Non Region Specific Kids-friendly Ikon resort in the West in early April

[dovski]

if the cost is now 4x what it was 4 years ago that's a 300% increase

#math #irrelevant

My apologies, let me revert to more scientific terms ... in now costs a butt load to ski there

Joking aside we used to book rooms in the Huntley Lodge for around $150/night during the summer early booking sale ... and then BigSky stopped having that sale. Even with discounts we are looking at $600+ and night and that is not during peak dates either. Last year when we looked at booking it over president's day long weekend rooms started at $800+ a night. So while we do love skiing there, the cost is hard to justify when there are so many other great places we can ski for a fraction the cost.

 

[Ivan]

I'll write a detailed post about our experience later, but here is a quick post in the meantime. We ended up going to Winter Park for a bit over a week (we are still here, heading back on Sunday), and we absolutely love it. I did about 21-22k vertical today (depending on the tracking app) with our kids who are 8 and 5 years old. About 5.5 hours on the mountain, they were exhausted but absolutely loved it. We also did 15k vertical at Copper two days ago, and 12k vertical at Winter Park the day before, so the kids have been skiing a lot. We've been skiing groomers, fresh snow, trees, and a little bit of bumps. Yes, traveling with three kids, including an infant, is tricky, but it is totally worth it.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Yes, traveling with three kids, including an infant, is tricky, but it is totally worth it.

Sounds like your kids are very lucky to have you as a dad! When my kids were young, we always took trips and didn't worry about the hassles. Now that they're high schoolers, it's clear it was worth it for their development and in creating life long experiences for all of us. They are well rounded, adaptable kids that get excellent grades and are well liked by their teachers and peers.

My in-laws on the other hand chose to be slaves to their kids and their nap schedules. They're not quite high school age yet, but they are FAR less adaptable and FAR less well rounded than my kids were at the same age. I see more and more of my younger colleagues going the slave to the nap route as well. I'm convinced this will have a net negative effect on their kids' development.

Glad to hear you're having fun!

 

[Marker]

I'll write a detailed post about our experience later, but here is a quick post in the meantime. We ended up going to Winter Park for a bit over a week (we are still here, heading back on Sunday), and we absolutely love it. I did about 21-22k vertical today (depending on the tracking app) with our kids who are 8 and 5 years old. About 5.5 hours on the mountain, they were exhausted but absolutely loved it. We also did 15k vertical at Copper two days ago, and 12k vertical at Winter Park the day before, so the kids have been skiing a lot. We've been skiing groomers, fresh snow, trees, and a little bit of bumps. Yes, traveling with three kids, including an infant, is tricky, but it is totally worth it.

View attachment 232450 View attachment 232451

I was just there mid-March with some ski buddies. Very fun place and can see why you and your family had a great time. A little of something for all skill levels. About the only issue I had was altitude in town while sleeping. Didn't notice it much when actively skiing where I'm taking good athletic breaths!

 

[Ivan]

OK, time for a longer trip report. After reading this thread, we were mostly choosing between Utah and Colorado. Another option was Vermont, but when I saw how much our kids were skiing at Greek Peak this season (all Saturdays and Sundays, usually from before 9 in the morning to around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, even in the rain), I wanted to show them how "real mountains" look like and was confident they would enjoy skiing a big mountain.

Decided to go to Colorado, and specifically stay in Fraser, for a couple of reasons. First, there is a direct flight from Syracuse to Denver, which is a lot more convenient for us than driving to EWR or JFK. Second, I figured out that Winter Park has snowcat tours, and, knowing how much our boys love all types of machines, I knew it would be a hit. Another big factor in favor of Winter Park was that it is off the beaten path a little bit, and also it has very convenient parking (right next to the lift at the Mary Jane base). Copper is right on the I-70, and one has to take a shuttle from the parking lot to the lifts.

