5 tips for successful holiday family ski trips

We spend many Christmases away for the holidays. By far our favorite holiday vacation: a holiday family ski trip in a ski resort condo. Three years ago, we spent Christmas tucked away in a South Tahoe HomeAway vacation rental, and past Christmases have found us exploring Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, BC Canada and the North Shore of Tahoe. Spending the holidays away allows us to focus on our family and leave busy schedules behind, but it can also seem daunting. Below are our best ski trip tips for enjoying a family ski vacation away for the holidays.

holiday family ski trip

1. Go before Christmas Day.

Ski resorts (much like theme parks and beach resorts) remain relatively quiet until December 25, after which they experience their peak season crowds (through early January). No one wants to spend their family ski trip waiting in lift lines, so if you can swing it, book your trip in the first half of your kids’ winter school vacation (or earlier). You’ll experience fewer crowds but also lower lodging costs. Plus, stress-fee pre-Christmas holiday travel is easier to come by.

2. Consider your ski trip one of your family gifts.

Older kids can understand that a family ski vacation costs considerable money, and can be considered a family gift. Plus, bringing a mountain of holiday gifts along on your vacation can be difficult: we bring everyone’s Christmas stockings and one special present for each child if our ski trip will extend to Christmas Day. Kids can also be gifted with experiences: surprise them with a day on zip lines or a sleigh ride at your ski resort as an extra holiday gift you don’t have to bring with you.

3. Bring holiday traditions with you.

You may not want to pack a lot of extra items on your family ski vacation, but some things are worth the space. We like to bring our usual Christmas linens so we can set our table for Christmas Eve, and we bring stockings and special Christmas pajamas. It’s easy to bring a travel Hanukkah menorah, and Hanukkah gifts can double as travel toys. If you like to have a tree in your living room, find out if your ski resort is near forest service land that permits Christmas tree cutting. If so, it’s relatively easy to obtain a permit and have a family outing finding the perfect vacation tree.

4. Make your own holiday meals.

We always book ski trip lodging with a full kitchen. During the holiday season, this allows us to make our usual holiday meals, which makes it feel more like Christmas when we’re away. Find the local grocery store when you arrive, or check to see if nearby stores offer grocery delivery service to your ski resort (many do).

Northstar lodging

5. Use a ski trip checklist (and check it twice).

Before you pack and depart, write a ski trip checklist with needed gear and supplies. Everyone remembers to bring the basics: skis or boards, boots, and outerwear, but did you remember to pack the following lesser-known items on our ski trip checklist?

extra pair of gloves for everyone
hand warmers (just pack them in coat pockets before leaving home)
chapstick for everyone
laundry detergent and dryer sheets (you’ll want to at least dry outerwear a few times)
base layers or long underwear for all
the makings of s’mores
a cheap box of Christmas ornaments or decorations for the room or condo
a strand of Christmas lights (this can help you find your window or door easily)
batteries or chargers for those new toys

Are you planning a holiday ski trip? What tips can you share for enjoying your time away?

Five tips for successful holiday ski trips

Ways to elevate your ski day: backcountry ski excursions, clinics and more

If you generally ski lift-served terrain (hopefully with your family!) but find yourself routinely wanting to elevate your ski day with a little more adventure, there are some very obtainable and accessible ways to do so! Whether you’ve already skied everything you can in the front-country (on-piste terrain) at your favorite ski resort or simply want to learn more about ways to maximize your ski experience,  backcountry ski excursions, clinics and resort programs can get you into the side-country for new challenges.

Sidecountry and Backcountry ski excursions:

If you find yourself looking with longing at Warren Miller (RIP) films or drooling over brochures featuring fresh tracks cutting through powery landscapes, look into backcountry ski excursions. It’s important to start with guided programs, so you can learn what you need to know about avalanche and snow safety (if you get hooked, you’ll need to invest in your own gear and take an avalanche safety course at home).

Start with sidecountry trips, which simply means skiing the off-piste but still ski-patrolled areas of a resort. A few great ways to do this: try a Homewood Snowcat Adventure with the folks at this Tahoe ski resort with a hometown feel, or pay a few bucks to access Keystone Mountain’s cat-accessed terrain.

If you’re visiting a new-to-you resort, see if they have a Hidden Tracks program, like Solitude Mountain Resort’s: this private, guided program grants you access to the best side country and gated terrain the resort has to offer, and you get a lesson in skiing off-piste while you’re at it. Read more about my Hidden Tracks experience.

