Christmas skiing in the USA - recommendations?

[snowgirl1]

We usually ski at Christmas in Europe. The last couple of seasons we've been very very lucky and been in resorts which have had snow but have heard that lots of other European resorts have had no snow/not opened. I'm thinking that maybe we should try somewhere in the US in the hope that it will be a bit more snow sure - and to be guaranteed to get DD ski school with other English speaking children.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Was thinking of flying into Denver and going to somewhere like Breckenridge or Vail. We'd probably be booking flights independently and accommodation through airbnb or the like to keep costs down (having looked at the cost of packages!).

We'll be travelling with DD who will be almost 5.

[soapybox]

Beaver Creek would be my choice. Excellent ski school and good variety of skiing for adults. It is a lovely compact resort with easy access to the slope (escalators everywhere). You can also hop on the bus to vail if you fancy a change of scene.

When ski school finishes for the day, staff from the restaurants in the resort come out with trays of freshly baked cookies for the children, which is lovely. And the fire pit outside the Hyatt is taken over by children for s'mores making, whilst the adults take refreshments from th outdoor bar!

When we go there we stay at the Beaver Creek Lodge, which does realisable sized family apartments.

[PestoSwimissimos]

My favourite ski resort in Colorado is Steamboat, champagne powder, hot springs, cowboys... What's not to like?

[snowgirl1]

soapy the cookies and smores in Beavercreek sound fab! And Beaver Creek Lodge looks really nice..but seems like it's booked already. Does anyone else have other accommodation suggestions?

Pesto loving the sound of champagne powder. When you stay there do you stay near on the mountain or in town? The apartments I've looked seem to be either on the mountain or in town and I'm not sure which would be best with DD who is pretty much a beginner.

[snowgirl1]

soapy, pesto sorry , I forgot to say thank you so much for your suggestions - both places sound lovely!

[PestoSwimissimos]

Snowgirl1, the best value is to stay down town. It's only a short ski bus ride along the main road. You can (I haven't) stay at the foot of the slopes but obviously it is significantly more expensive.

[WhereInTheWorldToNext]

Watching with interest - would love to go to U.S. for a Christmas ski trip

[lovetoskimum]

mmm, me too watching with interest, would love to ski Christmas in US :)

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

What about Whistler? 8 hour flight, 2 hour transfer? I think it's easier than Breckenridge. We are trying in creekside this time as it is cheaper than whistler proper.

[snowgirl1]

Dontcallme we went on our honeymoon to Whistler . It was great, but I've never skied in Colorado and quite fancy it. And if we went to Whistler I'd miss staying in the lovely hotel we stayed in on honeymoon!

I thought the drive from Denver airport to Breckenridge was about 2 hours, am I horribly wrong?

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

Love the fact you skied for a honeymoon, great choice . Where did you stay?... So I can be jealous and nosey

I think we had the journey from hell with delays, immigration, bus delays and bad times, making the whole thing exhausting.... The flight is only slightly longer than whistler and so is the transfer, so not much difference in reality.

We did enjoy Brekenridge though. Really great terrain and great American standards everywhere.

[snowgirl1]

Dontcallme we stayed in the Four Seasons - twas very nice. They have staff who meet you at the bottom of the slope at the end of the day and take your skis so you don't have to carry them and they give you a cup of hot chocolate. And they have a posh ski locker room at the edge of the piste where you take you ski boots off and put your normal shoes/boots on so you can walk around the resort in comfort. We said we'd like to go to the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole for a milestone anniversary...hopefully while we're still young enough to ski!

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

Jackson Hole is on my wish list too.... I think I may enhance that desire with 'help' and hot chocolate now I know

[rainbowjoy]

Been to Breckenridge twice for Christmas and I absolutely love it. Stayed at Beaver run resort right on the slope but with a teen not a 5 yr old
Positives : guaranteed snow, easy greens through to blacks, organised lift lines no pushing, everybody friendly. Town is lovely so pretty, good choice of restaurants, shops, great hire equipment.
Negatives : 7 hrs time difference takes a while to get used to, it's very high some people suffer altitude problems although we didn't, it's very cold. It's expensive food on mountain, lift passes etc, it's cheaper to buy a season pass but if you do buy early as price goes up
It takes about 2 1/2 hrs to get from Denver we caught shuttle bus

[snowgirl1]

rainbowjoy thanks - sounds good. How long did you go for? I'm wondering whether to try to build an extra day or so into the trip so that DD might have adjusted to the time difference a little bit before starting lessons.

Shuttle to Breckenridge from Denver sounds good - don't really fancy paying for a hire car if it's just going to sit in the parking lot while we ski.

[PestoSwimissimos]

I broke my collar bone in Breckenridge - happy days

[snowgirl1]

Pesto oh noooo!

[PestoSwimissimos]

Not recently!

This year's injury was a torn something or other at the back of my left calf, which is supposed to be healing