The Alps or the Rockies for a Family Ski Trip?

The short answer: for most American families, the Rockies are easier and the Alps are more interesting. The Rockies win on travel time, ski schools in English, short lift lines and snow quality. The Alps win on scale, scenery, food on the mountain and the feeling of skiing between real villages. If your children are young or this is their first ski trip, start in the Rockies. If they ski confidently and you want the trip to feel like travel as well as skiing, go to the Alps. For the hotels we use in both, see our Ski & Mountains list.

Travel Time

This is the biggest difference for families. From most US cities you can reach Park City or Deer Valley in a day, often skiing the next morning. Salt Lake City airport is about 45 minutes from the slopes. Aspen, Jackson Hole and Telluride have small mountain airports with seasonal direct flights, though winter weather can cause delays or diversions. Banff is about an hour and a half by road from Calgary.

The Alps take longer. An overnight flight to Zurich or Geneva is followed by a train or transfer of two to four hours, and children arrive tired and six hours out of step. Plan on the first day being a write-off and the second being a little slow. A week in the Alps feels more like five ski days than six. For that reason we suggest at least eight nights for a European ski trip with children, and seven for the Rockies is plenty.

Ski Schools

Both regions have excellent ski schools, but they work a little differently. In the Rockies, the big resorts run children's centers with indoor space, lunch and a full day of lessons, and every instructor speaks English. Groups are usually sorted carefully by age and level.

In the Alps, the ski schools are local, and in big villages like Zermatt, St. Moritz and Courchevel there are many English-speaking instructors, but not every group class is taught in English. In peak weeks the English-speaking groups and the best private instructors fill early, sometimes before the hotels do. If you are going to the Alps over Christmas or February, book lessons when you book the room. We arrange ski school, private instructors and lift tickets with the local operators as part of the trip.

Ski-In, Ski-Out

Ski-in, ski-out matters more with children than for any other group. Carrying three pairs of skis to a bus at 8:30 in the morning is how a family trip goes wrong.

The Rockies have many true ski-in, ski-out hotels. Montage Deer Valley, Stein Eriksen Lodge, The Little Nell, The Madeline and Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole all put you on the snow from the door, with a ski valet who stores and warms your boots.

In the Alps, it depends on the village. Courchevel 1850 is built for it, and Cheval Blanc and Les Airelles both sit on the piste with full ski service in house. In Lech, Hotel Almhof Schneider is next to the lift. In Zermatt and St. Moritz, the grand hotels are in the village, a short walk or electric taxi ride from the lifts, which is easy but not quite the same.

Food on the Mountain

This is where the Alps are hard to beat. Lunch is a sit-down meal in a mountain restaurant, often with a terrace in the sun, and it is part of the day. In the Dolomites you ski from one hut to the next, and above Zermatt there are restaurants serving very good food at the top of a lift. Children who would rather keep skiing usually come round once they see the desserts.

In the Rockies, lunch on the mountain is usually quicker and more practical, in large lodges built for volume. Deer Valley and Aspen are exceptions, with better food at the top, and the dinner scenes in Aspen, Park City and Jackson are strong. But if long lunches are part of what you want from a ski trip, choose the Alps.

What Drives the Cost

Both regions can be expensive, and the same things push the price up in each. The biggest factors are:

• Holiday weeks. Christmas, New Year, Presidents' Day and the February school holidays cost the most in both regions and sell out first.
• Lift tickets. US lift tickets are high at the window, and buying ahead or using a multi-resort pass makes a big difference. In the Alps, lift tickets are generally lower, though the ski area is often much bigger.
• Private instructors. A private instructor for the week is often the largest single cost after the hotel, in both places.
• Flights and transfers. The Alps add long-haul flights and longer transfers. The Rockies add the cost of mountain airports, which can be high in peak weeks.
• Room type. Families often need a suite or connecting rooms, and these are the first to go.

A week in the Alps is not always more expensive than a week in Aspen or Deer Valley. It depends much more on the dates and the room than on the continent.

Altitude

This is easy to overlook. Most Rockies resort bases sit between about 6,000 and 9,500 feet, and some guests, children included, feel the altitude for the first day or two with headaches or poor sleep. Drink plenty of water, take the first day easy and keep the first evening quiet. Most Alpine villages are lower, with Zermatt at about 1,600 meters, or 5,300 feet, and St. Moritz at about 1,800 meters, though the skiing goes much higher. If anyone in the family is sensitive to altitude, the Alps are gentler.

Snow and Terrain

Rockies snow is usually dry and light, and the resorts are big and well groomed, with clear trail maps and wide runs that suit learning. The Alps have more variety, from glaciers to tree runs, and lift systems that link whole valleys, so a strong family can ski to another village for lunch. Snow in the Alps can be less reliable at lower resorts, so for early or late season trips choose a high village like Zermatt or Courchevel.

Who Should Choose Which

• Choose the Rockies if your children are under about eight, if this is their first or second ski trip, if you have a week or less, or if you want everything in English with little to plan.
• Choose the Alps if your children are confident skiers, if you have eight nights or more, if you care about food and scenery as much as the skiing, or if you want the trip to feel like travel.
• Consider both over time. Many families start in Deer Valley or Jackson Hole and move to Zermatt or Courchevel once the children are skiing well.

For more on each region, see the Rockies and the Alps.

If you would like help choosing between them, tell us what you have in mind and we will build a trip around your family and your dates.