If you feel ready for an all-day backcountry adventure, check out Ski Utah’s Interconnect. The backcountry ski excursions the Interconnect offers are quite truly amazing. While you need to be an advanced skier to participate, you don’t have to be experienced in the backcountry. The trained guides will carry all the avi gear you need and will provide the expertise.

Depending on the excursion you choose, you ski up to six Utah ski resorts in one day, connecting them via backcountry. Along the way, you’ll ski side and backcountry, boot pack a few times, and side slip (side step on your skis) at a few key points, too. While challenging physically, the Interconnect offers some of the back fresh powder in the Wasatach, takes you to points you might have only seen on postcards, and will get you hooked on skiing off the beaten path. A day with the Interconnect folks includes lunch and access to all the resorts you’ll be passing through.

Know before you book: As noted, you’ll need to be an advanced skier. Because several of the resorts on the tour do not permit snowboards, it’s a skier-only excursion. While it’s important to be able to ski a variety of terrain, it’s equally important to be fit enough to hike through snow (carrying your skis) and side slip. It also helps to not fear moderate heights. You’ll need to bring a small backpack (a hydration pack size is perfect) to stow extra gloves, a face mask, some snacks, and water.

In California, try at backcountry experience with Alpenglow Expeditions. Alpenglow operates out of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and tours in the backcountry past Granite Chief lift to access out-of-boundary terrain via boot packing and skinning. Alpenglow will outfit you in AT (Alpine Touring) skis, boots, skins and backpack with avi gear if you need it. Tours are all day, and can include up to 2-3 laps of National Geographic Bowl.

Read more about my experiences with both Ski Utah Interconnect and Alpenglow Expeditions here.

Ongoing ski clinics ski camps:

If you’re lucky enough to live near a ski resort, consider signing yourself up for an ongoing adult ski clinic. You probably already have the kids in ski lessons, too! Ski clinics are often gender-specific (nice for women who want to learn without pressure from their husbands and vice versa) and the regular nature of them means you can improve over the season. Look for a clinic that utilizes the same instructor for the entire session for consistency of instruction, and it helps to have a later start time (like 9:30 or 10 am) so you have time to drop off kids at their own lessons (or at school) beforehand. Look for clinic options under ‘specialty lessons’ on most resort websites. Solitude’s Women on Wednesdays are an excellent example.

Ski camps are a great way to feel like a kid again while enjoying some adult time and improving your ski ability by leaps and bounds. Alta Lodge’s women’s camps are a great example: bunk with a ski buddy, enjoy meals at the lodge and nice long ski days filled with instruction, then relax each evening in the hot tub and at the bar with new friends. Yes, please!

If you can’t quite carve out a whole week, Northstar California plays host to Her Mountain retreats, a two-day event held several times per ski season (then again several times per summer for mountain bike enthusiasts). During Her Mountain, women receive two days of specialized lessons by a female instructor, guided yoga, apres-ski events, and even the Platinum tōst experience on the mountain. This experience is an elevated version of the 2 pm tōst (where every Northstar guest can enjoy complimentary champagne or sparkling cider). Platinum Tōst is at 1 pm and includes a dedicated seating area with fire pit, a s’mores kit, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and a picnic of charcuterie that is hearty enough to be a full lunch. Her Mountain doesn’t include lodging, so you can pick your level of luxury to economic accommodations.

First Tracks programs:

Ditch the family sleeping soundly at the ski condo and head out for first tracks! These programs are offered at many resorts and allow you to hop on the first chair at 8:15 am instead of 9 am. Often, First Tracks is free to guests staying at certain resort properties or come with a low cost. The key is to sign up early, because there are only a few spots each day offered. You’ll get to track up that perfect corduroy first, and enjoy a nice breakfast afterward.

How do you like to elevate your ski day experience?

 

 

Hoodoo Ski Area: family skiing in the NW

The motto of Central Oregon’s Hoodoo Ski Area is ‘steeper, deeper, cheaper’. After spending a full day on the mountain, we concur. Located in the Willamette National Forest about 12 miles from Sisters, Oregon, Hoodoo is only an hour from much larger (and more costly) Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, and even in a drought year, enjoyed over 160 cm of powder the March day we visited. As for ‘steeper’, Hoodoo certainly has its challenging runs, but for us, the challenge came from the thick powder and terrain more than from sheer vertical angle. For the steepest skiing in the Northwest, we suggest Mt. Ashland Ski Area in Southern Oregon.

