Seven Clever Ways Resorts Get Families on the Hill
September 19th, 2011
My family is pretty close, but even though most of us ski, I can only remember one day where the whole Blanchard gang was on the slopes together. My brother and I have spent countless days lapping our favorite lifts at Canyons and Brighton and my mom still tries to sneak in a sunny day or two at Alta each year, but when it comes to all of us, together, skiing – “rare” is close, “almost never” is closer. It’s not for lack of desire, we all love the mountains, but we’ve never had an offer that fit. With that on the brain (as age and health making the possibility less and less likely), I thought I’d search out a few ways resorts have been and will be catering to families this year:
I must say, however, that I was surprised by how few family-specific offers I found. Deals for large groups of 10+ were commonplace, but families had very little custom tailored to them.
Sundown Mountain
Family Weekend – January 7 & 8, 2012 (Saturday All Day & Sunday until 1 pm)
Pretty simple, buy an adult lift ticket and get any children’s programs, passes, or equipment rentals at half price.
http://www.sundownmtn.com/index.php/families
Smuggler’s Notch
Treasures Child Care
It’s $85 bucks a day for kids to spend that day at “Treasures” but they treat these kids like kings. For those parents that want a relaxing day on the slopes and have the cash, an interesting add-on to have on tap.
http://www.smuggs.com/pages/winter/kids/6-weeks-3-years.php
Marquette Mountain
Family of Four Ticket Pack
Snag four lift tickets for four people. Either 2 adults and 2 kids or 1 adult and three kids, either way, the off er is valid any weekend or holiday the entire season.
http://www.marquettemountain.com/Familyof4Package.php
Marquette Mountain
Family Frolic Sunday
Pring in the internet coupon and spend Sunday afternoon on the slopes for $59. Three people can ski (one must be an adult) at that price with extra family members tagging along for $17 a piece.
http://www.marquettemountain.com/Familyof4Package.php
Bromley
Family Fridays
Bromley already has a $44 midweek/non-holiday lift ticket offer that they let you add kids to for $15 a piece (up to 3). Mom, Dad, and two kids comes out to $118.
http://winter.bromley.com/tickets/vermont-ski-packages-deals-specials/
Panorama Resort
Sensational Family Ski Package
Stay for five nights with two kids, get breakfast for the whole family every morning, free unlimited tobogganing, and free kids lift tickets. Prices are $135 for a studio per adult, so at $260 a night, it’s a week long family ski vaca for about a grand.
http://www.panoramaresort.com/Kids-Are-Free
Steamboat
Kids-Only Terrain & Lifts
This isn’t an offer, per se, but having 5 lifts that are kids only would make parents’ hearts beat a little easier during the day. A smart idea, if you have the acreage, lifts, and staff to pull it off.
http://steamboat.com/plan-vacation/family.aspx
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SlopeFillers is run by marketer and skier / snowboarder, 
Greg, I'm a bit surprised to see that you primarily listed deals in this post with only one idea that wasn't a discount. I think that information is key for families and that sites like snowmamas.com (yeah, I'm biased) and even content areas like epicmoms are a great way to build awareness and help families more readily plan their winter vacations.
Eric, great point, and perhaps a bit of "deal myopia" on this one. Both of those programs you mentioned (bias or not) are awesome and do an amazing job. With this post I did try to share a few ideas smaller resorts could implement, budget or not, but thought the Steamboat kid's only lifts concept was pretty nifty and strayed there. If only Snowmamas (and now papas) wasn't so dang popular I could do some unique coverage on it without rehashing the same stuff over and over ;)
How about:
Nakiska Family Snow Pack
Lift & Rentals package, valid for 2 adults & up to 3 children / youth (up to 17yrs). $139.95 ($8 more than 2 Adult tickets, and you get up to 5 Rental packages)
Sweet Deal for that family that only gets out a couple of times a year.
Paul, I like the fact that it includes rentals. Very smart. I'd love to see something like that extended to include lunch for the fam as well. Thanks for the heads up!
Hi Greg, I was checking out this post and thought of our Ski Swim Stay package in Glenwood Springs. Ski, Swim Stay allows families to pick from any hotel option in Glenwood Springs and then add on lifts, hot springs, rentals and more at great discounts. The reason I thought of this post for it was because they are extending Kids Ski Free again this year where kids under 12 can ski for free – one kiddo per paid adult. Its a pretty good deal and a great, lesser known family mountain. Hope somebody finds it useful!
Kory, thanks for the heads up. Looks like a smart package. Hard to keep up with the offerings for non-resort organizations, glad you stopped by!