Best Ski Deals for Families

January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month. Lots of resorts around the country have special offers, including Cooper Mtn., pictured here.

What: Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month
Where: Across the United States
When: January 2013
Cost: Ski Deals and discounts available at most ski resorts

I love to ski. I was part of the ski club in high school and we went every Wednesday. It’s a little harder to do that out of Atlanta. However, recently, I went to Beech Mountain Resort in North Carolina on a press trip. As soon as I got on the mountain, I remembered how much I love skiing. The crisp air, the bright snow, flying down the mountain.

If you’ve never skied, it’s never too late to try. January is Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month and there are a host of deals to entice new comers to try the sport or if you’re like me, rediscover how much you love it.

This month on Field Trips with Sue, we’ll be featuring lots of ski-related blog posts and resort reviews. If you have a favorite ski resort, let us know about it. To jump start the series, here’s where to find some great ski deals.

Country Wide Ski Deals

• Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month: There is an entire website devoted to Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month. In addition to information on what to expect and information for parents, they also have a list of hundreds of deals on skiing throughout the country.
• Liftopia: Liftopia offers discount ski and snowboard passes and ski packages online and also offers up to date West and Southeast ski resort information and conditions. If you have a favorite ski resort, sign up for updates on deals from that specific resort.
• Ski.com: Ski.com offers deals on ski and stay packages around the country.

Beech Mtn. Resort in NC is a great, close option to learn to ski.

Southeast Ski Deals
Beech Mountain North Carolina:

• Stay and Ski Package: Beech Mtn.  has a $99 per person stay and ski deal that includes lodging and lift ticket for mid-week skiing.
• Skiing 101: Skiing 101 at Beech provides one night’s lodging, equipment rental, helmet rental, full-day lift ticket, and a beginner skiing or snowboarding lesson at Beech Mountain Resort. The month-long program is available Monday through Friday to anyone age eight or older. Cost of enrollment is $101 per person, double occupancy required.

Kids ski free when you stay at least two nights at a Keystone Resort

Colorado Ski Deals

• Colorado Ski: The Colorado Ski website features information on several independent Colorado Ski Resorts. The link here goes directly to deals for each resort including: Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain, Loveland, Powderhorn, Purgatory at Durango Mtn. Resort, Ski Granby Ranch, Steamboat, Winter Park and Wolf Creek. Here’s a link to a press release about resorts offering special learn to ski deals.

• Keystone Resort: Kids Ski Free This is the best deal going for families. Book two plus nights in any Keystone owned/operated unit (from about 900 options) and any kids 12 and under ski free for the duration of the stay! All Season Long. No Blackouts. Great reason to stay at a Keystone resort!

• Copper Mountain: Copper Mountain near Denver offers several packages for new skiers and even an offer for experienced boarders.

• FREE Lift access for beginners at Copper Mountain: The Easy Rider carpet in Center Village at Cooper Mountain is FREE for those just learning how to slide down the mountain. Once guests get the hang of skiing and riding and are ready to test their skills on some more beginner terrain, a lift ticket for Pitchfork beginner chairlift is available for only $15 and is the perfect terrain to hone in on new skills. Both tickets are available at a Copper Mountain ticket window and available all season long. This is a great deal for beginners. My boys never got off the bunny slope the first time we went skiing. At Cooper, you wouldn’t have to worry about an expensive lift ticket until they’re ready for the big mountains.
• Copper Mountain Ski and Ride School offers 50% off a second day lesson when a 2 day adult lesson is purchased. (Ski experts recommend three lessons to really enjoy the sport)
• Learn to Ski and Ride Month for experienced skiers: Cooper offers a program for experienced skiers to learn how to spin in the park or conquer your first box or rail.
• Arapahoe Basin: A-Basin has a couple of great programs for new skiers
  • The Super Sunday Special for first-time skiers and snowboard riders package is offered every Sunday in January 2013 (1/13, 1/20, 1/27). These packages are discounted up to 37 percent and include an all-mountain lift ticket, a half-day, morning lesson, and rental equipment. Adult ski packages are $99; adult snowboard packages are $107; kids’ ski packages are $79; and kids’ snowboard packages are $84. The lesson can be purchased by itself for only $59.
  • One Run Lessons: On January 13, February 10 and March 10, 2013, A-Basin Snowsports holds One Run Lessons free of charge. Guests can sign up at the mountain on any of those three days, and take one run from the Black Mountain Express lift with a snowsports instructor. The purpose of the lesson is to make minor changes to the guest’s form, and to introduce the guest to snowsports instruction.

Where’s your favorite place to ski?