I am here to recap our family vacation to Snowmass, CO. We went over spring break this year and had a wonderful trip with my family plus my Mom and my brothers family. We all stayed in the same condo building in the base village of Snowmass and loved our accommodations so much as well as the entire mountain. It truly is one of the most family friendly mountains you can ski .
I am going to share all the details of our trip below and all the information that I gathered about Snowmass resort. One of the biggest things that I will say about Snowmass is how many places there are available to rent that are Ski-in, Ski-Out. This is part of the reason that Snowmass mountain is so popular amongst families. They make it easy to get on and off the mountain which is crucial when you are talking about lugging a bunch of ski equipment with small kids :). There are a lot of condos and houses that you can look into renting right on the mountain, but the resort also offers several hotels that are conveniently located if that is a better option for your family. I’ll share a little more about those below.
Here’s a look at our Snowmass Travel Guide:
Flying to Snowmass, Colorado
Snowmass is less than 15 minutes from the Aspen airport. That is definitely the most convenient airport to the mountain, but the Aspen airport can sometimes be tricky. We flew into Aspen this trip. The Eagle (EGE) airport close to Vail, CO is another option to fly into and is approximately 1.5 hours from Snowmass. EGE airport may give you more flight options and can be a little easier getting into and out of if conditions are bad during the winter. It just depends and may be worth looking at both options.
Getting to Snowmass Resort from the Airport
Our hotel accommodations this trip offered a complimentary shuttle ride from the airport to our condo which was really nice. I did gather a few numbers of transportation services while we were out there this trip that I will share below. We did not need a car at all once we were at our condo and I was happy not to have one. John at Brio Limo was very helpful and you can contact them at 970-366-6393 and also Elevation Limo at 970-319-0551.
There is also a public transportation bus system that we did not use this trip, but have used on previous trips that will take you between all 4 mountains in the area (Aspen, Snowmass, Buttermilk and Highlands). Its free and is perfect if you are wanting to ski other mountains while you are on your trip.
Snowmass Resort Accommodations
We stayed at the Hayden Lodge at the base of Snowmass Village. This location was incredible. We were located right above “treehouse” which is the kids ski school. Our kids still attend ski school anywhere from 2-4 days when we are on these trips; so having the ski school that convenient was amazing! We also were directly next to the 6 man high-speed lift that takes you up the mountain and steps away from the Elk Camp gondola. This made the start and end of our ski days so much easier!
The condo was also directly in the village where all the ski shops and restaurants are located, so everything was walking distance. This is by far the best location of a hotel/condo that I have ever stayed in on a ski mountain 🙂 I am not sure how many units are in this condo building, but it was fairly small and made it really convenient for the kids to run from our unit to my brothers unit and play with their cousins and have meals together. There was also a nice hot tub to enjoy for apres ski!
Other options in the village if you are looking for hotels were the Limelight hotel and the Viceroy. Both looked like great locations and super fun hotels but I will say the Viceroy looked like a really fun scene!! We didn’t go there, but you could see the hotel when riding one of the ski lifts and their outdoor pool and hot tub area looks like it goes off in the afternoons. It looked like a fun place to be. If you were staying for an adults only vacation, that definitely looked like a fun place to stay.
There are also tons of other condo and house rentals you can look into on VRBO or whatever your favorite site is to research. Snowmass has lots of great ski-in and ski-out options to research on the mountain.
Getting Around Snowmass
As I said above, we did not need a car while we were there. We were located right at the base of the mountain and could walk to restaurants, ski school and to lifts and gondolas. We used a grocery delivery service our first day to get groceries and we rented a car service to take us to Aspen the one day we decided to venture out. Otherwise, our time was spent on the mountain skiing and we really never needed transportation.
Skiing at Snowmass Resort
The skiing at Snowmass Mountain was awesome and I highly recommend this mountain for beginner skiers. They have a lot of areas for beginners to learn and quite a bit of green runs. I thought the ski school was run really well and it seemed like they had plenty of staff to accommodate the crowds.
The big kids were in ski school for the first two days and then skied with us the rest of the trip and Molly (age 5) was in ski school every day with the exception of one day that we all took off skiing in the middle of our week. I signed the big kids up for one day of private lesson and one day of ski school. Even in the ski school, the max number of kids is 5 which is nice and small and I loved that. Each year that we ski, ski school will look a little different depending on all the kids level of ski.
For adults that have some experience, there are tons of options too. It is a big mountain with loads of blue runs (and blacks too) and lots of choices. If you are new to a mountain and want help learning your way around on your first day, a private lesson may be worth looking into. It is always nice to have a guide just direct you around the mountain a bit until you learn your way around on your own.
Things to Do in Snowmass Outside of Skiing
Mountain Alpine Roller Coaster – This was pretty awesome!! We have done one just like this in Vail and loved it. They actually go REALLY fast…like faster than I want to go. The first half of the ride is a bit slow because you have to ride up the mountain, but you just need to take in the pretty scenery. The second half, you control your own speed and you FLY!
Mountain Snow Tubing – We didn’t do the snow tubing this trip. I had heard it wasn’t that great on this mountain, but if you have never done it before; it may be worth it!! We did snow tubing a couple of years ago in Steamboat and I thought that one was a really good one and the kids loved it.
Ice Skating – This was a complimentary option at the base of the Snowmass village which was really nice. They have a little airstream set up for you to borrow the ice skates and they have lots of little kid things to push for those that need a hand on the ice skating rink.
