We'd like to go with our 3 children (ages 8,6,4) to Southern Vermont for 5 days in December, before Christmas. We'd like a town that has a some resort feel (restaurants, tubing, ice sakting, sledding, etc) and is not terribly far from New York. Any suggestions?

You will need to check out the area that has snowmaking capacity.

Killington: Too crowded

Okemo: Nicer resort area for the family.

Stowe: Too far north. But the best of the bunch!

Your still looking at 5-7 hour drives

John

Okemo is the best area in southern VT. Nice town (Ludlow), good snow making, great family area.

I won't go to Okemo before Jan, especially this year, unless something drastically changes in the weather. I've hit better conditions at Killington. With that said, I wouldn't plan a 5 day trip with family anywhere in December if at all possible, too early in the season.

Manchester, VT is awesome. Okemo is really good too and the town of Ludlow is very charming with lots of restaurants and shops.

Thanks so much for your responses. Okemo seemslike a good choice. Any suggestions in terms of activities (ice skating, tubing, others) and restaurants?

I'm resurrecting this thread as I'm looking for something in southern VT, also, but for Jan-March. Basically, I have a relative who lives near Brattleboro who I want to stay with, so I wondered if there was any decent ski place within a 30-60 minutes drive from there, so I could just go for the day. It doesn't have to be super great, as I'm not an expert skier, just enjoyable.

On my map, I see Maple Valley, Haystack and Mt. Snow -- Maybe Prospect over towards Bennington. Which of these are worth going to?

okay I found out Haystack is some private thing and Prospect only Xcountry now.

I'm thinking Mt Snow, is it a nice place to ski?

Anyone know if Maple Valley is still oepn?

I went to Mt Snow about 4 yrs ago and it was nice for a couple of days. I don't remember there being any really steep terrain (although I was just getting back into skiing after a 15 yr gap, so I wasn't looking for anything too extreme). It's a nice family resort and pretty low-key. Lots of blue groomers.

I don't know anything about Maple Valley.

thanks, I tried calling Maple Valley this morning from a number I got on the web and got a recording saying it was closed for the 2003 season -- a little old! So I figure it must be closed.

Mt Snow sounds okay for my speed, I only do green-blue and prefer the easier blue.

Thanks to all that suggested Okemo, we loved it.