9 Comments

Make sure to get the clips that attach mittens to jackets to keep kids from losing their mittens/gloves. I even use them; they’re great! I wish those had existed when I was learning as a kid.

Expand full comment

We are in the ski school phase, and our 8 year old is not sure yet how much she likes it. She sort of does, but not a lot. I learned to ski at the Squaw Valley Resort, but readers should note that it's been renamed to Palisades Tahoe, as the former name is a derogatory term for native American women. I agree that this is a pricey activity, but it is a great family activity. The last time we went we were behind the avalanche patrol dogs on the lifts - they were training a couple new dogs to be comfortable on the lifts - just another fun aspect of the mountain to see dogs in their gear and frolicking between the training. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Expand full comment

We are a ski family as well and I'm currently commenting from our family vacation in Steamboat (which you should add to your list even though it's IKON and not Epic, 30 minutes from the airport and you don't need a car). We deliberately focused much of our time and money on skiing for our son, now 9, starting when he was 3 to get to this point. Not only can we now all ski together, but he has a life-long skill. I wanted him to be able to join the college ski trip and feel confident when he did!

Expand full comment
founding

I've been skiing once - I was a sophomore in high school. I had my day lesson, and I guess I was doing really well because the instructor thought I could move away from the bunny slope.

Needless to say, I was not ready for that level of speed and lack of control. A quarter of the way down the mountain, he took away my poles because I was relying on them too much. Halfway down the mountain, I couldn't handle not having more control of myself and ended up getting a piggyback ride down the rest of the way. I absolutely remember straight skis and pizza, but I don't remember the wide arcs down the mountain like Harlow takes to control her speed.

Maybe if I had a teacher like the girls have had (and parents who were at all interested in skiing - this was a peer group function), maybe I would've been more into skiing. As it stands now, just the thought of it gives me a panic attack.

Expand full comment
founding

Ski vacations with family is the best! Where else can you spend wholesome quality time where teens don’t complain! Even though one child may not take to it as much at the beginning, persistence and extra time devoted to that child on the slope can pay off.

Expand full comment

We are a ski family, but my daughters never got to Mazzy's level because they hated ski school. We went so far as to get them a private instructor one time for a few days just so we could have time on our own on the slopes. But I hated to take them on vacation and cause them so much anxiety when it was supposed to be their fun time, so we wouldn't force it. If I had to do it over again, I would have made them go at least a couple of days each trip because they do like to ski, but I think they'd enjoy it even more if they had more confidence on the slopes.

Expand full comment

I’m so jealous! Alas, we will never be a ski family since my husband has never skied and one of my kids hated it, but my son and I both love it. We’ve only skied together a few times locally (Ohio) when I chaperoned ski club, but I’m planning to do a trip just the two of us before he graduates HS in a few years.

Expand full comment

I remember reading the original post when it first came out and took it to heart since we wanted our kids to love skiing and they do now!!! They are 5 and 7 and can't wait to go on ski trips. We do a combination of ski school, other activities like tubing and skiing as a family. This year we went to Park City (omg, yes, the snow was amazing) and for the first time it actually felt like we were skiing as a family instead of just parenting on the ski hill. So much fun- thanks for the advice. Also, highly recommend Whistler if you haven't been there before.

Expand full comment

As a native Coloradan who started skiing when I was 4 and who taught my 14 year old to ski at 4 as well, this is all fantastic advice! If you want to ski in Colorado (of course you want to ski in Colorado!) fly to Denver, and take the ski train to Winter Park which is more fun than driving on I70. Or Eagle county has an airport to ski Vail & Beaver Creek.

Expand full comment