The Collective Game Room – This is in the basement of the Mawita Mexican restaurant and was really cool for kids (and adults). They have tons of games, ping pong, hand shuffle board, ball pits and fun stuff for the kids to be entertained. It cost $10 a person (5 & under are free) and we had a ton of fun in there after dinner for entertainment! They are open from 2pm-8pm daily.
Day trip to Aspen – We did this on our “day off” of skiing and I always love wondering around Aspen, so I think it was worth it. Aspen is about a 25 min drive from Snowmass (and they actually have free public transportation you can use to go back and forth) and is a beautiful city for art, shopping and fun restaurants. We brought the kids and they did great for a couple of hours.
Visit Highlands Mountain & Cloud 9 – Highlands is another mountain in the area that you could go check out and explore. You can ski here too if you want. But it also has this incredible alpine restaurant on it called Cloud 9 that is the BEST apes ski around. It is adults only and you need to be able to ski pretty well to get down the mountain after apres ski :). But if you are on a fun adults trip, this is worth doing!
Bowling at Snowmass Lanes – This little bowling alley isn’t very big (maybe 4 lanes I think) but it was a great evening activity of the kids and they had delicious wood burning pizzas. We had an easy dinner here after skiing one evening. They open at 4:30pm.
Western Adventures Inc. – This is the spot for snowmobiling if you want to do that one day. We didn’t do it this trip, but have had lots of fun snowmobiling in other places. If you happen to be going in the Summer, this company has other fun Summer adventure options too.
S’mores – They had a cute fire pit and S’mores stand at the base village in Snowmass that offered S’mores daily from 3-4pm. We never timed this right, but would be a cute thing with the kids to enjoy. The fire pit stays open too, so you could also bring your own smores stuff to enjoy later in the evening.
Sledding – We were planning to find a place to buy a cheap sled for the kids, but we never did. Every night, we could look out our windows and see kids sledding down the mountain at the end of the day after the slopes had closed. It looked like so much fun and since it stays daylight until after 7pm, they were up there for hours sledding!
Restaurant and Dining Options in Snowmass
Slice of Italy – This is a fun Italian spot that I think is also family friendly, but we ended up ordering our food to-go instead of eating in. They have beautiful Italian dishes plus pizza. I highly recommend the grilled octopus salad and the veal parmesan (its huge, split it).
Mawita – We never actually ate any food here but just stopped in for Margaritas, but this is the Mexican restaurant right next to the ice skating rink that is super family friendly and has the Collective Kids game room downstairs. I would recommend still getting a reservation for this restaurant because it got crowded.
Aurum – This spot is located at the base of the village and was right next to our condo. We had an adult dinner here one night and really enjoyed the food and the ambiance. They are also open for lunch during the day, but we never ate here.
Snowmass Bowling Lanes & Lounge – This spot was perfect for kids! Make sure you grab a reservation because there are not many lanes, but it was a great hour of entertainment and the wood-fired pizzas were really good.
Kimchi (sushi, but sadly didn’t make it here) – We didn’t get to eat here, but this seemed liked the nicest restaurant to eat at and you definitely need a reservation. We even tried to just grab a drink here one night and it was packed and we couldn’t get in.
Base Camp – This is a casual, indoor/outdoor spot to eat lunch. I had lunch here twice and loved both meals. I recommend the tuna poke bowl and the chicken street tacos!
Elks Camp (lunch at top of the Gondola) – This is the spot we ate on the top of the mountain. It is at the top of the gondola, so its probably the most crowded spot you can stop for lunch; so keep that in mind.
There are other dining options too of course. These were the main ones we came across on our trip.
One last thing that I have to share from our trip. My oldest son who is 10 had a little accident while at ski school. It was kind of a freak deal; but best we know, is that his ski somehow popped off and managed to slice his little cheek open. Apparently there was a lot of blood and when the instructor looked at it, decided he needed to call the medics and have them look at it for stitches. So Brody got a Toboggan sled ride down the mountain to the mountainside clinic and we got a phone call telling us what happened and how to meet him at the clinic. It was definitely sad and scary, but I was very pleased with how everything was handled. We met him down there and he did need stitches. The doctor was super kind and all the nurses and we have been very happy with the results so far. His ski school instructor even came by after school had ended and checked on him and came to talk to us. They were all really helpful and kind. I was thankful the clinic was very close by in the Snowmass village and that it was such an experienced staff. I hope none of you ever have to visit it, but I just thought I would give them praise 🙂
Final Thoughts
So that is a wrap on our week in Snowmass. I would go back in a heart beat with the family. I loved the mountain, our accommodations and the ease of ski school and ski lessons. As the kids get older and become even better skiers, I love the idea of being able to take the bus over to other mountains in the area to try new places also. We really enjoyed our time here and I highly recommend this mountain for families with young skiers. You can read below some of the other mountains we have skied and enjoyed. I would compare this one the most with Vail. That is also one of our other favorite family friendly mountains.
:: SNOWMASS RECAP ::
Where We Stayed
Hayden Lodge
Where We Ate
Slice of Italy
Mawita
Aurum
Snowmass Bowling Lanes & Lounge
Kimchi (sushi, but sadly didn’t make it here)
Base Camp
Elks Camp (lunch at top of the Gondola)
What We Did
Ski School
Day in Aspen
Mountain Roller Coaster
Snowmass Ice Skating
Bowling
The Collective Game Room
Previous Ski Trips
March 2022 | December 2022 | March 2018 | March 2017 | August 2016 | July 2015 | August 2014 | December 2014
:: Ski Mountain Travel Guides ::
Vail
Aspen
Steamboat
Deer Valley
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