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Family Friendly Ski Resorts for 1st Timers

Wally12

Wally12

MegaPoke is insane
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Jan 28, 2007
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My family is considering skipping our traditional Christmas plans and gifts next season for a Christmas in the snow. None of us have ever been skiing (except Mom in the 80's) and are looking for a resort where some of us can ski/snowboard, rent snow mobiles, or have other activities for those not looking to be too active. Our group will consist of my parents, sister, brother-in-law, 5 yo nephew, 2 yo niece, and myself. Personally, I want to give snowboarding a shot. Would love to hear any suggestions you all have. Also, is it better to drive or fly to such resorts?

Thanks for any input!
 
All of the New Mexico resorts are easy drives, and a lot of the Colorado resorts are as well. Flying to Denver is super cheap though from OKC, even during Christmas. Angel Fire and Taos are good mountains when there is snow. Red River and Ski Santa Fe are nice options as well. Breckenridge/Vail are probably my favorites. For beginners, I'd go somewhere in NM and save some money.

Lift tickets and ski rental prices have gotten absurd, especially in CO.
 
Renegade Bullet said:
Keystone is our go to place. It has a nice 3.5 mile green run that is great for beginners
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I second this. For beginner skiing, Keystone is great, and it still has lots of options across interest and experience levels.

From a resort perspective, Breck might be better, but for ski runs, it has more blues and less greens IIRC.
 
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Is that Schoolmarm that you are talking about? My BIL said he'd give me some quick lessons. So I go all the way to the top of the mountain and he quickly jets off to some blacks and leaves me pointed at that damn hill. Took me like 4 hours to fall down that mountain - 50 feet at a time.

Screw skiing. It's a stupid sport.
 
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Crested Butte is the best skiing (and best town) in Colorado, but it’s not for beginners. I know from experience. Somewhere in Summit Co is probably best in Colorado for beginners. I like Breck. Lots of options (skiing and town/places to stay) and easy to get to.
 
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Wally12 said:
My family is considering skipping our traditional Christmas plans and gifts next season for a Christmas in the snow. None of us have ever been skiing (except Mom in the 80's) and are looking for a resort where some of us can ski/snowboard, rent snow mobiles, or have other activities for those not looking to be too active. Our group will consist of my parents, sister, brother-in-law, 5 yo nephew, 2 yo niece, and myself. Personally, I want to give snowboarding a shot. Would love to hear any suggestions you all have. Also, is it better to drive or fly to such resorts?

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...
Red River is a good choice...there will be a lot of beginners there. It's a day drive from okc, around 8 hours. Lots of places to eat and they are all close. They rent jeeps, snowmobiles, etc as well. Neat little town. It'll be cheaper than colorado. It's tough to beat, especially for first timers.
It is cheap to fly to denver and you've got several locations that will work from there. I'd go during the week and avoid the weekends. I've come back from there on a Friday and the traffic in to the resort was bumper to bumper forever. Keystone is probably the best choice close to denver but Copper Mtn. is great as well. Remember to keep your weight on the downhill ski! Probably need to stay 4 days at least because it will take you 2 days to get the hang of it, even on a board. Half day lessons and then figure things out on your own the other half. Some people catch on quickly and some it takes longer.
 
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purkey said:
Red River is a good choice...there will be a lot of beginners there. It's a day drive from okc, around 8 hours. Lots of places to eat and they are all close. They rent jeeps, snowmobiles, etc as well. Neat little town. It'll be cheaper than colorado. It's tough to beat, especially for first timers.
It is cheap to fly to denver and you've got several locations that will work from there. I'd go during the week and avoid the weekends. I've come back from there on a Friday and the traffic in to the resort was bumper to bumper forever. Keystone is probably the best choice close to denver but Copper Mtn. is great as well. Remember to keep your weight on the downhill ski! Probably need to stay 4 days at least because it will take you 2 days to get the hang of it, even on a board. Half day lessons and then figure things out on your own the other half. Some people catch on quickly and some it takes longer.
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Red river is an excellent location. I go there in the summer at least once every two years. Just not sure about the beginner skiing or the odds of decent snow conditions.
 
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trapped_in_tx said:
Red river is an excellent location. I go there in the summer at least once every two years. Just not sure about the beginner skiing or the odds of decent snow conditions.
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that's the only hit...snow. Sometimes they don't get it. They've gotten 11 inches in the past few days. Seems to have been better the last few years. Was there last year and it snowed 2 of the 3 days...about 3 inches each day. Just enough to cover the your skis' but the tips. It couldn't have been any better.
 