We visited Hoodoo on their annual Winter Carnival day, which includes wildly fun extras in the already low lift ticket price: a ‘dummy derby’ of creatively decorated sleds sent down the slope, a bonfire, games such as archery and axe throwing (yes, we competed), a pie-eating contest, and fireworks. The community spirit at this family-owned ski resort was high, but we noticed details that suggested Hoodoo is always a friendly, community-driven resort, not just during their carnival. For instance, families are encouraged to bring in outside food to most sections of the spacious lodge, creating an almost pot-luck atmosphere during meal times. Many even brought crock pots and plugged them in at the tables: a practice we’re used to coming from a small ski resort ourselves, but which is literally unheard of at large resorts. We observed many skiers and snowboarders going out of their way to assist children carrying gear, and every staff member was cheerful, friendly, and helpful.

hoodoo-ski-area

Hoodoo offers five lifts, and no, none of them include high tech windbreak bubbles or seat warmers. This is old-school skiing, but after spending roughly half the price on lift tickets as you might at mega resorts, you won’t mind the scenic route up the mountain. Beginner terrain is accessed from Manzanita Chair and Easy Rider (a separate ticket price allows beginners to access Easy Rider all day for a discount), and intermediate skiers will find the most options off Ed Chair and Hodag Chair. The Big Green Machine takes you to the top, where a ridge and face await. We felt the black diamond runs had earned their designation, especially on a day like we had, which included heavy, choppy snow. There is a small terrain park off Manzanita Chair, but the bigger thrills for our tween and teen boys awaited them in the trees: Hoodoo offers excellent tree and glade skiing, especially around mid-mountain off Big Green Machine (there’s even an option to off-load at the half-way point of this chair).

hoodoo-ski-area

Hoodoo offers a day care center on-site (a surprise for a small resort), dining services, and full lesson packages and rentals. The lodge is open, bright, and larger than we expected. Remember that homegrown, community feel I spoke of? It’s alive and well in other ways too: throughout the lodge, air hockey and pool tables are on offer, and there’s a fun little arcade for kids. Our boys had a blast playing games in the area adjacent to the bar while we relaxed.

hoodoo-ski-area

It’s impossible not to notice Hoodoo’s signature rental item: the snow bikes. These skis on bike frames can be rented on-site for $30-$50, and include a 30-minute lesson to get the basics of the particular bike. If you’re brand new to snow biking, a ‘license’ is required, making the lesson and rental package $40 instead of $30. Next time we visit Hoodoo, we’ll be trying it out! Hoodoo also offers their Autobahn tubing park and miles of nordic trails. Trail tickets are $14 for adults, but on most Tuesdays and Thursdays (their non-grooming days) the trails are free.

hoodoo-snow-sculpture

Tips for visiting smaller Oregon ski resorts: As an Oregon resident and frequent visitor of smaller and family-owned ski resorts, I recommend keeping the following in mind:

  • Be sure to obtain and display an Oregon snow parks parking permit in your vehicle. Permits are only a few bucks for a single day pass, or around $20 for the season. Pick them up in the lodge, or at your accommodations.
  • Bring quarters for the arcade games and pool tables!
  • If you bring your own lunch, store it to the side of lodge areas permitting gear. Keep tables clear for others while you’re skiing. Be sure to ask whether the ski area charges a small fee for extras such as empty cups, bowls, or utensils you may need.
  • Keep your outerwear weatherproofed. Small ski resort chair lifts can be wet, snowy, and chilly on the bum!

Date last visited:

March 1, 2014

Distance from the interstate:

Hoodoo is located on Highway 20, about 30 minutes from Highway 97. It’s an hour and forty-five minutes from I-5 at Salem, OR.

Lift ticket rates:

At the time of our visit, adult all-day tickets sold for $45 and a child ticket was just $31. Kids five and under are always free. Night skiing is offered Friday and Saturday nights.

Lodging:

There isn’t on-site lodging at Hoodoo, but we recommend staying at Black Butte Ranch located 12 miles away near Sisters. Black Butte offers home rentals, recreation centers, dining, and kids’ programming. For a quieter stay, try Lodge at Suttle Lake.

Directions:

From Bend OR, take Highway 20 through Sisters and up the pass to Hoodoo Ski Area. From Salem Or, take Highway 20 from the opposite direction. Hoodoo is very easy to access!

As I disclose whenever applicable, we experienced Hoodoo Ski Area as guests of the resort, for the purpose of review. While we appreciate Hoodoo’s hospitality, all opinions are our own.