Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 15:31     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
My kids learned at Beaver Creek when they were 4. Picked it up in no time and the resort is super family friendly. Great outdoor ice skating rink to go after skiing is done and they give out home made chocolate chip cookies too.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 15:01     Subject: Re:Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
I wouldn't recommend a holiday weekend... too busy and stressful. My kids learned small and local then we moved on to big trips. We love Timberline (already open and super family friendly imo) and found the lessons at Bryce to be great and cost effective.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 14:42     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
If you can book weekly lessons locally instead of doing it in 3-4 days, I think that is ideal. You will be sore using muscles you don't normally use and a bunny hill is a bunny hill as another person said. Try to avoid the local resorts on weekends though.
How old are your kids? In middle school mine did ski club on Fridays and took a lesson every friday for a couple of months.
We did not venture out west until we were all fairly decent skiers.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 13:47     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
I don't really like the PA resorts, they are too crowded to ski or learn. We prefer Snowshoe, which is a bit further, but has a cute resort area when people don't want to ski, and much better conditions.
Snowshoe also has Silvercreek (about a mile away from the main hill- with a shuttle or parking). It is an awesome place to learn- less crowded, pretty open and mostly very easy terrain.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 13:45     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I want my kids to learn how to ski and to learn how to ski myself. I was thinking of trying to book something for a holiday weekend in January or February, and was overwhelmed with all the options I found both near and far. I see there is a lot of debate about driving to local(ish) places, where people say the snow can be terrible or turn into ice or mush because of local temps, versus flying west or north which takes a lot longer but has better conditions, and whether it matters for complete newbies who are just learning and wouldn't be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Any suggestions for places that will be fun to help us figure out if this is a (very expensive) activity we want to start doing more as a family? I'm thinking this would be a 4 day trip total, but am open to advice on that. Do folks think it is better to start local or fly out to someplace with better conditions? I assume we would rent equipment on-site.

FWIW I can see this is going to be a splurge activity no matter where we end up, so I'd love for it to at least be worth the money we will need to pay as first-timers who didn't plan for it in the spring, don't have equipment, and don't know what we are doing. That said, my daughter went to Liberty last winter with a friend and said it was fun but that during the lesson, the snow was so sticky that they literally could not slide down the hill and were all just stuck in place.


Park City
Keystone,CO
Breckenridge, CO

Park City is. the best easy 45 min from airport ski or snowboarding school is great fun town for when not skiing. All in all great trip.


Breck would be a great place ot learn to ski. Their greens on peak 9 are very mellow. However, I also can't see spending the money to go there just to stick to the easy greens.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 13:43     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
I learned to ski as an adult at Whitetail and had a great experience. I much prefer their learning are over liberty. I think area at liberty is too flat to the point it can make moving and learning difficult.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 12:23     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I want my kids to learn how to ski and to learn how to ski myself. I was thinking of trying to book something for a holiday weekend in January or February, and was overwhelmed with all the options I found both near and far. I see there is a lot of debate about driving to local(ish) places, where people say the snow can be terrible or turn into ice or mush because of local temps, versus flying west or north which takes a lot longer but has better conditions, and whether it matters for complete newbies who are just learning and wouldn't be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Any suggestions for places that will be fun to help us figure out if this is a (very expensive) activity we want to start doing more as a family? I'm thinking this would be a 4 day trip total, but am open to advice on that. Do folks think it is better to start local or fly out to someplace with better conditions? I assume we would rent equipment on-site.

FWIW I can see this is going to be a splurge activity no matter where we end up, so I'd love for it to at least be worth the money we will need to pay as first-timers who didn't plan for it in the spring, don't have equipment, and don't know what we are doing. That said, my daughter went to Liberty last winter with a friend and said it was fun but that during the lesson, the snow was so sticky that they literally could not slide down the hill and were all just stuck in place.


Park City
Keystone,CO
Breckenridge, CO

Park City is. the best easy 45 min from airport ski or snowboarding school is great fun town for when not skiing. All in all great trip.


