Many of our friends skied when they were single, some a little, some a lot. Now that their kids are getting to an age where they can start to ski, we are constantly being asked, “where’s the best place to take our kids skiing?” As a skiing, travel writing family, we can’t steer them wrong, so we usually recommend one of the following three “can’t miss” resorts for family skiing.
Deer Valley
Notice we said skiing, not snowboarding. Deer Valley is one of only three resorts, along with Alta and Mad River Glen, that still ban snowboarders. For skiing families, this can be a relief. Deer Valley has a very genteel aura that makes learning to ski more relaxed. For parents who may not have skied in a year (or a decade), special touches like ski valets at the drop off area, extensive on-mountain amenities and the best grooming found anywhere can be a huge help.
In addition, the ski school is top notch, with particular emphasis placed on kids' lessons. The popular lodges are all family-friendly, most notably the Stein Erickson Lodge, the template for the contemporary upscale ski hotel.
There’s just about every other winter activity available at the Resort or nearby. The old mining town of Park City is just a few minutes away with shops, restaurants and other diversions. Down the road a bit farther is the Utah Olympic Park where the ski jumping events were held at the 2002 Olympics. And last but not least, Deer Valley is just 40 minutes from Salt Lake City Airport, making travel simple.
Beaver Creek
Any resort where a guy in a chef's hat hands out free, homemade cookies every afternoon is bound to get on a Macaroni Kid list. Add a wonderful village surrounding the centerpiece ice skating rink, a dedicated children’s ski school building with carefully graded learn-to-ski trails and a bungee trampoline, and you are going to get families coming back year after year.
If a pack of tweens running around the hotel in pajamas sounds like fun for your kids, then the Park Hyatt, located right at the base of the lifts, is the place for you. Their Camp Hyatt program includes making old-fashioned s'mores, storytelling with Mrs. Gooseberry or watching a favorite movie and eating popcorn.
The Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch is another great choice. Ritz Kids at The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch is now a state-licensed childcare facility, handy if you are traveling with the pre-ski set.
Smugglers Notch
For East coasters, the king of the family ski experience is Smugglers Notch. Their family facilities are legendary and they were the first ski resort to stake claim to the family designation.
Smugglers Notch (simply called "Smuggs" to those in the know) has its own zip Line, indoor amusement center, skating rink, pools, tubing, snow mobile tours, video game room and more. If you’re traveling with a non-skiers, Smuggs relatively new on-mountain childcare center is the best we’ve seen. It is ski in ski out, so nursing moms can drop in for lunch with an incredibly warm environment, a terrific staff and cozy heated floors.
Oh yeah, and there’s skiing too. Again, the kids’ ski school, with great instructors, is outstanding. They have their own “Flaik” GPS units which the kids strap on so that parents can track their whereabouts during the day, and at night you can check out their adventures directly from your computer.
Honorable MentionsIf you’ve been there done that with the above, Snowmass in Colorado, Northstar in California, Okemo in Vermont, and Whiteface in New York are all worth a look.
