Taking the kids: To the snow

Talk about a labor-intensive family vacation.

No, not camping, though that would also require a lot of work on parents’ part.

I’m talking about taking the kids to a snow resort. All that gear!

“I always thought I needed a sherpa,” one snow-loving mom said.

I don’t think we ever arrived at ski school without a child missing something – goggles, a mitten, sunscreen. … Once, we arrived in Colorado to discover we’d forgotten one child’s parka. Luckily, there was an outlet mall on the way to the resort.

Let’s not forget the grocery runs for the vacation rental.

Yes, there are delivery services – even for rental equipment from companies like Black Tie Ski Rentals and these days, snow resorts encourage you to book everything in advance from lift tickets to ski schools. (Now with the new Epic Ascent Concierge Program at Beaver Creek and Vail Resorts in Colorado, book private lessons for up to six of you and your instructor will coordinate your rentals, arrange gear fitting, and even arrange dinner reservations.)

Still, a child gets sick or doesn’t want to go to ski school, wreaking havoc with everyone’s plans. Inevitably, the kids are too tired for the hard-to-get dinner reservation at the cabin that can only be reached by snow cat.

Why do it? Well, there’s nothing more wonderful than drinking in the mountain views at the top of a mountain on a blue-sky day or the unexpected conversations with your teen or tween on the chairlift or the unfettered evening family time when no one is stressed about homework or the office.

Sadly, snow vacations can be very pricey these days. And then there is the uncertainty about snow conditions given climate change and last year’s season in the West, the worst in decades.

So, what’s a snow-loving family to do? You might consider a getaway that’s a driven distance from home, so you won’t be on the hook for flights if the snow conditions are abysmal. Travel insurance is a must in case there is a family emergency or illness and you can’t go. (Check www.insuremytrip.com. Some policies insure kids for free.)

If you want to maximize your bang for your vacation buck, opt for smaller resorts. For example, Ski Cooper in Colorado offers $35 lift tickets for kids and $59 for adults during the week – when neighboring Vail charges triple that, or more. Consider Grand Targhee Resort and Snow King Mountain located near Jackson Hole, though you might be able to get a $500 air credit, up to $2,000 a family when you book round-trip flights, lodging, and a qualifying activity through Jackson Hole Resort Reservations. ( In Colorado, Arapaho Basin and Keystone Resort have already opened.)

Participating Park City lodging properties, meanwhile, are offering a $400 Delta gift card if you book a stay of three or more nights totaling $400 or more. However, you won’t get the gift card until after your stay.

Look for kids-free deals. Ski.com has a comprehensive list and can book your entire trip. Keystone Resort in Colorado invites kids 12 and under to ski free when the family books a two-night stay through the resort. Keystone also is known for its giant snow fort at the top of the mountain and many complimentary activities.

Some companies, including Christy Sports, offer kids rentals free with four or more days of adult daily rentals. (One free kids rental per adult rental.)

At Aspen/Snowmass, kids 6 and under ski free while kids 7 to 12 get complimentary lift tickets matching the number of days of rental equipment from Four Mountain Sports with a qualifying lodging stay.

At Steamboat Springs, with the Kids Ski Free program, children 12 and under ski for free, matching the number of days on a parent’s, grandparents, or legal guardian’s lift ticket. Just purchase a five-day (or longer) adult lift ticket before the season starts and one child gets a complimentary pass for the same duration.

At Utah’s Snowbird resort, kids and teens up to age 18 get a free Freeholder Pass with the purchase of an eligible adult pass, the only ski free program that includes 18-year-olds in North America.

Select Ikon resorts (such as Winter Park, Steamboat, Mammoth, and Palisades Tahoe) periodically participate in early-season Kids Ski Free Weeks (typically in early December).

There are also state passport programs for elementary school age kids offering free or deeply discounted lift tickets. They include the SKI NY Free for Kids Passport and the Ski Vermont fifth Grade Passport.

Each program is a little different and varies in cost, though you don’t need to live in the state. The primary youth ski passport program in Idaho is the Ski Idaho fifth & sixth Grade Peak Season Passport, which gives fifth graders three free days and sixth graders two free days at 18 participating ski areas across the state.

The Ski Utah Passport gives fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students three days of skiing or snowboarding at each of Utah’s 15 participating resorts for a total of 45 days.

The Colorado Ski Country Passport is one of the broadest, $76 for 76 days on the slopes for kids kindergarten through sixth grade with four days of skiing and riding at each resort.

To encourage families to visit smaller resorts, Colorado Ski Country offers a variety of Gems passes to 10 Colorado resorts. For example, with the purchase of a Ski Country Passport for kids or a Gems teen passport ($210 for two full-day tickets to 10 different resorts) parents can get a Gems Parent Pass – $350 for 20 days on the slopes, though you can only get one per household.

There is also a Gems Discount Card for $50 that unlocks deep discounts valid for two days each at Arapahoe Basin, Cooper, Echo, Eldora, Granby Ranch, Loveland, Monarch, Powderhorn, Purgatory and Sunlight.

If you plan to hit the big resorts, you will want to get either an Epic Pass (Vail Resorts, including Vail, Breckenridge, Park City, Northstar,) or an Ikon Pass, including Winter Park, Steamboat, Taos, Aspen Snowmass, and Sun Valley. You can get passes for as few as two days. There is a good comparison here. The passes also can unlock discounts on lodging, meals and more.

Complicated? Absolutely. Worth it? Absolutely!