RFI: US Ski Destinations

[rob_s]

Keeping the title intentionally vague, but listing some specific details about us below:

• Looking at March 2022, our spring break. Mid-month.
• Wife grew up skiing, wants kids to experience it.
• Kids, girls, will be 11 and 14 by this time. They may or may not take to the skiing themselves.
• Dad (me) did not grow up skiing and frankly thinks learning at 47 years old and then not doing it again for 3-5 yes is kind of a waste of time & money.
• This means we want options other than skiing in and around town.
• Possibility of mom and kids arriving a few days early, doing the skiing, and dad joining mid-week to do other things.
• Current front runner locations are Park City, Vail, and Jackson Hole.
• Wife and kids were supposed to ski Jackson Hole in March of 2020. Got there and everything shut down for Covid. Flew back early after 2 days rolling around in the snow, no skiing. Kids really want to go back.
• Accommodations should, ideally, be some sort of townhouse/condo situation where the kids can walk out the back door and play in the snow while grownups sit and have coffee, vs a “hotel” where they have to take two elevators and a escalator to get outside, and we’d have to go with them.
• Sweet spot would be $300/night but could go up or down, particularly if wife and kids were able to stay for the $30l/night and then we upgrade to a different accommodation once dad arrives.

[Duelist]

Grew up in Utah. Park City is what you seek. Jackson and Vail are also good, but my impression is that they are also more expensive. I haven’t lived there in a long time, though, and it’s been longer since I cared about skiing in any meaningful way, so I could be wrong, but my AZ family who still care to ski travel to Park City to do it.

[Boxy]

Consider Snowshoe WV as an alternate to the West. Condos with kitchens, a church. Kind of like a ski village. Mileage may vary.

[Totem Polar]

Sun Valley, Idaho might be worth a look as well.

[YVK]

I think PC would be the better option. As already mentioned, it will likely be cheaper than Veil and Jackson Hole. PC has an advantage of having a large number of other skiing resorts along the Wasatch front, sometimes folks like sampling different areas. Less frequently, one area could ne closed to avalanche control or may have better visibility and people drive somewhere else. From Powder Mountain to Snowbasin up north to PC to Alta/ Snowbird you have about 8 national and international level resorts within 90 min. You also have SLC if you don't want to ski.

A concept of cost containment applies poorly to skiing but check prices of chairlift access at different places. It has been an absolute robbery lately.

[TheNewbie]

Wife and I went to Angel Fire NM in January. I didn’t ski, but she did.


Angel Fire is incredibly boring if you’re not going to be skiing, and when I was there the lockdown made it feel like you were in a 1960s combloc postcard. I’m pretty interested in life, but that place even made me bored.


Red River I like better as a town.


My friends say staying in Red River is nicer, skiing in Angel Fire is nicer.

[DocGKR]

Deer Valley/Park City and surrounding areas have the most variety and options, as well as easy travel from SLC.

Lake Tahoe--Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose, etc... is also a good choice with easy access from Reno or even Sacramento.

Silverthorne CO--Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, A-Basin, Loveland, etc... offers a lot to do, but is more of a pain to get to up 70 from Denver.

Jackson, Sun Valley, Taos, Big Sky, Mammoth all have a bit less around them.

[HeavyDuty]

I don’t ski, but I honeymooned in Breckinridge and highly recommend it. It’s a town, not just a resort.

[rob_s]

A concept of cost containment applies poorly to skiing but check prices of chairlift access at different places. It has been an absolute robbery lately.

Wife found one hotel that's $700/night. Sounds insane, right? Maybe, but lift tickets are $10! Stay at a $400/night place and pay for 3 $100 lift tickets and might as well have been in the nicer place!

[rob_s]

Silverthorne CO--Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, A-Basin, Loveland, etc... offers a lot to do, but is more of a pain to get to up 70 from Denver.

Wife mentioned she's already hearing 70 is a nightmare. To the point that she'd likely come in on a Thursday and we'd all leave on a Monday. Hearing traffic out of Denver is a disaster on Fridays, and same for back in on Sundays.