london66

Loveland in Colorado officially opened this morning with 1 slope open - a week earlier than last year but will still have to wait until November/December here on the east coast

benblaney

I was thinking of going tomorrow, but I hadn't got round to getting my skis sharpened, so I'll have to wait until next week.

N1cky

Hijacking the thread slightly here.

Can anyone advise on a 'cheap' ski resort. We really want to take our 7 year old daughter. I've looked at lots of places and ski lessons for kids are really expensive.

Basically I'm after somewhere that do's reasonable priced kids lessons with ski rental included, and where we can do other 'snow' activities too.

Neither me or hubby are great skiiers, and even if she would listen to us are no where near good enough to try and teach her ourselves.

Looking at Colorado, Utah, Tahoe areas.

Thanks

Socal Local

Have you looked at any of the local SoCal resorts? Snow Summit (www.snowsummit.com) is great for beginners as the learner slope is wide and open, at the bottom of the mountain and served by a nice, slow chairlift. They don't have all their winter information on the website yet, but last year they were doing some great packages for beginners that included lift pass, lesson and gear rental for less than just the lift ticket alone costs in some of the big name resorts.

Although the drive up there can be a bit exciting (if you seen the drivers here in rain you can imagine what they might be like on snowy roads ), I still love just being able to throw all the ski stuff in the trunk and drive up rather than having to worry about baggage allowances, etc. For you in LA, it is probably about a 1.5 hour to 2 hour drive.

N1cky

Thanks for that, would you believe no-one I know has ever been to Big Bear, I have looked in the past but it seemed more of a resort where people in commute distance go for a day, therefore pretty advanced skiiers.

I will bookmark the link and watch for when the info updates. Thanks for the info.

I saw Yosemite last year were doing a real simple package like that. Any experience of that one?

caleyjag

Meh. Big Bear is crap. Super busy.

Do you want the resort experience? That makes things more complicated in terms of getting a cheap deal.

If you want to do Tahoe, you could stay in Truckee and ski Boreal, Soda Springs etc. These are very small, easy mountains and are cheap. Truckee is quite a nice wee village.

There is a ski resort in Yosemite, called Badger pass, and it is cheap, but that is about as far from a ski resort experience as you can possibly get.

I think your best bet is just to watch out for packages. Sometimes even for Whistler you can get a cracking deal if you spot the right ad at the right time. Particularly if you go for non-peak season. Although with the Olympics I would scratch Whistler and look to Banff instead.

If you fancy staying in a city both Vancouver and Seattle have excellent family affordable skiing less than an hour from city center.

Socal Local

No, I don't know anything about the Yosemite one. I still haven't been to Yosemite in summer yet - it is on the to do list. If we drive that far in Winter it would be to go to Mammoth.

You're right that both Snow Summit and Big Bear are popular with people driving in for the day or weekend. We've done both, but I'd prefer to at least make a weekend of it, as it is an early start to do a day trip from San Diego.

I think Big Bear is aimed more at snowboarders - they have a lot of parks, so we've always gone to Snow Summit. Although I am a snowboarder, I am not really into throwing myself off jumps and rails! I was impressed with their setup for beginner's though, as my friend's husband learned to ski there last year.

london66

You may want to check out Goski.com - it now has google maps of where the ski areas are - links to their websites and also reviews from people who skied there - I use it to plan my week out west each year

N1cky

I think i'm looking for the resort experience really. I was thinking of Yosemite just because we love it there, but I don't think its the ski experience we are after.

Unfortunately having a kid means peak season vacations, I work for a travel company so get fantastic hotel perks, so packages tend to be more expensive than if I book the individual elements myself.

I had no idea about Seatlle, thats somewhere on our list of places to go so we could maybe do 2 things there. I'll look into that.

Yosemite is wonderful, late spring time is my personal favourite as the snow is melting and the waterfalls flowing.

Thanks, I'll look at it

Burn1911

I'll 2nd the Seattle experience, you could stay up at Crystal Mountain and have a "kind of small" resort experience - PLUS during the week it is sooooooooooo quiet!!! they have a good ski school too! We have stayed up there a few times when we can't be bothered to drive the hour home and are looking for a cheap weekend break, and the lodging it good although choices to eat out are VERY limited - BUT not impossible as long as you aren't fussy.

Or you could stay in Seattle, do 2 days at Crystal, staying overnight up there and then go to Snoqualmie Pass, great for beginner/intermediates, this is close enough for a few day trips from Seattle, even just an afternoon/evening ski, and then you can also head up to Stevens Pass.

If you were advanced and looking for "steep and deep" then I would be most disappointed if you missed Mt Baker!

BTW you can get good deals at Whistler occasionally, but I fear this year it may not be possible because of that little winter event going on

N1cky

I've just looked at Crystal and it looks great. Seattle seems to fit the requirements really well as although I would be happy to go skiing for 5 days, my hubby isn't that keen on doing more than a couple of days and I'm a bit worried in case the little one doesn't like it.

Might go into super planning mode now and get this booked, couple nights ski resort, few nights city. Perfect. Thanks so much for the suggestion

naomi

My little girl learned to ski at the Summit at Snoqualmie last year, they have a great area for kids. The Summit doesn't really have anywhere to stay though, but is only 60-90 minutes from Seattle. Crystal has more fun places to stay (although the hotels are a bit pricey). I love Whistler, although of course it will be a mosh pit this season, so forget about that. We also loved Sunpeaks in British Columbia, it was like a mini Whistler.
Naomi.

Burn1911

Good luck with the planning, its exciting to get trips planned out! if you need any hints and tips on getting the most from Crystal let me know - its our home mountain and we ski there ALL winter long... as much as possible!

Now I am doing my snow dance some might say its too early, but you can never be too well organised!!

scrubbedexpat099

We have had snow, still on the peaks, but the only way Loveland etc are opening is through snow guns.

Personally I would not go before Feb.

I started at Steamboat, surrounded by 6 year olds. But not sure you can put nice/cheap/downhill in the same sentence. But Steamboat qualifies ex cheap. A lot of rental places have picked up business as the airlines are making it prohibitive to take your own.

They are starting with the deals, I know advanced bookings are waaay down.

Bob

If your up for a trek because I know the east coast ain't where you had in mind, but New Hampshire, White and Black mountains are great value for money - http://www.blackmt.com/packages.php

I think they'll do the same deal this year where they guarantee that you'll get decent skiing or they'll refund your ski pass.

Cheap resorts in Maine too, even cheaper for cross country.