Ski Club Family Western Trip

The Nomad Ski Club ran another successful Family Trip , with the Second Annual Family Western Ski Trip to Copper Mtn., CO on January 11-16, 2007.  Trip participants included 33 adults, four teenagers, and 10 children (ages 4-12); it included airfare, bus transportation between Denver and Copper, five nights lodging, four days of lift tickets, plus four parties.

This trip proved to be just as successful as our first Family Western Ski Trip to Steamboat, CO, and included similar arrangements with flights in and out of Hayden and a short bus ride.  Both trips had excellent participation by not only families, but couples and singles too; and it was great to see some of our hibernating/older members with their sons and daughters, and even teenagers skiing together!

Both trips had a pleasant mix of adults and children with the kids quickly finding new playmates, moms and dads looking forward to their first Western Trip in a while (or since becoming a parent), and everyone enjoying a low-stress trip (except for maybe the Trip Leader).  Both trips were over the Martin Luther King Holiday, which has turned out to have good snow, reasonable pricing and moderate crowds (unlike President’s Day Weekend). In addition, our return flights have had mid-afternoon departures on Tuesday which gets the kids home in time for a good night’s rest for school on Wednesday.

Other drawing points for our family trips have been spacious two- and three-bedroom condos (kids sleep free on the Sofa Beds), nearly ski in/ski out arrangements (five-minute walk at Steamboat and 200 feet at Copper), four full days of skiing (with kids under 13 ski free), a pre-trip Pizza Party (kids and adults get to meet before the trip and make plans), Welcoming Party (everyone meets again and gets resort info), Club Nastar Dual Race Courses and a Club Luncheon.  All and all, these have been good trips without a preset schedule or need to take buses, etc.

We’ve also done a few other things up front to ensure a pleasant trip for all. Condos are set aside for singles and couples only (no kids). The rooming list is built as people sign up and participants are asked about roommates. Also, children must be related to at least one adult on the trip (no child’s friends), and we try to pick resorts that are family friendly and have good shuttle service.  It’s also helped that both resorts offered five-hour children’s lessons, which allows those of us with small children a few days to ski with our friends in the morning and our kids in late afternoon.

The Club Nastar Races have also had excellent participation especially with the kids (who like to compete against their friends and parents on the dual courses).  At Copper we had 19 adults and 10 children (ages 4-16) participate with 15 medal winners; and at Steamboat we had 21 adults and 10 children (ages 4-12) participate with ten medal winners.  (If a four-year-old can do a Nastar Race, what’s up with the rest of us?)  These last two trips have also offered good value with adults paying $825-875, and children 12 and under paying $320-375 (unless they want their own bed).  We’ve also been able to offer some discounts for teenagers too, which have made these family trips affordable.

About the Author:

Rich Clausius is a Trip Leader with the Nomad Ski Club of Chicago.