Affordable Family Skiing Includes Freebies for Kids

Free kids' lift tickets, lodging, air fare and/or rentals ease the family skiing budget

I'm spending the weekend at Steamboat, the Colorado resort that pioneered Kids Ski Free, which offers free skiing/riding, lodging and even rentals for children 12 and under on a one-to-one basis with a full-fare adult with a stay of five nights or longer. Several years ago, the resort sweetened the offers still more with a discounted teen ticket for youngsters. Childcare and ski school are not included in the Kids Ski Free program. The latest added benefit is that kids also fly free to nearby Yampah Valley Regional Airport on American, Northwest and United. If you happen to be coming to Steamboat on the January 16-18, check out the resort's Family Snow Fest during that weekend. For details, call 877-237-2628 or 970-871-5252.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Aspen/Snowmass has partnered with Frontier with an unprecedented Kids Fly Free/Stay Free offer. Children 12 and under fly, stay and rent free with a minimum three-day, four-night package from "select" cities with Sunday through Thursday arrivals. This package cannot be booked online but only though 800-214-7669, with a December 23, 2008, booking deadline.

Sun Valley has a similar program in which children aged two to 11 fly free to Ketchum/Sun Valley on Horizon Air's nonstops from Los Angeles or Seattle when booked in conjunction with "a qualifying lodging package during selective travel dates." Youngsters 15 and under also ski and stay free in a participating Sun Valley Company property during January 4-31 and March 1-30, 2009. Off-peak fares are available Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Fares higher on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The air tickets can be purchased until the end of the promotional period.

Up in the Canadian Rockies, two children 12 and under ski free with two paying adults with a package that includes seven nights' of economy-style accommodations in Banff or Lake Louise, and lift tickets for the three resorts that participate in the SkiBig3 group: Ski Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise Mountain Resort. The package is available all season long except for the December 20 through January 4 holiday peak. Call 877-754-7080 for reservations.