Spring Break Skiing -- Need Recommendation

Can someone please recommend some very nice RCI resorts in a great ski area to take the family for Spring Break skiing (last week in March). Either Utah or Colorado would work for us. The ski area should accommodate kids (ages 8-13) and have good ski schools. I want to try and exchange into a decent resort for skiing. Thanks. Tim

It would help to know when your spring break is. Skiing at most Utah/Colorado resorts is still great in mid-March but can get spotty in April. For example, if you live in New England with spring break coming in the third week of April, your practical choices might be more limited.

Dave, I edited my thread to indicate that I am looking at skiing during the last week in March. Thanks.

From a family standpoint, I would head for Park City. Great ski school and ski terrain that should satisfy the entire family.

Your challenge will be in getting the exchange. Spring break, especailly that last week of March in the west, is a popular week. So you will ikely need a strong trader to get an exchange for that week. A full year or more for your exchange request is best so get your request in now!

Tim, you just asked about Thanksgiving. Planning two trips I assume. Copper Mountain is my favorite "family area", but our family enjoys all the resorts. People have different ideas of what "family area" means. Some want a small resort so that if you split up everyone is not so spread out. In Colorado, these people prefer areas like Sol Vista and Sunlight. Other people want areas that have a large variety of terrain which would lead you to places like the Vail Valley and Summit County where the resorts have large numbers of runs from easy to very difficult.

Our kids are 9 and 7. We have taken them to both Winter Park and Breckenridge to ski over the past 2 years. This year my husband has taken them up to Breckenridge several times. He has found it to be a great place for the kids as there are a lot of runs at various ability levels. We will be going up as a family again in December for a week.


We've never skied at Sol Vista but have a friend who owns a condo there. She says she enjoys skiing there as it is smaller and generally less crowded. The lift tickets are also less expensive.

If next year is anything like this year, we should have pretty good snow still in March.

kapear said:

If next year is anything like this year...

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That would be fantastic.

We've done spring skiing for three years now in Park City UT. and have yet to be disappointed. Sadly, our school district is rearranging their calendar so that we will have off for President's week and a week in April now (after ski season and president's week is platinum plus where we own a floating week.

tim said:

Can someone please recommend some very nice RCI resorts in a great ski area to take the family for Spring Break skiing (last week in March). Either Utah or Colorado would work for us. The ski area should accommodate kids (ages 8-13) and have good ski schools. I want to try and exchange into a decent resort for skiing. Thanks. Tim

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I am writing this from Park City Utah where we have been for the last week with our kids who have really tried skiing for the first time this week. They love it and this will be the place we definately come back. Hubby and I have been skiing in CO, NM, and Whistler but this is our favorite. There are 3 ski resorts in this area--Park City, Deer Valley and the Canyons. Park City and Deer Valley have a ton of runs for all levels. We went to the Canyons on our first day for ski school b/c Deer Valley was booked (we thought it was the best so book in advanced). The Canyons had very few green runs so we didn't go back. It looks great if you ski blue or black. Westgate resort was there at the Canyons and looked beautiful. However, I don't think that is the right resort for our family b/c it is a pretty good distance from town and the other resorts which is where I would want to ski.

We are staying at Park Plaza and we love it. I will write a very detailed review either today or tomorrow. It is a small resort but my kids (8 and 11) just love it. It has an indoor pool at which the kids all gather to play every night, ping pong table, pool and a few video games. The resort is small so I feel comfortable letting the kids run around since they are always near. There is a hot tub and sauna as well for those sore muscles. Park Plaza has a free shuttle that will take you any where you want to go in Deer Valley and Park City (you do have to catch the free bus to the Canyons if you want to ski there since it is further away). We took the shuttle every day to the slopes and called when we wanted to be picked up. We also took a shuttle from the airport and haven't even messed with a rental car. The rooms are nice and appear to have been refurbished recently. The pull out sofas are comfy as is the bed. There are no planned activities at this resort; however we came here to ski and the kids swim every night so there is nothing else we would want. Also, free wireless internet access.........

Park Plaza trades with RCI, II and SFX.

Utah Quick Start

Check out this linK;

http://www.parkcityinfo.com/skiing/quickstart/

If you are fly into Utah between March 27th-April 16th you can use your boarding pass to get a free lift ticket. I believe there is a form you must first download, fill out, and present to the resort.

I used it a Deer Valley a couple of season's ago. Look at Deer Valley lift ticket prices and the Quick Start program is quite a deal

The Grand Summit is very nice, and ski-in/out. Free city bus will take you to other ski areas.

http://www.rci.com/RCIW/RCIW_index?body=RCIW_resortItemBody&resort_id=5347&pageTitle=%20Resort

Wherever you go it will likely be a tough trade. We own Weeks 10 and 11 in a second-rate, out-of-the-way, up-the-road, rum-dum ski area, but both of those have always been top weeks. When statistics from our resort's rental pool used to be published in the Owners Manual, Weeks 52 and 11 were the top rental weeks.

You're looking for Week 12 and that would be right up there.

