Ski Trip With Toddler

[Jilly]

Interior BC...Sun Peaks, Silver Star?

 

[dean_spirito]

Copper could be a decent option. Not the steepest mountain around but plenty of quality terrain.

Or you could go to Alta/Snowbird! Stay at the Goldminer's Daughter or The Cliff.

 

[David Chaus]

It sounds like you want BC interior; if you want uncrowded in the USA your best bet is Idaho and Montana.

Major (CO/Utah) resorts are all going to be more expensive for tickets and accommodations, as well as everything else.

 

[scott43]

It sounds like you want BC interior; if you want uncrowded in the USA your best bet is Idaho and Montana.

Major (CO/Utah) resorts are all going to be more expensive for tickets and accommodations, as well as everything else.

So on that note, how does Sun Valley work? There's no ski-in/ski-out is there? Does it work conveniently?

 

[pete]

@Scott As others noted, slope side is great as many resorts daycares are right in the base.

what time frame and how old is your child?

Age wise, we left ours home till 4 when they could be in ski school. This was really a morning and afternoon slopeside for 1 or 1 1/2hr each day. Still, fun for them and liberating for us.

lower seasons often provide easier last minute planning

how about bringing your daycare with you? Our travel couple brought a family member (granddad) who loved caring for the child while we all skied. They loved being out on travel with their grandchild and yet had time to spend with family in the AM and evening. The mom took a day off, put their kid in day care one day and snowshoe'd with granddad one day. We met for lunch one or two days up on the mountain, Granddad and child took the gondola up. Overall a great vacation for all.

 

[scott43]

@Scott As others noted, slope side is great as many resorts daycares are right in the base.

what time frame and how old is your child?

Age wise, we left ours home till 4 when they could be in ski school. This was really a morning and afternoon slopeside for 1 or 1 1/2hr each day. Still, fun for them and liberating for us.

lower seasons often provide easier last minute planning

how about bringing your daycare with you? Our travel couple brought a family member (granddad) who loved caring for the child while we all skied. They loved being out on travel with their grandchild and yet had time to spend with family in the AM and evening. The mom took a day off, put their kid in day care one day and snowshoe'd with granddad one day. We met for lunch one or two days up on the mountain, Granddad and child took the gondola up. Overall a great vacation for all.

Thanks Pete. Yeah, we're thinking gramma..but don't know yet if she'll agree to it. I discussed it all last night with my wife and we think we might just leave it until he's old enough to ski. I don't know that he'll enjoy the trip and it's a lot of new for him to absorb. He's only 15months but precocious. I checked out Steamboat last night..it's remarkably cheap to fly into for us (well, not much more expensive than a hub..) so that might make sense for us. Ah well..we will see.

 

[Philpug]

Thanks Pete. Yeah, we're thinking gramma..but don't know yet if she'll agree to it. I discussed it all last night with my wife and we think we might just leave it until he's old enough to ski. I don't know that he'll enjoy the trip and it's a lot of new for him to absorb. He's only 15months but precocious. I checked out Steamboat last night..it's remarkably cheap to fly into for us (well, not much more expensive than a hub..) so that might make sense for us. Ah well..we will see.

A shot ot two of usually takes care of that...for grandma...of course.

 

[David Chaus]

So on that note, how does Sun Valley work? There's no ski-in/ski-out is there? Does it work conveniently?

Sun Valley is world of its own. It is more expensive than the rest of Idaho, probably comparable to the major CO resorts. While it doesn't have ski-in/out, it's pretty convenient. Lots of condos within easy walking distance on the Warm Springs side, and the parking at River Run is easy, with a nice drop off area with valet assistance for unloading gear. The parking is actually pretty close. A few hotel and condos are within walking distance and they also have decent bus service. Ketchum is a cool ski town.

What you get on the slopes is a great lift system, and no crowds. The old ladies with New York accents and leopard pattern stretch ski pants can actually rip on the slopes, as can all the old duffers using GS cheater skis. They will kick your ass skiing Limelight all the way down to the Warm Springs base, 3000' vertical of continuous fall line. Perfectly groomed slopes, with a half dozen or so mogul runs.

Shifting gears, the rest of Idaho is another story. Schweitzer for instance, is a mid-sized resort, easy to get to from Spokane airport, off the radar, uncrowded, nice ski in and out condos and hotels, small "village" with a nice town, Sandpoint, 20 minutes away. The views of Lake Pend Oreille are stunning. The slopes are wide, lots of intermediate terrain, some nice advanced/expert runs as well, nice gladed skiing. The total skiable acreage is actually quite a bit more than Sun Valley, though the vertical is less at 2400'. On my first trip to Schweitzer, I met some couples and families, also from the Seattle area, that have travelled to most major resorts in NA and now pretty much take ski vacations at Schweitzer as they find the skiing experience equal or better than the majors, with less expense, fewer crowds, and an easy 5 hour drive from Seattle (1 1/2 hrs from Spokane). *Note: I hear the same thing from people who like Sun Peaks in BC, which I also liked.

Brundage which I mentioned earlier, is a smaller resort near McCall, 2 1/2 hours from Boise. No accommodations at the ski area, but lots in McCall, which is basically a tourist resort town for people who like to get away from crowds. There is a shuttle that takes you from town to the resort, or it's a 20 minute drive with easy parking. No crowds, ever. Not enough locals to make a crowd, and too far off the radar to have hoards of tourists show up. The skiing is fabulous, if you like nice light snow, wide open groomers and glades, and 1800' vertical is enough for you. Given the size of the place and the lack of crowds, I was really surprised Brundage was a top 10 list in Ski Mag's reader polls; seems like most of the people who actually do visit really like the place.

