Since Austin, Texas RARELY gives us that white fluffy stuff called “snow”, it’s time to pack up those kiddos and head to the mountains!
Our family absolutely loves family ski trips and we’ve been going every year for the past 4 years to Aspen, Colorado. We’ve learned a lot along the way! While Aspen is definitely one of our favorite spots, there are so many family friendly ski resorts that do an amazing job catering to little ones. Here are our favs in no particular order!
Aspen Snowmass: Aspen, CO
We’ve ski’d all of the mountains and you can’t go wrong at either Buttermilk or Snowmass with the kids. Snowmass tends to be a bit more crowded, but there are more family friendly things to do in Snowmass versus Aspen. With that said, we love staying in Aspen and traveling to Snowmass during the day! You can’t go wrong either way. You can find out more about lift tickets, here.
A project ten years in the making has reached its debut: the new Snowmass Base Village opened in December 2018 to great fanfare. Featuring the new Limelight Hotel Snowmass, a five-story indoor climbing wall, a village plaza withice-skating rink, new retail, and The Collective—a collaborative art, music, culture and activities space—there are a lot of reasons to check it out.
Angel Fire Resort: Angel Fire, NM
- Things to do: Snow tubing, widened trails, Pre-ski program for little ones, snow covered play grounds, Parenting Pass and sledding hill.
Park City Mountain: Park City, UT
- Things to do: Family-friendly ski town, quick shot to airport, and a great ski school.
Snowshoe Mountain Resort: Snowshoe, WV
- Things to do: Kids Nights Out, ski school, The Big Top indoor kids park, Below Teen Center and kid friendly slopes.
Whiteface Lodge: Lake Placid, NY
- Things to do: Bobsled, Olympic activities, ice skating, ice shows, ski school, Olympic tours and the gondola rides.
Stowe Mountain Resort: Stowe, VT
- Things to do: Visit the famous Von Trapps lodge (yes, the Sound of Music Von Trapps!), baking classes, yoga and Ben & Jerry’s tours.
Beaver Creek Resort, Beaver Creek, CO
- Things to do: Kids’ programming, heated bunny slope lift, mountain excursions, pizza parties, snowshoe tours, and a children’s museum.
Northstar California Resort: Truckee, CA
- Things to do: tubing hill, bungee trampoline, moonlight snowshoe tours, and s’mores at an outdoor fire-pit.
Keystone Resort, CO
- Things to do: Kidtopia snow fort, fireworks, snow biking, horse-drawn carriage rides and snowcat tours.
Vail, CO
- Things to do: Walk the village, Adventure zones, Nature Discovery Center, kids snowmobile and ski biking.
Purgatory Resort in Durango is very family friendly. You can ride the bunny hill (without using the lift…. just walk up) for free. Kids 10 and under get to ski free! There’s also a tubing hill. having raised my kids in Durango (to date; we’re moving to Austin), I know it’s where countless local families (and out of town families)(go to ski all season long.