Ski Schools

Main differences in good ski schools often have to do with management of the registration process and how much they value parents as customers. The other main variable is the lunch process for kids in all-day. Meet up with parents or stay with group.

Classes are comparable whenever you have PSIA ranked instructors which you want to always look for.

Interesting Weather Information

In conjunction with the snowstorm that has dumped up to 2 feet along I-70 in Kansas, on the news last night they said that March is the heaviest snowfall month in Colorado.

I would not have figured that.

just got back from spring break in park city
we skiied at the canyons all week

36 inches of fresh powder in one week- need i say more

we stayed at the miners club - absolutely the most plush ts i have ever stayed at.

the ts had a ski valet that took us to the slopes ( 0.5 mile) ski lift is planned to make it a ski in ski out

in the evening the van would take us to wherever we wanted in town, and pick us up.

no rental car needed.

not going to be an easy trade- maybe impossible

we own

Ask for an owner to owner trade; here's why:

Grand Summit Canyons owners are on a quarter/interval schedule ( not to be confused with II) so each owner has a minimum of 1 week every 4th week year-round. Some own 2, 3 or all 4 quarters. That's a lot of weeks.

If you have an upscale week somewhere, I would put in a direct trade request with a Grand Summit owner in the classifieds on www.timeshareforums.com .

The Grand Summit only promotes to its owners that it trades with RCI , so the owners have slim pickings for resorts comparable to the Grand Summit in the RCI inventory. Even if they want to trade down a bit, which is usually fine, with the VEP being so high, they have a hard time seeing other exchange options. Few owners know that they can join SFX or other independents, but as word of that gets out, there will be some inventory there perhaps.

tim said:

Can someone please recommend some very nice RCI resorts in a great ski area to take the family for Spring Break skiing (last week in March). Either Utah or Colorado would work for us. The ski area should accommodate kids (ages 8-13) and have good ski schools. I want to try and exchange into a decent resort for skiing. Thanks. Tim

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Tim,

You're going to want to request as many ski areas as possible to maximize your chance. I wouldn't worry too much about the kid's programs, they're probably about the same at most good ski resorts.

If I were you, I'd try to focus on an area that's easily accessible for you; in other words, an area with lower cost air fares from your city, or within easier driving distance.

Also, I would take lift prices into account. if you plan ahead, you can ski winter park for less than $25 per day (4packs are sold in October). Winter park is about as good a ski area as any, it's the 2nd largest in Colorado, I believe, and it's a nice little ski town. On the other hand, Vail or Beaver creek (my favorites in CO) are very expensive. By picking the right resort, you stand to save hundreds of dollars on lift tickets. So it partly depends on your budget as well.
Where do you live?

I have to agree with PA, we are avid skiers and having been taking our family as soon as they were almost there years old. They have been sking now for 6 years and can ski down black diamonds. Now, this skiing ability did not come cheaply, I would recommend looking at some resorts web sites and choosing several spots based on lift tickets and ski school prices. We were at Beaver Creek this year (our second visit) and it cost $145.00 per day, per child. Plus BC had the most expensive lift tickets, it is a beautiful resort and highly regarded. But, it is also very pricey - this may not be important to you. But, you will have a better vacation experience if you do some resort research prior. Our family likes, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Steamboat, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Jackson Hole and The Canyons. All these resorts have timeshares and we have not had any diffculty in getting exchanges into some very nice properties. I would start the search now, since you are going in high spring break season. We went this year between 3/25 - 4/01 and started the search 18 months out. We are going to The Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge (an II resort) in a 2 bedroom for week 12 in 2007. I got the Grand Timber Lodge trade fairly quickly, so if you have a nice trader in the II system it may be possible to get in to Grand Timber. We also got numerous resorts within the RCI system using another week. But we settled on Grand Timber, so go ahead and start your search now and you can always do your research when you start to get matches. You do not have to take the first match you get with RCI, II is a different story. With II you really need to know where you want to go. Good luck and have a great trip!

Hands down- Park City is the best place to take a family for Spring Break. Great resorts, great mountains, great snow, great ski instructors, great tubing hill, great restaurants, great access from the airport, great town, lots of other great things to do around town, great transportation around town- did I mention it was great?

Not far behind is Winter Park. Probably my second favorite place to take the family. Copper is also good for families but I get bored there after 3 or 4 days.

Keystone wins....hands down!!!
(but I am biased as I am Mountain Watch Volunteer there!!!)
I have found nowhere with anything as good as the front side of Dercum Mountain:
Green runs: Schoolmarm (3 1/2 miles top to bottom) and Silver Spoon
Blues: Spring Dipper, Dutchman, Frenchman, Irishman and Paymaster
Grooming fantastic, most of the blues uncrowded (we've been the first people to ski down Paymaster several days this last season)
Nice ski patrol and instructors.

