Please Help: Planning Christmas '07 Ski Vacation - Where to go?
 

We are in the beginning stages of a family Christmas ski vacation (leaving Christmas Day or the day after). 6 adults (2 beginners), 2 children (7 and 9 years old) both beginners.

Open to any destination (west or east), but must have great snow and be within 1-2 hours of a major airport.

Adults are looking for ski-in/ski-out accommodations, great runs, good shopping, restaurants, and commons areas (one non-skier will be making the trip). Prefer accommodations that are up to date or remodeled, not old and rustic (when traveling we normally look for places with down comforters, soaking tubs, etc).

Obviously kid friendly is a must, but a place not "swarming" with children wouldn't be bad either. :)

Any places out there you would recommend?

Thank you for your time and suggestions!

Go to Utah, Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbasin, etc. Very kid friendly, and Deer Valley is the best; but not for boarders, I don't think they allow them. Well groomed slopes, predictable weather, and SLC is about one hour away. Check it out on the internet.

P.S. THere is a Mariott right in the heart of Park City that has a wondeful breakfast included, and bus goes by to slopes every half hour, I think. They will store you skis, and for non skiers, it is a fun town to prowl around in.

HI August,

Park City would fit your description. The Rockies have the best snow, although no one can guarantee great snow months in advance!

Park City is 40 minute drive from Salt Lake Intl Airport.

Check out www.skiutah.com and parkcityinfo.com

I live in Park City and have been skiing in Utah for over 30 years. If I can help, let me know.

Happy planning!

We had 17 (including 4 kids) at Breckenridge this past Christmas. Four people didn't ski and had a fantastic time. The wandered around town shopping, went to the outlets etc. Kids absolutely loved ski school.

We rented a house for the week which was walking distance to town and ski in/out from across the street. There are tons of places that would fit your requirements though.

Heather

I would consider Breckenridge -- huge selection of ski in and out and a large number of ski in. Depending on your finances Vail and Beaver Creek is excellent and the full service Eagle Cty airport is 30 minutes away. Beaver Creek would have less crowded over the Christmas period. Early season snow at Park City over Christmas is a bit more risky. This past year was not good.

Beaver Creek Hyatt...ski in, ski out, great Children's Program and facilities! Huge hottub, water falls, swim outdoors or indoors by swimming under the glass wall. Family loved this vacation...we even went back during the summer and had a blast without any snow.

We love to ski in Colorado and have found that Breckenridge is a good spot for families - good beginner slopes/ski school options, plenty of shopping/activities for non-skiers in the town. Copper Mountain is also a favorite slope and has good beginner slopes and ski school. However, the village doesn't offer all that Breckenridge does in terms of alternate activities, shops, and dining. Have fun!

I forgot to mention that The Village at Breckenridge has nice ski-in/ski-out accommodations.

We spent 10 days at Steamboat Springs this past January and loved it. Very family friendly, heaps of accommodation, things to do for non skiers and good restaurants. We stayed at the Torian Plum condos which were ski in ski out. Also the Grand at Steamboat springs looked lovely, I went and checked the rooms out whilst we were there. There is about a 50 metre walk if that from the hotel to the ski lockers, it is right at the Gondola base station. We have also skied at Breckenridge but I prefered Steamboat, less busy and also not so many boarders, they seemed to stick to their own areas for the most part and the ones that did ski on the main slopes were very considerate. I was impressed with the overall feel of the place. They have a very informative web page (Steamboat Springs)

The OP asked from an area within 1-2 hours of a major airport. While Steamboat is an excelltent ski area it is bit more than one to two hours from a major airport. The Summit Cty area meets that test plus offering a wider variety of slopes and resorts. BUT it can be crowded over the holidays which why I suggested earlier looking at the Beaver Creek/Vail area. The Eagle/Vail airport has excellent and frequent direct flights with big jets.

I think Vail would be a great intro to skiing and the whole ski village scene for you and your family, especially since you can fly right to Vail/Eagle County and not have to get there on the road from Denver. You wouldn't need to rent a car, as the village is very walkable and has buses. Since you said you are open to flying either on Christmas Day or the day after, I strongly suggest flying out on Christmas Day. Lower fares and a lot less busy.

Montana has around 14,000 acres of skiable terrain and 548 runs. Great bet. Do you consider Nevada?? Just a one hour drive from Reno and you're in the big-steeps of the Sierra Nevada Range and its famed Lake Tahoe skiing area.

We live here, and I have to say that the Colorado ski areas within 2 hours from the airport have gotten so crowded, it's dangerous. My husband is a physician and he sees many patients who were injured at Breckenridge, especially. And he got hit full blast himself at Copper, by a skier taking a jump and 'catching air' where he shouldn't have.

Further away mountains, like Steamboat, even Winter Park might be less crowded. You can probably find skier/day statistics to check out my point.

If you can choose anywhere in the country, what about Montana's Big Sky? You'd fly in to Bozeman, and it's about an hour drive. My son went up there to ski and it's an amazing mountain. Their record-breaking day is 2000 skiers, versus 16,000 here at Copper. I don't know if there's a lot to do for non-skiers, though.

Otherwise, I'd check out Park City and others in Utah, too.
:)>-

The skiing in Montana is great and uncrowded, but there really isn't a resort in Montana that will provide non-skiiers with enough activities.

Also, there often isn't very much snow yet at most resorts in Montana (Big Mountain or Lost Trail being an exception) at the end of December.

People can have their personal opinions about favorite ski areas and where one should go but MaureenB's comments are a little over the top with out some hard numbers to back them up. She may live here but not so sure how much she skis here.

Have skied in Colardo since I learned to ski at Loveland in 63. Skied Vail the second year it was open and didn't think it would amount to much. In my opinion sking is safer now than it has ever been mostly because of the equipment. The level of grooming on the slopes is much higher. Many of the areas have slow sking/family sking areas that is enforced. All the ski areas are much larger than 20 years ago -- some massively so. And all the areas have a pretty active accident prevention programs. I ski 30 to 40 days a year mostly Breckenridge with a few days at Vail, Copper, and Keystone. It is rare for me to see anyone injuried. Serious collisions between two skiers are not common with most injuries resulting from falls -- twisted ankels, knees, wrists, shoulders. I am guessing that the injuries/per sking day is way down. But I will look for that statistic.

The ski areas are crowded at the holidays but not dangerously so. We have spent Christmas week at Breckenridge a couple of times and this past year it was New Year's week. It was crowded. My biggest complaint is the long lift lines -- not crowded slopes. Had a beginner with us this year and she got along fine.

Winter Park will have the same crowds at that time of year because of the local skiers. Beaver Creek, Steamboat, and the Aspen complex will be a little less crowded than the others but it may not be noticeable.

I am not a big fan of Park City, Canyons, and Deer Valley although I spend a week there each year. Prefer DV of the three. The slopes are smaller, shorter, narrower, and you spend more time riding lifts. Much prefer the SLC side of the mountain but the base resorts are very limited there.

Come to Colorado and I will be your guide for day and show you how to avoid a couple of bottlenecks.