Vail or snowbird.

Any experience with either? I'm a great skiier but taking my family for the first time (dcs are 6 and 3 respectively. Or if you have a different recommendation, I'm open! TIA.

Sun. Nov 27, 7:30pm

I've been to Vail many times (though not recently, used to go with my family), and it's awesome!! It's a great, huge mountain, and the back side of it (the "back bowls") are this beautiful, huge wide expanse of skiing with no real slopes, just openness, and it's really the most beautiful place I've ever seen! I also love Beaver Creek, which is about 5-10 miles from Vail, and you can easily go there for a day or two from your trip (the two slopes are co-operated, and your lift ticket will work at either of them, and also at Arrowhead, which wasn't quite finished the last time I went, but is also supposed to be a great mountain!) We always stayed at Beaver Creek, but would spend a couple days skiing at Vail; I think this may have been a little bit less expensive, but it's a really really cool place to be too!

Another cool ski place is Steamboat; it's a very western town - cowboy boots and hats, even when they're not fashionable like they are right now! That's where Billy the Kid skies! Which is cool! I was there twice; once the skiing was amazing, the other time it was a little bit icy. A very cool town though!

Monday, November 28, 2005, 9:44 AM

Put the kids in ski school - my parents used to do that to us when we were little, and it was great! The 3-year-old may spend more time coloring inside than skiing outside, but the 6- year-old will get some great lessons, and both will get to play with kids their own age and make some friends, while you get to ski for real! Do it especially the first day or two (or possibly the whole trip), so when it's time for you to ski with your kids, they know what they're doing, at least a little - it'll be more fun for all of you!!

I made some lifelong friends that I still keep in touch with, from friends that I made at ski school when I was 6!

Monday, November 28, 2005, 9:46 AM

Thank you! I love the back bowls of Vail. This is why I'm leaning towards it but I've never taken my family. I've never been to steamboat, I think because it's far from the airport. Or am I wrong?

Regarding ski school for the kids, This is a fantastic suggestion. And the earlier you get started, the better skiier you are when you're older. A quick question: should I put them in snowboarding school or ski school? Should I let them choose?

Monday, November 28, 2005, 10:50 AM

The same poster again... I posted the Vail vote and the ski school suggestion, b/c my family did trips like that when I was little... I'd probably go with ski school, over snowboarding, unless your 6-year-old skateboards or something, just b/c typically, after a day of skiing, you pretty much know what you're doing and can safely enjoy going down a hill - it takes years to get to be great, but right away, you can at least stand up and ski. Snowboarding is a little different - it takes longer to get over that initial hump and get to a point where you can actually enjoy it, but once you're there, you're there. Not doing tricks, etc., but, good.

Though maybe it's easier to learn snowboarding young... I did it for one day-long lesson in Steamboat when I was 14 or 15, after skiing since I was 6, and in the entire day made it down the bunny hill 3 times, on my butt... It was an exhausting and frusterating day! Meanwhile, I taught my fiance to ski in a morning and we were blasting down the slopes together all afternoon last winter!

Oh, and, in case you're hesitant about putting the 3-year-old in all-day ski school, most ski schools require kids to be 3 and potty-trained. My parents put my sister in ski school when she was just 3 months past her 2nd birthday, and sort-of potty trained, and just lied. Other than having to do a lot of laundry, it turned out to be a great idea; everyone had a great time! And my sister kept up just fine with the kiddie program! Oh, and by the time she was 6, she was winning gold medals for her age in Nastar racing! She was the 8th-fastest 5-6 year old girl in Pennsylvania!

But once the kids get good enough to have some speed, buy them helmets, b/c kids are fearless!! My sister had MANY injuries that would've been far worse w/o the helmet!!

You're right, I think Steamboat is farther from the airport than Beaver Creek/Vail. When I've been there, it's always been after a week at Vail, and we've just driven straight there...

Have fun! I'm jealous! I want to go!!!

Monday, November 28, 2005, 11:25 AM

Thank you so much for the snowboarding vs. skiing comparison. I think my 6 year old will think snowboarding is cooler but I do see that it's harder to get it initially. And that your sister was phenomenal! This is exactly what I needed to hear because I was a little hesitant about my 3 year old. And there will be helmets at all times. I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Thanks again!! and you should come!

Monday, November 28, 2005, 1:26 PM

To the poster, we've decided to go to Vail in March! We can't wait!!!!

Thursday, January 5, 2006, 1:50 PM

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