Learn to ski in the mountains of the eastern US, and you'll know how to handle ice.
Smuggler's Notch, VT, the embodiment of "Family Ski Resort", with FamilyFest packages, myriad kids programs, slopeside childcare center, teen centers, Night School for boarding and jibbing. Guests can snowshoe, skate, tube-slide, snowmobile, horse-ride, sleigh-ride, swim in a heated pool, do an art workshop; enjoy bonfires, fireworks, family games nights, indoor FunZone, minigolf. Lodgings are condo's or vacation homes. The biggest of three mountains, Madonna, has a vertical drop of 2610' and some darn steep slopes.
Okemo, VT
-is another place that earns the name "family ski resort", with excellent kids' programs, lots of intermediate runs, many different types of lodging; kids six and under ski free.
Killington, VT
A dominant mountain in the northeast, with seven peaks, and plenty for the party crowd; families are welcome too, with programs from daycare (from 12 weeks old) to "Camp Freeride" for real keen teens.
Meanwhile, in Maine, is Sugarloaf: it's a trek (8-9 hours from NYC, four from Boston), but once there, you've got hotel, inn, condos, buses, restaurants, shops, tube park, Outdoor Center, family games nights, and Maine's second-highest peak, with 2820' vert and an area above the treeline (-double-diamond, though!) Look for well-priced packages; kids are free during Children's Festival Week.*
In NH, Bretton Woods is the biggest ski area with 430 acres; it's partners with the historic Mt. Washington Hotel. Family Center takes babes from two months old.
- see an overview of Vermont Ski Resort Kids' Programs
- check out Powder Passport: deal for sixteen of the Northeast's ski resorts.
*always check ski resort sites for updates!
