Taking the Downhill Plunge: Our Family's First Ski Adventure

After talking about it for a few years, we finally did it: We took our large family snow skiing. At one time, my husband and I were very good skiers, but that was 25 years ago. With our four kids now ranging in age from 6 to 12 (and our own bodies adding years all too rapidly), we thought now was a perfect time to give this great winter sport a family try.

Lots of research came first—we wanted to find just the right location for our big ski trip. We knew we wanted a family-oriented place where all the ski runs drop down into one basin and where a roomy ski-in condo doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. After much investigation, we settled on SolVista Basin at Granby Ranch, CO (www.GranbyRanch.com).

We arrived at our condo on a Sunday evening. I must admit, that night I was a little nervous wondering what the next day would hold. Fortunately, the rest of the family didn’t share my anxiety. The next morning we bundled up—wow, how the gear has improved in 25 years—and headed for the slopes. Because our kids hadn’t learned to ski yet, we drove down to the base where ski school was, instead of skiing straight from the condo to the lift. But we had hopes that by midweek, we’d be able to swoosh out in the morning and back in later in the day.

The instant we pulled up, we were immediately greeted by a worker at SolVista who made us feel quite at home. I am sure he sensed my apprehension and put me right at ease. Soon we had all four kids registered for ski school. The ski school even asked me if I wanted lessons. I told them that I’d check back at lunch and, if skiing hadn’t come back like “riding a bike,” I’d be enrolling for the afternoon, too!

SolVista’s ski school is known for their “direct to parallel” way of teaching, and we were eager to see its success. In our research, we learned that most other ski areas teach a wedge approach because of the equipment that the resorts have invested in. SolVista has invested in new Erise skis, allowing new skiers access to the most advanced equipment and this progressive teaching approach. Direct to parallel maintains a natural balance with feet under the body. The wedge posture, which puts a skier out of natural balance, doesn’t naturally occur in any activity that people do.

After dropping off the kids, my husband and I were off to see just how well our mid-40-year-old bodies would remember how to ski. We were so pleased that it really was just like riding a bike! By midday, we were back to skiing on blues and blacks with no problems.

One feature we really appreciated about SolVista is that onlookers can see the ski school participants right at the bottom of the basin. My husband and I would snatch glimpses of the kids throughout the day, and all four seemed to be finding success. The ski school class size was small, and we were impressed with how the instructors took a personal interest in our kids. Plus, we enjoyed an incredibly fun day just skiing with each other. At 3:00, we picked up the kids, who were all chattering about how much fun they had and how great the lunch was at ski school.

Before the lifts closed at 4:00, we skied briefly with our children. I was amazed how even my 6-year-old could get on and off the lift by herself after just one day in ski school. After skiing, we hit the hot tub, had dinner and, happy but exhausted, climbed into bed by 8:00.

Because SolVista’s ski school is so affordable ($99 includes the lift ticket, ski rentals, lunch and excellent instruction), we decided it would be good for all the children to do ski school one more day. This turned out to be a great decision, because by Tuesday afternoon, all four were skiing quite well.

They could easily go on all the green slopes and some blues and were able to ski right to our condo!

On Wednesday, we decided to mix up the fun a bit and go tubing at Colorado Adventure Park in Fraser (www.ColoradoAdventurePark.com). That was a total blast, but our kids were eager to hit the ski slopes again on Thursday. Now that they were done with ski school, we enjoyed a full day of family skiing at SolVista. With helpful employees, reasonably-priced food and lift tickets (only $56 for adults) and a kid-friendly atmosphere, SolVista exceeded our expectations in every area. Although our schedule didn’t permit, SolVista also has numerous kid-friendly events like Sunday night movies, Saturday night tubing and night skiing and 1-day family fun events!

On our last day, we decided to walk down memory lane and head over to Winter Park (www.WinterParkResort.com) for a day of skiing where I had skied several times in high school. It was pretty much just as I remembered it: big, beautiful and boasting numerous beginner/intermediate slopes for our family to ski together. The day was a bit blustery with 13 inches of fresh snow falling the night before, but the fresh powder was breathtaking. We also visited Winter Park Village and enjoyed all of the kid- and budget-friendly activities like free s’mores, playing in the ice sculpture and free ice skating lessons (as long as we rented our own skates).

We made so many amazing memories on our trip—and didn’t break any limbs! Quite honestly, I was shocked at how quickly the kids picked up skiing and how easily my husband and I got back into the groove of this fun winter sport.

Now we have an itch to go back to Colorado in the warmer months to enjoy God’s beautiful mountains bursting with summertime splendor. We grabbed some information about all that SolVista offers in the summer, including their bike park, golf, fishing and more. Also, I really want to find time to head over to Colorado Springs, too, where we want to take the kids to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (www.CMZoo.org), America’s only mountain zoo, and check out the new adventure ropes course at Wind Walker Challenge (www.CaveOfTheWinds.com). There’s nothing better than exploring the great outdoors as a family.

Susan Gimotty lives in Overland Park with her family and enjoys being out and about with her husband and their four children.