flights, but arrive or depart at the wrong time, and it can take a few hours in traffic to get to and from the airport.

Vail is as pricey as Aspen, and more crowded, while Steamboat is far enough from Denver to avoid the day crowds. Both have airports nearby with several flights to major hubs.

Park City is by far the easiest to get to, and with so many mountains in such close proximity, it seems to do a better job of spreading out the crowds than some of the busier colorado resorts closer to Denver.

Crested Butte has been running some deals for christmas I think. You should check them out at skicb.com There's a direct flight every day from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Gunnison, and it's an easy 30 minutes to Crested Butte from there.