The top expert ski mountains in the U.S. were once places that families, for the most part, steered clear of. They attracted skiers and snowboarders who arose at dawn on a powder day, boarded the first lift for the summit, and never looked back until the sun was setting. Day care and children's programs were an afterthought.
Now these same double-black steep and deep resorts-places like Mammoth, Jackson Hole, Alta, Crested Butte and Smugglers' Notch-are as fun for kids as their thrill-seeking parents (with plenty for non-skiing parents, as well). The terrain is still there, but adventure programs for kids, state-of-the-art day care facilities and teen activities are as much an emphasis as chutes full of untracked powder, tight tree skiing and awesome steeps.
Mammoth Mountain, California
This is one of only two major California ski resorts to offer childcare for infants. The state-licensed Small World Child Care Center is inside the Mammoth Mountain Inn-perfect for inn guests. Kids age 4-12 can take lessons at one of Mammoth's two learning centers: Woollywood Kids in the Panorama Gondola building at Mammoth's original base area, and Canyon Kids in the Canyon Lodge closer to town.
From Woollywood, parents can hop on the gondola and in 12 minutes be standing at the top of an extinct volcano overlooking a cornice into Climax, just part of Mammoth's 3,500 acres of alpine terrain covered by the prodigious amounts of snow falling in the Sierras this winter. Experts can exhaust themselves in the chutes, such as Hangman's Hallow, and in seemingly endless snow-covered bowls.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
This resort, in Wyoming's Grand Tetons, rated by many #1 in the U.S. for steeps, has a new child care center at the base called Kids Ranch. Except it's more like Kids Mansion, with spacious playrooms and luxury touches like granite-top counters in the kitchen. Daycare is offered for kids age 6 months to 2 years.
Older kids can take ski lessons, and Team Extreme gives 12-17 year-olds a chance to rip Jackson's legendary terrain and learn backcountry safety and tactics (offered only certain weeks). This winter, kids under age 12 fly to Jackson Hole free with a fare-paying adult on United and American airlines. They also stay and ski free too. You just have to feed 'em.
Jackson Hole, remains the spectacular resort that it always was. With jump-into chutes like Corbett's Couloir and 3,000+ acres of lift-served backcountry skiing, Jackson is-and always will be-a favorite for those who think groomed trails are only good for warm-up runs.
Alta, UtahIn Utah's Wasatch Range, powder-seeking parents can still go deep at Alta while the kids have fun in the 500 inches of snow that falls here annually. The Alf Engen Ski School-named after a Norwegian ski jumper-offers all-day lessons to kids age 4-teens. One-stop shopping at the Ski Adventure Center in the Albion Lodge means parents can register their kids, rent equipment, and buy their own lift tickets. Youngsters age 3 months to 12 years can also spend the day at Alta's Redwood Preschool in the Albion Lodge. The Alta Lodge-the area's first ski lodge dating from 1939-has supervised children's programs during the evening, including a kids'-only dinner and movie. During Holiday weeks, the Rustler Lodge also has kids dinners and evening activities, like movies and magicians.
Experts know that powder is what Alta is all about. It gets a lot. And with its terrain of trees and sheltered gullies, it tends to keep it longer. Real experts can always find secret snow pockets and breathtaking steeps in side canyons and upper elevations.
Crested Butte
This Victorian resort in Colorado's Elk Mountains recently changed hands, and the new owners, Tim and Diane Mueller, are all about family skiing. Not only have they given the resort a face-lift, but they have brought their reputation for excellent family skiing-a reputation honed at Okemo in Vermont-to this remote resort known more for its North Face cliffs than children's programs. At newly renovated Kids World, parents can enroll youngsters age 6 months to 7 years in daycare, or choose from a host of ski school programs for ages 3-16, including Rip Sessions for adventurous skiers and riders age 8-16. Crested Butte and United Airlines are offering a limited Kids-Fly-Free program this winter. They also ski and stay for free too.
Extreme terrain is Crested Butte's signature, and for good reason. With an expanse of more than 500 acres of double-black terrain, it's a lift-served backcountry experience. In fact, locals who have skied and snowboarded here for years claim to not have had enough time to fully explore the possible lines.
Smugglers' Notch, Vermont
This is the granddaddy of all family resorts. Kids have been the focus here for 30 years. From $1-million Treasures, a new 5,400-square-foot toddlers' paradise, to the FunZone, an indoor gym full of inflatables like an obstacle course and bouncy house, to Teen Alley, a supervised area for teens to surf the 'Net and socialize, kids will wish they lived here. Parents too.
On the mountain-or rather, on three mountains with 2,610 feet of vertical-the kids have their own place to ski. Hotshot adults head over to Madonna Mountain where Smuggs boasts one of the toughest rated trail in the east-The Black Hole-and 40 new acres of expert glades.
, a Westerner at heart, is now a resident Vermonter. She has skied at most major U.S. resorts, where she seeks out terrain that makes most skiers grow weak in the knees. A new mother, she gives us the real scoop on child-care and nursery facilities. Much to her mother's dismay, motherhood has not slowed Peggy down.