So: larger major resort, mid-sized resort, and smaller resort. The common denominator is the lack of crowds and the high quality of the skiing.

I've not been to Montana, hopefully that will change this next season. I've read a statistic that there are more annual skier visits at Breckenridge alone than in the entire state of Montana. Big Sky/Moonlight Basin and Whitefish have ski in/out accommodations. For travel I guess it depends on what kind of airfare connection you can get to Bozeman or Kallispell. For myself, I can hop on a train to Whitefish.

 

[RNZ]

Thanks Pete. Yeah, we're thinking gramma..but don't know yet if she'll agree to it. I discussed it all last night with my wife and we think we might just leave it until he's old enough to ski. I don't know that he'll enjoy the trip and it's a lot of new for him to absorb. He's only 15months but precocious. I checked out Steamboat last night..it's remarkably cheap to fly into for us (well, not much more expensive than a hub..) so that might make sense for us. Ah well..we will see.

We really enjoyed Steamboat - it is really easy to get around and the ride from the airport isn't too long. No experience of their daycare, but had a great experience with their ski school.

Having seen your reply, I'll add back in the bit that I deleted because I thought it wouldn't be relevant (and it may still not be), but here goes anyway. All kids are different but we too had a precocious toddler. One thing that is related to this (we found out 11 years later) is that precocious kids can be really poor sleepers. Ours was a bear to get to sleep, pretty much anywhere, but more so at daycare, or especially in unfamiliar surroundings or noisy places. At 11 months he definitely still needed a day sleep, but was a master at resisting sleep. By 23 months he had pretty much dropped a day sleep so unfamiliar daycare was doable. Before that I think that we would have been doomed to failure.

 

[scott43]

One thing that is related to this (we found out 11 years later) is that precocious kids can be really poor sleepers. Ours was a bear to get to sleep, pretty much anywhere, but more so at daycare, or especially in unfamiliar surroundings or noisy places. At 11 months he definitely still needed a day sleep, but was a master at resisting sleep. By 23 months he had pretty much dropped a day sleep so unfamiliar daycare was doable. Before that I think that we would have been doomed to failure.

Carbon copy. Needs sleep but won't sleep. Always a fight during the day. We've had better sleep away from home lately but yeah, it's a crapshoot. We've had a few vacations now that were...trying.. Maybe we just hope for too much and need to be more realistic. Thanks for the input and commiseration!

 

[kimmyt]

We did Steamboat last season with our 2yo and our neighbors with their 3yo in a condo. In many ways it is nice to do a shared vacation with someone else with kids because you can trade babysitting services for at least dinners out. My son slept ok but the 3yo was a nightmare (he also is a much poorer sleeper in general than my son). We didn't stay slopeside, but our condo was directly on the bus route and so it was very manageable. One parent would ski in the a.m. and then we would plan a time to switch and either the other would take the kid up to the base lodge and trade off there or we would just meet back at the condo and we wouldn't lose too much ski time. The rates for their daycare were sort of reasonable (I think like ~$100/day) but we couldn't get him in last minute I think they prefer a few days to a week ahead of time for booking. There are also a few independant babysitting options (also needed to book ahead, we weren't able to use them last minute- 1, 2

We spent lots of time sledding in the parking lot and playing outside the condo. Did the kid switch once at the T-bar which was a nice change of pace. Kids under a certain age can go to the customer service desk and get a free photo pass for the gondola, and thats a fun thing to do if they like to look at things (you can even meet your spouse at the gondola lodge for lunch or whatever). The thing with skiing- and vacationing in general- with kids this young is that it takes about 300% of the effort that it would normally take for the same or slightly less payoff. So you just have to really want to do it and accept that it won't be easy. Hopefully afterwards you will think back on it fondly, although its possible that it will be a nightmare (we spent a weekend at Steamboat when he was young and unbeknownst to us had an ear infection, my husband spent 4 hours one night driving him back and forth over the pass to keep him asleep. That one wasn't a good trip to look back on.)

 

[crgildart]

Just dump the kid at @Ron s place the whole time..

 

[Ron]

I was acting as "Unofficial guide" for part of that.... Sure , bring the kiddies over, I promise several espresso shots, lots of sugary treats and free puppies.....

 

[crgildart]

I think the dog would make a fine baby sitter for a few hours early on a powder day..

 

[Ron]

@kimmyt rips btw!

 

[coskigirl]

^^^ I know that line!

 

[scott43]

^^^ I know that line!

I can only dream that line!

 

[Jilly]

@scott43 - you need to meet up with the old girls at Tremblant. SkiBam and I!! We can show you stuff you didn't know was there.

 

[scott43]

@scott43 - you need to meet up with the old girls at Tremblant. SkiBam and I!! We can show you stuff you didn't know was there.

Never been to Tremblant actually. I know, strange, long story. So question, would you do Tremblant or Smugglers Notch, all things being equal. Tremblant can be busy..and there's some flattish ski-out on a lot of the runs..

 

[Jilly]

Last trip to Smuggs was over 20 years ago...so can't say. I'm a season pass holder at Tremblant. I know a lot of people try to compare Tremblant with Whiteface. I'll take Tremblant over Iceface any day. There is a way to ski Tremblant without the crowds.