(NA) Places for Spring Break Snow Skiing

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Brad W

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I want to take my family snow skiing mid March. I used to ski years ago but my kids have barely ever even seen snow.

I'm looking for tips.

Looking for some out of the box ideas of places to possibly go. Ideally I was hoping for sort of a ski village type of area...and not necessarily a "resort" and certainly no high dollar first class stuff. could be a little town at the base of the hill. My wife isn't really all that into skiing & I thought a place with stuff to do other than skiing will be good... dining choices, shopping, maybe ice skating, maybe some evening entertainment, etc. Ideally mostly walking distances...not so much driving the whole time

I was originally going to try to do it around now, but I waited too late to book anything around the holidays...
and
now that I'm really digging into it I'm finding most places to stay are booked up pretty solid even in March
And it's all so expensive! I can't figure out how I used to go skiing at all back 30 years ago...I had no money back then. Didn't make much and spent what little I had on flying lessons.

Anyway I've spent a little time looking at several of the obvious places in CO and some in UT. Some of the smaller ski hills out there that look like they might be a good choice for learning (such as Loveland CO, for instance) have no lodging or anything else...and the big huge well known places seem to have movie star prices.
 
I am not sure where you are at but since you are looking a Colorado, then think one state further south.

New Mexico may not receive the same attention as its neighboring states of Colorado or Utah, but it has its fair share of skiing. There are eight alpine ski areas: Angel Fire, Pajarito Mountain, Red River Ski and Summer Area, Sandia Peak, Sipapu, Ski Apache, Ski Santa Fe, and Taos Ski Valley.

I have heard that Sante Fe has some good eating and shopping...

With that said I don't know the current snow conditions.
 
If you don't mind driving thru the tunnel...Loveland is great, on the east side of the tunnel. Stay in any of the hotels on the west side of the tunnel in Silverthorne. There's an outlet mall for shopping, restaurants, etc. But you gotta do the tunnel. I don't know if there's a bus between Silverthorne and Loveland Ski.

Perhaps a better option is Steamboat Springs.

Candidly, forget Colorado. One other option is Eldora but can't guarantee the snow like the other areas.

I moved to Colorado to ski many, many years ago, quit April 1, 1999 due to a knee injury. Took up flying 'cuz I can sit down. By myself, Loveland was always my go-to area because I didn't have to go thru the tunnel to get back to town. With local friends, Copper or Winter Park. With outofstate friends - usually Vail because they were picking up the tab for the condo. I could start skiing again, but between the traffic (locals do NOT ski on the weekends if we can help it) and outlandish prices, I decided against it. Flying is more fun, altho more expensive (hangar, insurance, etc).
 
Zeldman said:
I am not sure where you are at but since you are looking a Colorado, then think one state further south.

New Mexico may not receive the same attention as its neighboring states of Colorado or Utah, but it has its fair share of skiing. There are eight alpine ski areas: Angel Fire, Pajarito Mountain, Red River Ski and Summer Area, Sandia Peak, Sipapu, Ski Apache, Ski Santa Fe, and Taos Ski Valley.

I have heard that Sante Fe has some good eating and shopping...

With that said I don't know the current snow conditions.
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I used to spend 1 week/month at Kirtland (consultant) and made sure bookend weekends were at Sandia and Taos. I really like Sandia - take the gondola on the west side or drive around on the east side. Have your wife drop you at the gondola, she can spend the day in town while you and the kids are skiing. If she'd like, take the gondola to meet you at the top for hot chocolate after skiing. Best of both worlds.

Update....I forgot...not far from the the gondola side is the Indian casino (razed the little GA airport for it!!!!) with an excellent food.

https://skinewmexico.com/
 
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thanks, I'll poke around on those a bit. We did like Sante Fe when we passed through a few years ago on an RV trip.... that reminds me... I think there was a small ski hill on the back side of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque. Probably not high enough or North enough for good snow in march though.... & not really the ski village thing I'm hoping for

I'm in Florida and will be travelling by airliner if we ever do this.
 
I tripped over you murphey, on taht post about Sandia ;)
murphey said:
Candidly, forget Colorado. .....
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I'm certainly not locked on CO....but I wonder...why do you say this? I have skied Steamboat Springs and Winter Park. Also around Lake Tahoe a bit
 
We have gone to Park City several times. Easy access from Salt Lake City, and a lot more to do than just ski.
 
Brad W said:
I tripped over you murphey, on taht post about Sandia ;)


I'm certainly not locked on CO....but I wonder...why do you say this? I have skied Steamboat Springs and Winter Park. Also around Lake Tahoe a bit
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As you pointed out in an earlier post - expensive doesn't begin to describe skiing in CO, and most locations exist only for skiing. Yes, Vail, Aspen, the Summit areas, have non-skiing activities and $$$$ shopping and $$$$ everything else. Winter Park/Mary Jane (used to be owned by the City & County of Denver) is fantastic skiing but limited for the non-skier. Drive over the Granby for local shopping and such (I have friends who live there). Steamboat is great but getting there can take almost as long driving as you took Florida-Denver, altho you can get a commercial flight from Denver to Yampa Valley (the commercial airport for Steamboat). There's always Telluride (Durango), too.
 
