Snow Skiing

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cowchaser

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Wanted to check on some help about doing some snow skiing. We are thinking about taking our kids snow skiing for Christmas. We have never been and are looking to go somewhere in New Mexico or Colorado. Is it to cold to do this in December? What are some good places to go that are not terribly expensive? We just did a 7 day trip to Disney World so the travel budget is running low. Any help would be appreciated. I have googled this thing to death and can't seem to find any packages that are what I would call decent. Prefer not to spend more than about 130 a night plus lift and skis for 2 days skiing. Will only be staying 3 nights. We will be taking our son that will have just turned 2 so he is out on skiing, but we will take turns staying behind and playing in the snow with him and so on. Thanks.
 
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We have been skiing for many years and have skied just about every resort in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.

December is usually very "iffy", especially in New Mexico. If the weather starts cooling down and snow starts to fall, Angel Fire in Northeast New Mexico would be a hard place to beat for beginners and the place I would recommend. I learned to ski there myself! Check out some lodging specials in the "Ski Run" condos, they are slopeside "ski in/Ski out" and often can be had at really low prices. The mountain is very "beginner friendly" and they have an excellent ski school as well as a kinder school where professionals take care of all the little ones in a special area and the kids usually have more fun than the adults.

December -

1. Pre-Christmas week specials are usually pretty reasonable but for a reason... usually not much snow yet and most runs are not yet open for skiing. But you will only be on the lower mountain "bunny" runs anyway so not that big of a deal for beginners.

2. Christmas to new years is generally the most expensive week of the entire season, I would advise against it because it's usually crowded and you don't want crowds when you are learning.

January -

1. Most resorts have "white sales" the first week or two after the new year and you can find some real bargains.

2. It is usually a bit colder than December but managable and the crowds are smaller.

I could go on and on but won't. If you have any specific questions, ask away.

George
 
Hey has no one ever heard of UTAH? I would make it larger and in COLOR if I knew how. We have great skiing out here.[:D][:p][:D]

Mike
 
Dustin,
Unfortunately, skiing and inexpensive rarely go together these days. Prices in Utah have gone up significantly in the last few years. Not sure if it's just a post olympic thing or if it's similar nationwide. I converted to snowboarding 18 years ago myself and have never gone back to skis, but unfortunately, don't have as much time or funds to go as much as I'd like even living in the shadow of the mountains.

Oh, forgot to mention, as mentioned earler, December can be iffy or great, depending on the year and area. Some here are already hiking to ski/board, as we have had some good snow storms up in the mountains already. You can usually book early and then watch the snow totals to see if you need to cancel before you come if there isn't enough snow. Most resorts have put enough investment into snowmaking that they can build enough manmade base that when the real stuff hits it stays and lasts better.
 
I live about 50 miles from Red Lodge Mountain and ski there 20-30 times a season as a ski instructor with an organization called Eagle Mount. When they get a really big storm, the skiing there can be fabulous, but those storms are extremely rare. The rest of the time, the ski conditions vary from mediocre to poor. My favorite part of the mountain hasn't been open the past two years. I lived in Denver for 20 years and have skied most of the areas there, although since I'm not a Texan I'm probably not an expert on CO skiing, but I've been skiing there many times on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. The best variety is in the Breckinridge-Dillon-Frisco area with 4 areas within reasonable driving distance. But, I don't know that you'll find a place to stay for $130/night. January and February have more snow, but January is considerably colder than December in Summit County. We had a condo in Frisco when we lived in Denver and although we always went up there in January, we often didn't ski because it was just too cold. I've never enjoyed skiing in -30 wind chill.

Planning a ski vacation anywhere is a crap shoot, even in those months when the conditions should be good.
 
Originally posted by donald19
<br />http://www.bigmtn.com/
Ya forgot to mention this place in Montana.
Click to expand...
Not to put too fine a point on it but in the first post, the third sentence read... "We have never been and are looking to go somewhere in <b>New Mexico or Colorado</b>."

I'm guessing he wants a place within easy one day driving distance.
 
And since you've never been skiing, put yourselves in ski school also. As an instructor, I spend too much time telling people that they have no business being on the runs they're on. They create significant hazards for everyone around them. I teach handicapped skiers and one of my student instructors was flattened from behind last year by someone who could neither stop nor turn. His response was "why didn't he get out of my way?" His lift ticket was pulled and he was kicked off the mountain.
 
I agree - there are entirely too many idiots on the mountains! The nice thing about Mountains in Montana and Colorado is that they are no where near as packed as the mountains up here in Canada. I HATE Skiing and then waiting in line for 10 minutes to get back up...

(Which is why I joined ski patrol - so I could get back on the hill as soon as possible...can't have people skiing without patrollers to save them when they tackle more than they can handle, can we? :) )

Definitely invest in a few lessons, preferably at a small local hill before you tackle the big one...Otherwise, you'll spend a lot of money, and probably never get off the slow, main hill....

Andrew
 
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