To be fair, Alta isn鈥檛 the most family-oriented of Utah ski resorts. It鈥檚 steep and the base area is 1970s-minimal, with a couple ski shops, three or four lodges with basic double-bed motel rooms, and a few rental properties. You won鈥檛 find a jumbo trampoline, tubing hill, ice rink, indoor swimming pools or kids clubs for apr猫s-ski playtime, and the dining room at the all-inclusive Goldminer鈥檚 Daughter (world鈥檚 friendliest ski hotel, by the way) was filled with dads who鈥檇 left their wives and kids at home to ski with the guys. But鈥攁nd this is a big but鈥攊f you get there early enough, you can practically park right next to the lift. Which, when you鈥檙e schlepping major amounts of gear and kids, is huge. Huge! Who cares about kiddy terrain parks? Please let me drive our crap directly to the lift line!
[photo align="center" size="full"]2218826" class="pom-image-wrap ">Ski-in, ski-out/drive-in, drive out @ the GMD
Another bonus: Kids who learn to ski at Alta are pretty much destined to become rippers. On one ride up Collins, we saw three or four kids launch off a small cliff at full speed on a black-diamond run and stick their landings. I was with Kristin and another former ski racer and they both almost fell off the chair they were craning their necks so hard to watch. 鈥淭hose kids are, like, 6!鈥 the other competitive skier shouted with amazement. Another time we spotted a father in the lift line with his four-year-old on skis and a toddler in a pack on his back. Badass.
Over the course of the weekend, especially over at the more mellow Sugarloaf lift, we saw flocks of little skiers in group lessons or with their parents. All seemed ridiculously capable for their tiny size. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen kids so small ski with poles. Even when we watched in horror as a six year old girl ran over her dad鈥檚 skis and crumpled in heap of hysteria at the base of the lift, there was something so Alta about the way she got up, pouting, and flicked her blonde braids under her helmet before she skied off. Daughter envy!
I鈥檓 not the only one who鈥檚 caught the Utah bug鈥攑ermanently. Two other skiers in our camp loved the area so much they recently chucked their lives, uprooted their families, and relocated to the Wasatch. Granted, one was coming from upstate New York, but the other ditched the Bay Area without a backwards glance. They鈥檇 picked the family-centric dream town of Park City for its great public schools, strong sense of community, and yes, proximity to the slopes and an international airport. Alta may have the rad, retro charm of a ski hill stuck in a 1970s time warp, but Park City is an actual year round town where you can raise kids. Rippers, I mean.听
The night our camp finished, the Sundance Film Festival was wrapping up in Park City, and we had two hours to catch our plane (though we made it to back to Salt Lake in 35 minutes flat). So we didn鈥檛 have time to detour into Park City to check out the scene for ourselves. Even so, from what I鈥檝e seen of its neighbor, Alta, it just knocked Telluride off the top of my fantasy list of adventure dream towns for families. Guess I鈥檒l just have to go back鈥攚ith the kids.听
飞飞飞.补濒迟补.肠辞尘;听飞飞飞.辫补谤办肠颈迟测尘辞耻苍迟补颈苍.肠辞尘
鈥擪atie Arnold 听
听