I haven't skied in over 30 years and even then just did it on the local Ski hill which depending on what you are used to I am told is pretty good skiing. That would be Bogus Basin 45minutes outside of Boise. Not sure what the current accommodations are up there now, you might end up staying in Boise an commuting up the hill to ski.
Also hear that Brundage out of McCall, Idaho can be good as well. Either might be worth researching to see if it is what you are looking for.

Brian
 
I'd recommend Sunriver, Oregon. A great family destination with an airport and skiing at bachelor Butte.
 
Big Mountian @ Whitefish, Mt, Fly into KGPI .
Showdown out of Great Falls Mt. Fly into KGTF.
 
Zeldman said:
… Angel Fire…
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Will be there in a couple of weeks, looks discouraging right now. Daytime heating is melting the manmade snow and it’s been so dry they moved opening by a week and then were offering no-penalty re-schedule for later in the season.

Wolf Creek is typically where I’d recommend the OP go to meet his desires.
 
MauleSkinner said:
How about Mount Kato? ;)

https://www.mountkato.com/
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That's a good joke!! Now I really want to know how you came across that! LOL I went there once, as a youth group chaperone, and drove past it every day on my way in to work for a couple of years. Mankato is definitely not the "ski village thing" that he's looking for, and I imagine Mount Kato doesn't compare at all to skiing in the Rockies. And March is a temperamental month in Minnesota. It might be 75* and no real snow left, or it could be blizzarding and 15*. He would probably be able to book something in Mankato for tomorrow though. LOL
 
Glenwood Springs CO
Sunlight ski area is small and relatively affordable. There is the Hot Spings Pool, Vapor Caves, decent bars, etc...
They have a package called something like Ski, Swim, Stay.
KGWS
 
Check out Keystone in Colorado. They have good beginner terrain for your kids starting out, the village has shops, a huge outdoor skating rink, restaurants, tubing hills. If you want a change of pace for skiing Arapahoe Basin is close too (but no lodging there). Lift tickets will run you around $150\day for adults. I recommend doing dinner at the Swiss fondue restaurant at the top of the mountain one evening, you take 2 gondolas to get there.
 
MauleSkinner said:
How about Mount Kato? ;)

https://www.mountkato.com/
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Nice!! I have not heard of that one...but I actually have skied at a place just up the road from there, I think called Powder Ridge and had a great time. I was there with some coworkers out of St Cloud doing a bit of night skiing. Took a break and went back out to the car to enjoy a little nip...they were hitting a flask of schnapps or something or another, and I had a cold beer..... about half way through the beer I remember thinking ..... here I am drinking a cold beer and having a great time, and I'm standing outside with an ambient temperature significantly COLDER than inside my freezer back home!

kyleb said:
We have gone to Park City several times. Easy access from Salt Lake City, and a lot more to do than just ski.
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Park City is one of the places I looked a fair bit at....looks like it would be perfect.... except I choked when I saw the room rates.....most things were sold out anyway. I might have to look a little closer though for something. It looked great.

The suggestion of Brundage in Idaho looks like a nice little hill and probably the type of place I should be looking for...small and probably good enough for the ski experience but likely not too expensive and maybe not too crowded... except it seems that those places are ski or nothing. No lodging nearby, no nothing....
I guess I'm hoping if we do it to go someplace a bit bigger than that or Mount Kato though.... My experience learning to ski in North Carolina and the bit of skiing I'd done in VA and WV taught me that often those small places with very short ski runs often have very long lift lines! I remember skiing, or really more like all terrain ice skating from top to bottom in maybe 5 minutes, then standing in a lift line for about 50 minutes. My trips out West really opened my eyes to what skiing can be like.

Thanks everyone! I've got to check these other places you've mentioned too!
 
TCABM said:
Will be there in a couple of weeks, looks discouraging right now. Daytime heating is melting the manmade snow and it’s been so dry they moved opening by a week and then were offering no-penalty re-schedule for later in the season.
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Finally last night night here in Gallup we had our first measurable snow fall this winter: 1.5 inches of snow and 6 inches of mud.!!

Of all the places I have mentioned I have never been to Wolf Creek in winter.
 
Arapahoe Basin is pretty but exactly what you describe. Just a ski slope, no resort. Go past Keystone, can't miss it. I'm a huge fan of Keystone but it's the epitome of ski resort town.

Wolf Creek is a good one, too. Pagosa Springs is a nice little town.
 
If it were me I'd plan it around snow as much as possible. While long term forecasts aren't always accurate, this is the snow forecast for the 2021-2022 ski season. They are forecasting above average snowfall for the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies. Many Colorado resorts are showing pretty thin snowpack right now except WolfCreek with 127" on top! I imagine Canada is out but if it wasn't I'd recommend Fernie. Whitefish Mountain is decent even though the town of Whitefish isn't quite right at the base of the mountain. This is a good site to check who has snow.
 
You can fly right into Granby, Co. Grandby Ranch is an easy family slope with many STR rentals. If you want more "resort" and world class skiing, you can easily get to winter Park and Mary Jane. The town of Granby isn't fancy, but plenty of restaurants and such. Prices are more realistic than the tourist traps. Good snowmobiling in the areas as well. There is also an Amtrac train service if you don't want to fly in the mountains. I have not down hill skied in years, just wasn't worth it. But you might find Granby Ranch a good alternative to the pricey tourist traps. There is some good cross country skiing in the area as well. I think we got about 20 inches of powder at my place since Christmas. Probably another 6 inches in the next few days. It was a real dry fall, and nobody knows what the next few months will bring.
 
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