Mom seeks ski advice
 

Can someone please help out a snow challenged single mom who'd like to take her son to see some snow for a few days? Living in Texas his whole life, my 7 year old hasn't seen much snow. I would like to take him somewhere for a few days around xmas where they have snow. I think he?d really like it. I am thinking of flying to Denver and maybe going to Breckenridge. I also have lived in Texas my whole life and I'm not comfortable driving in snow so I'm hoping there are shuttles from the Denver airport to the ski resorts. Is this possible? Or am I just totally overestimating the difficulty of the driving to these places?

Also, I've never been skiing myself, but I'd like to enroll him in a ski school for a few hours one day just so he could experience it. Am I going to be able to get him ski rentals and get him to ski school without a car? Is Breckenridge a good place to try to do this? I checked Expedia and there is still availability at several resorts the week before xmas. I'd like to stay at a place that was close to a little town we could walk through with restaurants and shops and holiday decorations so that's why I had been considering that locations but if someone has a better idea I'd love to hear it. I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me! Thank you.

Breckenridge is a great choice. The town is fun to walk around in, and beautifully lit in the evenings. If you're not staying right at the hill, there is a shuttle system to get you to the slopes.

There are also shuttles from the airport to Breckenridge. I think Colorado Mountain Express does that route. The drive from DIA to Breckenridge is expressway most of the way, and we've driven it many times without trouble. That being said, we've lived in Wisconsin for 30 years, and my husband is used to driving in the snow.

Hi Kath!
I"m a huge skier so I hope I can help. My favorite resort ever is Whistler. You fly to Vancouver and then take a bus for 2.5 hours to the resort where there are few cars. It's a fabulous walking village-just takes a while to get there. Another place that comes to mind is Crested Butte. Club Med bought a property there and there should be a kids ski school. It might be a more difficult mountain for a novice but it will be structured. The town is adorable and about 3 mi. away-shuttle will take you there in no time. Also, Vail, Aspen, and Steamboat are great resort towns. It's much easier (albeit more expensive) to stay in a ski-in/ski-out type of accommodation and then worry about getting to town later. Park City is also another place to try. Deer Valley is about 1 mi. away from PC and much easier than any of the other resorts. It's very luxurious and fancy but easier, esp. if you are starting out. You could stay in PC and take a shuttle to Deer Valley. I hope this helps-I LOVE to ski and am glad you are going to be joining the ski gang!

Hi Kath, You can take a shuttle from Denver to Breckenridge, right from the airport. www.resort-express.com. No need to rent a car because the town has a free bus. Have fun!

Well, I'm going to vote for Big Sky Montana (BIGSKYRESORT.com). We ski there every winter with three kids - 5,8 and 15 now. You fly into Bozeman, Mt and take the Karst Stage, a large bus to the resort, which is about an hour away. Big Sky is beautiful, with hardly ANY lift lines, and a superb ski and snowboard school. If you stay at the Summit or Huntley Lodge, ski school, and the lifts are right out your door. They have a great program for adults. My son has gone from a beginner level, to expert level snowboarder with help from their incredible staff (and he's 8). There are also day trips to Yellowstone to see the winter sights, dogsledding, sleigh rides and the likes. Big Sky is our number one family ski destination, and my husband is an instructor and race coach.

Breck is nice, but all the lodging is a fair distance from the ski school and lifts and shuttles are no picnic. Colorado is also very crowded at Christmas time - ski school will probably be packed. Whistler is great for advanced skiiers, but the weather at low mountain has been wet at times (ie:rain) which is yucky for beginner skiiers.

If you are a "cool" mom - enroll him in the snowboard school. My eight year old won't even touch his skiis now. It's what most of the boys his age are doing. And enroll him for the ENTIRE time you are there. He'll learn (which you just can't do on your own) and be with kids his age. Need more help? Just ask.