This. I grew up in New England near a local ski mountain and it was soooo hard to learn to ski there - it was just slush or ice and yuck. Took so much effort to move one leg in front of the other. Went to CO as an adult and took a lesson and was properly skiing in no time.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 11:28     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
Anonymous wrote:I want my kids to learn how to ski and to learn how to ski myself. I was thinking of trying to book something for a holiday weekend in January or February, and was overwhelmed with all the options I found both near and far. I see there is a lot of debate about driving to local(ish) places, where people say the snow can be terrible or turn into ice or mush because of local temps, versus flying west or north which takes a lot longer but has better conditions, and whether it matters for complete newbies who are just learning and wouldn't be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Any suggestions for places that will be fun to help us figure out if this is a (very expensive) activity we want to start doing more as a family? I'm thinking this would be a 4 day trip total, but am open to advice on that. Do folks think it is better to start local or fly out to someplace with better conditions? I assume we would rent equipment on-site.

FWIW I can see this is going to be a splurge activity no matter where we end up, so I'd love for it to at least be worth the money we will need to pay as first-timers who didn't plan for it in the spring, don't have equipment, and don't know what we are doing. That said, my daughter went to Liberty last winter with a friend and said it was fun but that during the lesson, the snow was so sticky that they literally could not slide down the hill and were all just stuck in place.


Park City
Keystone,CO
Breckenridge, CO

Park City is. the best easy 45 min from airport ski or snowboarding school is great fun town for when not skiing. All in all great trip.
Anonymous
Post 12/05/2025 11:25     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
The private lessons at Bryce are a much better experience than anything at Liberty or Whitetail. It is a cozier resort too and there are nice places to rent nearby.
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 11:14     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
+1

Play hooky when the conditions at Liberty or Whitetail are decent.

When snow and weather conditions are decent at the local spots AND school is out...the "crowd conditions" make it awful.
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 11:12     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
If you can go on a non-holiday weekend or better yet a weekday it will be a better experience. Waiting in long rental lines and dealing with crowds make it very unpleasant.

Any chance you could go on your own for a day and take a lesson before bringing the kids? I am not much of a skier but having a little experience really helped me when I took my kids the first time. You don’t want to all be sliding around the first time you put in skis with no idea how to stop.
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 11:12     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
Anonymous wrote:The holiday weekend are super busy at the local mountains, lessons are booked way in advance, long rental lines. I'd pull the kids out of school for weekday and try it then.


+1 I've taken my kids to Whitetail on a long weekend and never again. It was so crowded as to be unpleasant--both for the kiddie classes and the environment more generally.
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 11:11     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
The holiday weekend are super busy at the local mountains, lessons are booked way in advance, long rental lines. I'd pull the kids out of school for weekday and try it then.
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 11:05     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
As a beginner, I wouldn't spend a lot of money to travel if your goal is to learn. Doesnt matter whether its Zermatt or Ski Liberty, your first few lessons will be on a bunny slope. Try it, get the hang of it and when you're ready and enjoy it, then spend the money to travel
Anonymous
Post 12/04/2025 10:25     Subject: Where to learn to ski for adult and elementary aged kids on a long weekend trip this winter?
I want my kids to learn how to ski and to learn how to ski myself. I was thinking of trying to book something for a holiday weekend in January or February, and was overwhelmed with all the options I found both near and far. I see there is a lot of debate about driving to local(ish) places, where people say the snow can be terrible or turn into ice or mush because of local temps, versus flying west or north which takes a lot longer but has better conditions, and whether it matters for complete newbies who are just learning and wouldn't be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Any suggestions for places that will be fun to help us figure out if this is a (very expensive) activity we want to start doing more as a family? I'm thinking this would be a 4 day trip total, but am open to advice on that. Do folks think it is better to start local or fly out to someplace with better conditions? I assume we would rent equipment on-site.

FWIW I can see this is going to be a splurge activity no matter where we end up, so I'd love for it to at least be worth the money we will need to pay as first-timers who didn't plan for it in the spring, don't have equipment, and don't know what we are doing. That said, my daughter went to Liberty last winter with a friend and said it was fun but that during the lesson, the snow was so sticky that they literally could not slide down the hill and were all just stuck in place.