Here are the boys in the cockpit of United's Airbus (I'm a huge aviation fan, doing my PPL now, and they are getting more interested in aviation, too):


Here are the pictures from the snowcat tour (with hot chocolate and smores):



We had 8 days in Colorado. I skied all 8 days; the kids skied 6 (2, then rest for a day, then 2 more, then rest, then 2 more). In total, we did 7 days at Winter Park and 1 day at Copper. Here are the photos on the hill:



Here is the Berthoud pass on the way back from Copper:


And here is the video of the boys skiing:

We absolutely loved Winter Park. It has an interesting layout (we didn't really ski any green runs, but there are lots of great blue runs all over the mountain). Really enjoyed Cranmer and the race course set on it; skied the trees off the Olympia lift; liked the Mary Jane and Sleeper runs; skied the runs off the Wild Spur Express; and the list goes on. We liked Copper, too, but found the signage on the mountain to be more confusing than at WP.

The kids made a huge progress over these 6 days. The younger one learned to do hockey stops and to sideslip without any input from me. They also skied trees for the first time on their life. They got a bit sick on the second day in Colorado (probably because of the elevation), but were feeling fine after a day of rest.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. Yes, traveling with 3 kids (a 5-month old in addition to the older boys) can be challenging, but skiing in the West is on another level, especially considering the weather and snow conditions we had this season in the East. The boys already asked me if we are going to get Ikon passes for next season and go somewhere West again, and I think I know what the answer will be

 

[Jim Kenney]

My kids are all grown, but I did a fair amount of ski travel with them in younger days. You have learned something I always appreciated. Doing a family ski trip in spring (my kids always had a week off at Easter time) is generally much more pleasant than doing one at Christmas time with friendlier weather, lower crowds, lower costs, and typically better ski conditions in higher elevation Rocky Mountain locations.

 

[Ivan]

My kids are all grown, but I did a fair amount of ski travel with them in younger days. You have learned something I always appreciated. Doing a family ski trip in spring (my kids always had a week off at Easter time) is generally much more pleasant than doing one at Christmas time with friendlier weather, lower crowds, lower costs, and typically better ski conditions in higher elevation Rocky Mountain locations.

There is one more reason to do a trip West in the spring rather than during the Christmas break. Our eldest one was in the developmental program at Greek Peak this season (and most likely be in the U10 program next season), and they have a 4-day-long ski camp during the winter break. The conditions this season over the winter break were pretty miserable, but he still enjoyed it and learned a lot. I'd rather ski West with them in the spring, when our ski season is over, rather than during the time they can ski here and learn from coaches anyway.

P.S. I forgot to mention. One other factor in favor of Colorado vs Utah was that the spring break in Salt Lake City was the same week as at our kids' school (March 29 - April 7). I don't know how the actual crowds in Utah looked like, but I was a bit concerned that there may be more people on the slopes during the school break. Winter Park and Copper, in contrast, were pretty much empty.

 

[James]

Even last weekend in VT, there were a bunch of kids coming out for Spring vacation. They got exceptional conditions for most of the mountain. We had one kid at 10yrs old who’d only skied a small mountain in CT. She was really good though, and got treated to going pretty much everywhere including the half pipe.

The main reason I think many only skied one day was cost.

 

[Ivan]

Even last weekend in VT, there were a bunch of kids coming out for Spring vacation. They got exceptional conditions for most of the mountain. We had one kid at 10yrs old who’d only skied a small mountain in CT. She was really good though, and got treated to going pretty much everywhere including the half pipe.

The main reason I think many only skied one day was cost.

We went to Vermont a couple of weekends before our trip (and it was great!), and we might do a day trip to Killington again this Sunday. But, as much as I like VT, the snow (both quantity and quality) is very different in the West. It's much drier and lighter there, and also they had about 7 ft-deep base when we were at WP. Just a totally different experience when one can ski on- or off-piste all over the mountain without worrying about rocks or other obstacles.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

During the teenage years, my son talked to me on the chair lift about what was going on in his life. There were many cliff hangers as we unloaded and skied a run, but he communicated while riding the chair lift. It was truthfully the best years of my life!