Little Kids in Vail - questions about strollers, activities and showshoeing
 

Hello!

My family is going to be staying in Vail for a week in early February. We have a 3 1/2-year-old and a 2-year-old. We plan on doing some ski school for the older child and some daycare for the younger child. For parts of the trip we'll be joined by various family members, including a 6 year old niece. We're staying in a condo in Lionshead right at the base of the gondola. We don't plan to rent a car.

A few questions:

(1) I'm trying to figure out whether to rent a jogging stroller while we're there. We will be bringing a double umbrella stroller for the airport, but it's difficult to maneuver and not very comfortable. I expect that we'll be riding the in-town shuttle a lot. How big and how crowded are the shuttles? If I rent a double jogging stroller (they're huge!) will I be able to take it on the shuttle? If not, how about a single jogging stroller? Or do I need to have a small stroller than can really fold up for the shuttle ride?

(2) I've come up with some non-ski activities for the kiddos, but would love to hear what you all would do with little kids in Vail. FYI they're both too little for the tubing at Adventure Ridge (which looks awsome) or for a dog sled ride. I plan to try snow shoeing (more about that below). Is there somewhere we can rent or buy a basic sled and sled down a small hill? Anywhere to do a horse drawn sleigh ride that's during the day? Anywhere up the mountain we can go other than Adventure Ridge? I've found some story times at the library and we'll definitely check out the children's museum.

(3) I think showshoeing sounds great because we can pull the kids in a sled or try them out on their own snow shoes. It looks like we can go to the Nordic Center at the golf course to try this out, or go on a trail from the Discovery Center up the mountain. I picture both of these options being very grommed, and not very natural. Is that right? Where would you suggest going that's more in the wilderness? Should we just hire a guide for a 1/2 day trip?

I appreciate any advice you can give, thanks!

1. The shuttles are all big buses with a very open interior. I am sure you could get the big stroller on unless there would be some policy against that - which I doubt. The bigger issue is that the shuttle can be very crowd in the morning and later afternoon.

2. I don't know of any area that allows private sledding nor renting a sled in your area. Horse drawn Sleighs are common and there are a couple of companies. It is going to be hard to find someplace to go on the mountain that does not conflict with skiing. You can walk up the mountain but the open areas will be skiing areas. You can buy a one time gondola ticket which will take you to the top and back down later.

3. The Discovery Center would be better.

From our experience with slightly older kids, Vail is only so so for kids if they are not participating in skiing or the sledding hill. Your condo management might provide some better suggestions.

Thanks so much for your help!

Hi fmpden,

I have completely agreed with you that the big strollers may not be the right choice for shuttles. In that case the stroller that provides multi-puropose facility like space for both kids and pets will be the better option for the tour. Booyah Strollers provides some nice multi-purpose products in their website. You may check for your requirements.

Since you are new to the web site, Ed, it is always a good idea to check the date of the original posting or even the last posting. The trip to Vail was last year. Second, it looks like you are promoting the Booyah Strollers. You need to be a little more clever.