My husband and I chose Steamboat Springs, CO for our four-year-old son to learn to ski because of the resort's premier ski school for kids. We enrolled our son in the Sundance Kids program at Kids' Vacation Center and were very pleased with the results. The staff is friendly and helpful. At the end of each day's instruction when you pick up your child(ren), the instructor for your child(ren) briefly discusses how they did and how their day went. We found this feeback helpful and encouraging. We assumed our son who has never skied would know how to use the lifts and be able to ski with us after three days of lessons. That was not the case so we opted to enroll him for a fourth day. That fourth day was the key for him. By Friday (our fifth day skiing), he was fearless and proficient in his skiing with us on several green runs. (Tip: If you haven't skied with little kids before, as we had not, purchase a "Lucky Bums" harness for them. This harness helps an adult pick up their child so they can sit on the ski lifts, whose seats are too high for kids to sit down. We will have this device with us for next year's trip.) I also recommend you book your child(ren)'s sessions online in advance to save money on those sessions. We are so glad we enrolled our son at Kids' Vacation Center for skiing - he is anxiously awaiting our return trip to ski at Steamboat Springs next year!
Our children loved ski school here (5 full days each ages 3 and 5) - teachers were fun, enthusiastic, supportive, caring and great at teaching little kids - even whiney, tired, cold little kids. Our kids particularly liked the daily trip up the gondola - they give them plenty of rest break according to age and ability. Our 5 year old went from total beginner to intermediate in 5 days so the instruction is clearly excellent! It's expensive, but it includes their lift ticket - so you can take them skiing afterwards if they still have the energy. You have nothing to worry about leaving your children in the quite capable hands of this program.
We used KVC last year when our daughter was barely skiing. This year at 3.5 we put her in the Mavericks class. My husband wanted to put her in the 4yo class, but I fought it because she'd never skiied a long day before. She did so well in the morning that they bumped her up anyway. She had a blast and was an even better skier than we dropped her off. They were extremely organized and checked the skis (if you had your own) as you came in and had people helping you label everything. There was a playroom/lunchroom and our daughter loved every minute of her day here. I highly recommend it.
My child hadn't skied in a few years, and hadn't done much before that, so she was intimidated about ski school (and skiing in general). She started in group 1, since she couldn't remember anything much, but she quickly advanced, and went from timid and a bit frightened to tackling easy blue runs in a week's time. The teachers make it fun. Rob was her favorite instructor. She wasn't wild about the food, though. ;-)
The staff was great with my 4 year old. I felt completely comfortable leaving him in their hands. He had fun and even got a nap in! And I got to ski ALL day!
They had a New Year's Eve program for kids which allowed parents to enjoy a night out while they kept the kids safe and entertained. First they took the kids outside to watch the New Year's Eve torch parade and fireworks. Then they took the gondola up and the kids had a sleigh ride. My kids had a good time and the staff was super friendly. My husband and I had a fun time out while knowing that the kids were safe and having fun.
My six year old had "the best day" at adventure vacation camp this week. While he only went one day he begged to go again! It was great for him to go do age appropriate activities with kids his own age while I had some adult time. I had no trouble booking him in this camp and found it extremely organized. When we visit Steamboat Springs again we will come here! Thank you AVC.
The KVC is excellent .. they really look after the kids well, they have fun and dont feel neglected.
I ski almost every day which puts me on the Gondola with young kids heading to the top with their parents or their instructors. I hear these young kids begging their parents to let them go to ski school because it is so much fun - much more fun than skiing with mom and dad. Or the kids joking with their instructor. Great to hear. No wonder we are ranked # 1 for Kids Ski Schools.
My 5 year old son had never been on skis. We have hardly had snow in the last couple of years. We put him in a 6 hr class and were very content with the supervision and care. They have a great system set up for getting the kids outside but providing breaks, lunch and a gondola trip. My wife and I were able to have fun and check on him when we wanted to watch his fun as well. I would recommend this for at least an afternoon or consecutive days if you really want your child to learn. The number of instructors was great too.