Hi Kath, there are discounted coupons for transportation at www.skicoupons.com. Yes Breck will be busy at the holidays but the town is very cute. Last year though we waited 40 min to take the shuttle from town to the lifts. Personnaly I would think about Vail beacuse there is more to do than ski. They have the "Adventure Ridge" that has fun activites besides skiing http://vail.snow.com/info/act.advridge.asp
You will find Vail Slopes less crowded than Breck because they black out those dates for season pass holders. It is a much better place to learn to ski, IMO. Plus it is easier to be without a car there. If you are on a budget check out http://www.econovail.com for some ideas. If budget is not a worry you can fly into Eagle which is much closer than DIA.

Regarding ski rental, you can often save money by renting from independent shops away from the slopes, but in your case, without a car, it's going to be much easier just to rent the equipment at a ski area. Often they have beginners' packages, which include equipment rental, lift ticket, and a lesson, at very good prices. (It's to their advantage to make sure you have a clue on the slopes.)

Thank you all so much for the great advice. I wasn't expecting so many helpful responses. I checked out Vail and it looks so nice, but more expensive than Breckenridge. I'm sure Breck will be quite crowded though. I'll check out Whistler and Big Sky Resort and some of the others next. Again thank you all for taking the time to help me!

We also love Whistler, and you absolutely don't need a car there. Another benefit of Whistler is that the base is only 2200 feet above sea level, so you don't have to worry about the potential altitude problems at Breckenridge, where the base is 9600 feet above sea level.

We did Big Sky without a car, and I wouldn't recommend that. There aren't very many restaurants in the Huntley Lodge area, and the times we took shuttles to other restaurants, the drive was long and the driving was terrifying. We thought the driver was going to end up off the road, with the bus on it's side more than once.

Kath another one to consider is Keystone, though I hesitate to mention it yet again. The pluses. Its easy to be without a car, you can find pretty inexspensive lodging at vrbo.com (default the search bottom lo-hi it is at the top of the page) activites besides skiing. You can take the Ski Kab to Breckenridge to sightsee.

The biggest negative is that is is not a town it is a resort, it will have restaurants and shops and holiday decorations that you wanted though. Kath all the suggestions are good ones you are sure to have an enjoyable holiday at all of them

if it were me Kath I would book a week up at grey rocks in Canada. In one week you and he will probably be confident on blues maybe blacks. I have not done this program but it is award winning.

Outwest I would look into keystone. I can imagine going outwest is enticing but if you are not an experienced skier much of it will be off bounds to you.

There is a also a great ski chatroom I found out about on this forum www.epicski.com. Check it out. I went in their and asked a similar question about ski schools. From across the country everyone said grey rocks. Just a thought.

Just wanted to say thank you again for all the great advice. I am off to do some serious internet research!!

In regards to the roads at Big Sky - I drive them every year, twice I did the trip by myself with three kids in tow. The roads are fine. I'm down into the canyon several times per week. They are well maintained. One year We had 12 inches of snow per day for 5 days, and the roads were plowed and sanded like clockwork. I do rent a 4X4, but have not encountered a problem and any of our yearly, and sometimes bi-yearly trips. Yes, it is a resort, not a town per se, but the benefits far outweigh the lack of 20 restaurants (last time I counted there were 12). And, many in the canyon run their owns shuttles up to the resort to pick you up.

Finally found where they have all the activites for Keystone listed http://www.kidstuffadventure.com/key...ies/index.html

Really, In Colorado anyplace you go to at that time of year is very festive.

Breckenridge is beautiful and I definitely would not mess with renting a car. I grew up driving in snow, but have lived in Texas over 20 years now and would NOT feel comfortable driving up to the mountains in Colorado. The weather is very uncertain and we Texans are not used to hills on a sunny day. In snow? Forget it! Take the shuttle and enjoy the scenery on the drive up - it's gorgeous.

For great snow and small crowds and friendly folks try The Big Mountain in Whitefish Montana.
You can fly into Kalispell Mt. and the mountain is only 13 miles. Stay on the hill or in the village of Whitefish.
For more info.
www.bigmtn.com
www.whitefishmt.com

Northwest,Delta,Alaska Air ,Big Sky Air and Sky West all fly into Kalispell.
Happy Trails