Another Red River vote. It’s where I taught my kids and several family members. It’s a small and relatively easy mountain with a great area for beginning skiing. Also just a neat little town and you can stay right by the lifts for very reasonable prices. Once you get better at skiiing you’ll probably move on to bigger and tougher mountains but for beginning it’s really a good choice.
 
Wally12 said:
My family is considering skipping our traditional Christmas plans and gifts next season for a Christmas in the snow. None of us have ever been skiing (except Mom in the 80's) and are looking for a resort where some of us can ski/snowboard, rent snow mobiles, or have other activities for those not looking to be too active. Our group will consist of my parents, sister, brother-in-law, 5 yo nephew, 2 yo niece, and myself. Personally, I want to give snowboarding a shot. Would love to hear any suggestions you all have. Also, is it better to drive or fly to such resorts?

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...
It’s hard to beat a snowmobile ride into Yellowstone. And there are several other places around here that you’d be very happy with. But if you’re coming from Oklahoma, it’s a 2 day drive to northwest Wyoming for most people. Might be more economical to stay closer and drive.
 
As many have pointed out already, prices have gotten obscene for lift tickets and rentals over the years. You have been warned.

Granby Ranch is a great place for beginners. One mountain of blacks/blues, one mountain of greens/blues, both of which congregate at one lodge. They used to have some cross country skiing very close by (not sure if they still do), and there's many other activities (snowmobiling, etc...) within a half hour drive.

It's not as close to Denver as most of the other resorts mentioned, but it's worth the drive in my opinion. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a little biased as it's where I leaned to ski while growing up.
 
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Don't have much to add other than my ass still hurts from my 3-day snowboarding attempt a couple of years ago :p
 
Monarch!!! So affordable and generally the best snow in Colorado. It is the Southwest Airlines of the ski community. No lift lines, friendly workers and privately owned. Lift tickets are the most affordable anywhere especially if you get a discounted one.
 
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Dally1up said:
Monarch!!! So affordable and generally the best snow in Colorado. It is the Southwest Airlines of the ski community. No lift lines, friendly workers and privately owned. Lift tickets are the most affordable anywhere especially if you get a discounted one.
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driven by it many times and thought about going there just for those reasons...just never did. Of course, everyone has caught up to SW airlines.
 
I have driven by Monarch a bunch too as we like to stay in Buena Vista to float the Arkansas and climb the Collegiate Peaks....(no snow at that time of the year!!)

But skiing....

I like Winter Park. I learned to ski there back in the early seventies when Jim Bellatti of the Stillwater News Press was the President of the YMCA. He organized ski trips where we took two MKO buses to Winter Park and stayed at Snow Mountain Ranch…..YMCA Camp of the Rockies….which is just a few miles from Winter Park.

Winter Park at the time was very well known for its ski school and I believe it still is… I went back many times in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and stayed at Snow Mountain Ranch again. We had a group of about 25 to 40 a few different times and we rented the Family Reunion cabins.....8 Bedrooms and Baths, a large kitchen, dining and family room. We had a great time. We just took the bus to the slopes each morning.

Snow Mountain Ranch also has a lot of activities for non down-hill skiers. It has some great Cross Country Ski and Snow Shoe areas, climbing walls, basketball courts, etc……

It has regular hotel like lodge rooms on up to separate small, medium and large cabins for families or groups. I believe it is part of the Estes Park system now..

There are also places in the area to rent snowmobiles with great trails up above the tree line in large snow filled bowls!! Our groups did that too and we rented about 15 snowmobiles (2 people each) and we had quite the time. They also had a tubing hill, which, if you haven't tried it, is really a blast!!

I used to ski a lot and when I tried Snow boarding, I just about killed myself. You really need two to three days I think and I was not enjoying myself although my friend Tracy was having a blast laughing at me!! I could see where it would be much more fun just as slalom water skiing is much better than two skis....but I didn't get the hang of it the one day I tried.

The other thing I like about Winter Park that I have yet to take advantage of but recently priced was taking the train from Denver to Winter Park (Fraser).

