Can anyone recommend a child friendly ski resort in USA ?

[Suzy100]

Hi Mumsnet

We are a keen ski family but have only stayed in Europe so far - normally taking the children out of school for a few days to avoid going at half term.
However, DS starts senior school next year which will limit us to school holidays and I can't bear the idea of the busy European ski slopes! Hence the idea of trying USA/Canada.
We have two younger children DS 7 & DD 4 so both of these need to go to ski school and have a supervised lunch.
We are used to skiing in 3 Vallees or Paradski so need a largish resort.
Hope some of you have some good suggestions
Many Thanks

USA - Winter Park. Haven't been there for a while but was delightful skiing and a really village feel.
Heavenly - Lake Tahoe. Just a beautiful place. Other stuff to do also. Take a day off and drive around the lake. Fire Sign Cafe on the north of the river for b.fast / lunch.....oh so sweet

Canada - Banff. Ski at Sunshine or Norquay. Norquay, small but perfectly formed. Sunshine, bigger resort. Lake Louise, lovely skiing.
With the execption of Winter Park of the ones I've mentioned most are not ski in/ ski out resorts like in Europe. They are 'drive up to / get the ski bus take a quad up to the mountain and ski all day' type of ski experience.
Lift lines are less than Europe, lift tickets are sometimes high, but there are deals to be had. Snow quality is oh so much better. Canada is COLD, pick your time, especially with the little DC's.
I've skied other areas of U.S. but these are the ones which stuck in my mind and I'd love to return to.
HTH

We're in Silverstar in Canada atm and it's fab!

We've got boys if 7 and 11 and it suits them perfectly so far.

Skiing is good , if not massive ( but can also to Big White which I've heard is also fab).

Lots of greens , blues and some blacks and mainly ski in ski out.
There's also kids snow movies and a great adventure park with tube slide and a tow lift to pull them up o ne top so you don't have to walk!

Also ice skating and ice hockey.

Winter park was good in the past as was Smugglers Notch and Lake Louise

I think he skiing is great over here, even in half term it's son quiet on the slopes, and lessons in English made a big difference for us.

I think you should do your own research here because a lot of the resorts listed above are not that child-friendly - i.e., no ski lessons until they're 6!

It depends what sort of a holiday you're after of course, but if your 4 year old (to be 5) is expecting to go out on the slopes he may be sorely disappointed!

Lake Tahoe, Heavenly to take them for a full day 4yrs and up Ski banff, sunshine also take them from 3 for a full day with lunch Lake Louise - 5yrs and up.

Thank you all for your suggestions - it will certainly give me somewhere to start.
Wohmum & Accouser - Winter Park is one of the resorts I have been looking at so if you have any expereince of good self catering accomodation then let me know.

Sittingbull. Thanks for your suggestion too. Glad to say the DD currently aged 3 is fully toilet trained so no problems there.
Please could you recommend some accomodation in Sugarbowl. Do you normally just book everything directly/separately yourselves or go through a travel company ?

When we ski in Europe we always try to get ski in /out ( literally to the boot room if possible) so resorts that don't involve too much travel to the slopes are preferred as DH doesn't like carrying 3 sets of skis......

Thanks for all your help - just need to brace myself for a transatlantic flight - can't be much worse than the 12 hour drive from the Alps to home - can it ?

Hi Wohmum. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Silverstar. Have just taken a quick look on the web.
Have a few questions...
Where do you fly into - Vancouver ? And how long is transfer from airport to resort ?
Also, how close to ski slopes can you stay ?

Thanks for all your help

Hi Suzy

We arrived back today :(

We flew into Vancouver, then flew Vancouver to Kelowna (about 50 mins)

The transfer from Kelowna was about an hour and we booked the airport shuttle both ways, although we were told whilst severed there that a private taxi may have been better as on the shuttle you pay for each person

We stayed at Firelight which is near the tubing and ice skating pond. Was easy to ski-out of, but not so good for ski-in , but wasn't really a problem as both DSs would carry their skis and poles.

Our accommodation was lovely, only a couple of years old, and I think most of the apartments are fairly new anyway.

There wan't a lot to do in the evenings, but tbh once we got in we were happy to eat and crash!

The best for ski-in ski-out was snowbird lodge

Thank you both for the information.

Sittingbull - please could you also let me know where you stay that is 5 mins drive up. Happy to driveinto resort and park by lift. Just don't want to walk far with skis or scramble to get on a bus !

Suzy

We usually ski Big White, which is very close to Silver Star, with similar journey times etc, but a bigger ski area.

You might want to check out their web site as well.

We have had fab holidays in Banff, canada, and killington USA.

I've only been to Tahoe especially Northstar and Sqaw and found it fantastic, although the drive through the mountains was a bit hairy when it was snowing.

Our elsest was 4 when she went into ski school and DS would have only been 9 months or so plenty of childcare imo.

Really love Heavenly / Lake Tahoe. Long ski season so Easter snow usually great. For ski in/ out though consider Breckenridge.

In USA you have seen much many resorts and hotels but best and child friendly ski resort as I have my personal experience with www.sequoiaresort.com/