What a privilege to live up here year round!!!

nkosi

PA -- we live in Milwaukee so we have to fly the family either to Utah or Colorado. My kids (ages 7, 10 & 12) are somewhat newbies on the slopes which is why we want a decent ski school. We have only skiied a few places in Wisconsin and Michigan, but I am tired of waiting in long lift lines and then ending back in the line after a few minutes coming down with the kids. I need some real ski mountains. However, price is a concern for this trip. With airfare, lift tickets, ski rentals and lessons, it will likely turn out to be an expensive week. We don't need a fancy ski area, but would like a nice resort. Tim

Honestly, most ski schools in Colroado or Utah are going to meet your childrens needs. With the airfare, lift tickets and other expenses I would avoid Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckenridge, Jackoson Hole and many of the other large resorts. As I noted in an earlier post ski school can run 145 per day and adult lift tickets up to $81.00. But, it is not that high everywhere. You may really enjoy a nice week at a smaller (but just as fun) such as Sol Vista or as it was formerly known Silver Creeek. They do have a very nice ski resort, great lift prices and hardly any lift lines. It is just down the road from Winter Park. I cannot recommend Winter Park ski school, it is really the only place that we have had a bad experience. Steamboat is also a little lower in ski school $ and lift tickets prices. Some of the smaller resorts in Utah will also have decent ski school and lift ticket prices. With ski resorts more expensive does not always mean better. We have been all over the west sking and they are all great. I could also suggest Copper Mountain or Keystone. Both Copper and Keystone are very family friendly with regards to terrian. Keystone is owned by Vail resorts, but their prices are much lower then it's sister resorts. Based on your needs, I would start a search without an auto confirm and check out the ski resorts as you get matches. I would not waste any time in getting that search going. You do not have to take the first matches, but the nice units go quickly and the last week of March is always popular. Just get your search up and check every day - as you get matches you can do your research on the resort, the ski school prices and lift tickets. You may also want to consider Lake Tahoe, it is usually less expensive to fly into Reno. Lake Tahoe also has great snow, many resorts to choice from and a large base of Time share. It may be worth some consideration.

I have a nice high trader in RCI (Presidents week at Cayman Gold Crown) and I pulled a few resorts that may work for you. Goldenwood at Powderhorn is very nice and the Powderhorn ski resort is a smaller, less crowded and less expensive resort. It is very pretty and may fill your needs. It had one unit with a check in on 3/24/07 that sleeps 8. There are also quite a few of Lake Tahoe units, I did not find anything else in Colorado that would work based on your needs. I did see some Vail, Beaver Creek and Breck - but they are very expensive. I did NOT see any Keystone, Copper or any other resrots that have been mentioned. I did see Fairfeild Pagosa, but it is a 25 mile shuttle ride to ski. It is a beautiful resort - but not sure about how you would feel about the long ride. My kids would not like that long of drive to ski. I did also see Wolf Creek in Eden Utah. It is not as nice of a resort as Goldenwood, but it is still accpetable. If you are looking for 2007, I would get the search going as soon as possible. If it is 2008, you still have some time to do your research. I got 23 matches, but many are below average resorts - not sure you would be happy.

I think a GREAT place to take a family would be to head up to Banff, in Canada. There are few places on earth as beautiful as Banff, and the skiing is great and inexpensive.

If you buy a Sunshine Card (prior to Christmas) You get your 1st, 4th and 7th day of skiing free (see details on their website). Plus they usually give you a dicsount book that has 2 for 1 ski school coupons.

Ski season is somewhat offseason in Banff, so you can get really great rates, and there are timeshares available in Banff or Canmore. My kids loved the ski school. Other nice things include more reasonably priced food, free overnight ski check, and Lake Louise is only 45 minutes away.

you can check out my pictures of Banff skiing at http://community.webshots.com/user/kevinrs
there are pictures of Kickinghorse as well, that is about 90 minutes from Banff and also a great area.

tim said:

PA -- we live in Milwaukee so we have to fly the family either to Utah or Colorado. My kids (ages 7, 10 & 12) are somewhat newbies on the slopes which is why we want a decent ski school. We have only skiied a few places in Wisconsin and Michigan, but I am tired of waiting in long lift lines and then ending back in the line after a few minutes coming down with the kids. I need some real ski mountains. However, price is a concern for this trip. With airfare, lift tickets, ski rentals and lessons, it will likely turn out to be an expensive week. We don't need a fancy ski area, but would like a nice resort. Tim

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With what you've said, I would look at Winter Park. It's a relatively easy exchange, though the timeshares are only 3 star quality. You can get lift tickets for $25 per person (doesn't include school). Restaurants in the area are cheaper than at most resorts that are as nice as Winter park. It's only 1 1/2 hours drive from Denver airport, which should be a relatively inexpensive plane ticket, or you can drive if you're a road warrior.

ALso, Worldmark Wolf Creek is a relatively easy exchange, and has 2 ski mountains within fairly easy driving range that are relatively inexpensive. Snow Basin is a fabulous resort, home of the 2002 winter olympics. You can also try for the new Worldmark resort in Midway, which is around 15 miles from great resorts in Park City (albeit with much higher priced lift tickets).