You fly into Denver, take the train from the airport to Union Station for about $9 and then take Amtrak to Winter Park or the other city right up the road….Fraser. They also have a separate ski train or maybe a separate car on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think roundtrip is like $60-$80. I liked the idea of not worrying about driving and parking. And of course there are always VRBO and AirBnB places to rent.
 
Ostatedchi said:
Is that Schoolmarm that you are talking about? My BIL said he'd give me some quick lessons. So I go all the way to the top of the mountain and he quickly jets off to some blacks and leaves me pointed at that damn hill. Took me like 4 hours to fall down that mountain - 50 feet at a time.

Screw skiing. It's a stupid sport.
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That’s it! Schoolmarm is the 3 1/2 mile run. Teaching my daughter to ski and we rock the ‘Marm.

Pricing is up there but the season pass is about $300 and I go once with the guys and once with my 9 year old daughter. If you stay in one of the Keystone sites then kids under 12 ski free.
 
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We go to Wolf Creek every year. Always has great snow, not a massive mountain, reasonably priced and we like their ski school for the kids.
 
If you're going around Christmas, choosing any New Mexico resort is risky. They may not have much snow. I think Keystone or Copper Mountain are great choices for family. Wolf Creek is also.
 
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Cowguy said:
Naw. It’s not that bad
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it's better than ice but not better or even close to skiing on real powder. It actually just covers the ice until all the ski'ers plow it off in the morning and leave the afternoon for ice. You just have to avoid those areas as you can see it coming down the mountain. The snow has been better it seems in NM the last couple of years but it is always less than colorado. 46 in base in RR and 58 inch base at Keystone.
 
purkey said:
it's better than ice but not better or even close to skiing on real powder. It actually just covers the ice until all the ski'ers plow it off in the morning and leave the afternoon for ice. You just have to avoid those areas as you can see it coming down the mountain. The snow has been better it seems in NM the last couple of years but it is always less than colorado. 46 in base in RR and 58 inch base at Keystone.
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Oh no doubt Colorado is usually better. We had a cabin in red river for many years, until dad sold it a couple years ago and traded to Scottsdale. I’m certain I’m partial because of that. That being said ... we never had issues in red river.
 
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Cowguy said:
Naw. It’s not that bad
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It’s better than it was when I learned to ski during Thanksgiving break in 1994, but it’s still not anywhere close to real snow. CB had mostly fake snow a couple NYEs ago and it was night and day. They’ve come a long way and it’s still enjoyable as long as it’s cold enough, but it’s still not close to the real thing. That said, I hear Taos is awesome as a ski town.
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions! Keystone was actually a place the matriarch was looking into already, so we'll have to do some research on the area.
 
AC2017 said:
I prefer New Mexico.

Taos is the best place there.
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Taos is not for beginners and there’s not much else to do.

I haven’t skied Santa Fe but hear that’s nice and I love the town. They are getting about 2 feet of snow today.
 
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The Duke said:
Taos is not for beginners and there’s not much else to do.

I haven’t skied Santa Fe but hear that’s nice and I love the town. They are getting about 2 feet of snow today.
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If I learned as a 12 year old kid at Taos, anyone can. Great runs.

Big plus imo (at least the last time I went, which has been a while), no snow boarders. Skiers at least then, still got to ski moguls.
 
AC2017 said:
If I learned as a 12 year old kid at Taos, anyone can. Great runs.

Big plus imo (at least the last time I went, which has been a while), no snow boarders. Skiers at least then, still got to ski moguls.
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In the United States only three resorts, Deer Valley, Alta Ski Area (both in Utah) and Mad River Glen in Vermont, continue to ban snowboarding

We love Deer Valley for this reason.
 
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I also learned at Taos. Did the bunny slope a few times then was taken to the top of the mountain and told to get down. By day three I was on a hike to the top of the mountain to ski a black diamond. I love Taos and enjoy Breckinridge. I like the food more in Taos and the night life more in Breck. I actually dislike and get scared more of the ski lifts when skiing. I hate the skin lifts. Also be careful smoking any devil lettuce on the top of the slopes might take you all day to get down and a bus ride back to the resort.
 
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Wally12 said:
Thanks for all of the suggestions! Keystone was actually a place the matriarch was looking into already, so we'll have to do some research on the area.
Click to expand...

Let me know if you would like any information. I have been going on a guy’s ski trip for the past 7-8 years there and this will be the 4th time going with my daughter this coming spring break.
 
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