You work hard for your money, and you want to play just as hard. But “How?” and “Where?” are the key questions. Here are a dozen interesting vacations.
Yes, you can simply cruise the slopes while on any one of them–but there’s so much more to do. Join a three-ring snow circus, Whistler Resort’s World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Canada. How about a dinner cruise on a paddle-wheeler after a day on the slopes? Join the Prime Time crowd getting prime prices at Sun Valley, Idaho. This winter, there are lots of packages that include skiing and a whole lot more. Unless indicated, prices are per person, double occupancy.
1. This up-market Executive Escape package at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen combines private ski instruction, massages and stress management counseling sessions. The package includes a deluxe king room, breakfast daily in-room or in the restaurant, a daily ski pass good at any of Aspen’s four mountains, daily private instruction by a Ski School of Aspen instructor, daily in-room massage, two 45-minute management counseling sessions conducted by the Aspen Wellness Group and a personal training session the the hotel’s fitness room.
The Executive Escape package begins at $1,420 per person for a three night minimum package. Package valid Nov. 22-April 18 with certain holiday blackout periods. Call 800-331-7213.
2. Attending Whistler Resort’s World Ski & Snowboard Festival is like putting yourself in the main ring at a snow circus. There’s non-stop action for doers and watchers, April 10-19, in Canada’s British Columbia. On Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, events include the SuperSkier World Championships, the Couloir Extreme Race, North American BorderCross Championships and Super Demo Days.
Off the mountain, sunny restaurant patios are full, live bands play and entertainment surrounds you. Festival packages will be announced by early winter. Call 800-WHISTLER for specifics, but the price will be similar to late season value packages, which went from $441 for seven nights’ lodging and six days’ lifts.
3. The number of resorts participating in the National Women’s Ski & Snowboard Festival, Feb. 5-8, keeps growing because so many are courting female skiers these days. Next winter, look for the event at Stowe Resort, Vt.; Waterville Valley, N.H.; Winter Park, Colo.; Crested Butte Resort, Colo.; Angel Fire, N.M.; Wintergreen Ski Resort, Va.; Mammoth Mountain, Calif.; Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.; Crystal Mountain, Mich., and other resorts.
Each resort sets up its own schedule, but the festival is a grab bag of on-snow instructional clinics, demos of women-specific ski and snowboard products and seminars on subjects as diverse as boot fitting and overcoming fear.
Every resort has packages. Moguls Ski & Snowboard Tours offers packages that include seven nights’ lodging, five days’ lifts, air fare and transfers from Chicago starting around $1,029 for resorts in Colorado and around $1,059 to Mammoth and Northstar-at-Tahoe, both in California. (Restrictions apply.) Call 800-929-7300 or contact the Web site at www.skimoguls.com.
4. If you like ski days and city nights, head for the Westin Tabor Center in downtown Denver where you can combine a theater package with a Ski Train package. (This is a good one to tag on to a business trip.) The $83 Ski Train package includes a seat on the popular Ski Train, whichleaves Denver early in the morning for Winter Park Resort (heading through a scenic part of the Rockies) and returns at the end of the ski day. It also includes a lift ticket and cab passes to reach Union Station, four minutes from the hotel.
The trains run Saturdays and Sundays during the ski season. Combine the ski day with a theater package that includes a deluxe guestroom for a night and two orchestra seats for a Saturday night “Best of Broadway” production at the Denver Performing Arts complex. Theater packages start at $265 per couple.
Performances this winter include “The King and I,” “Bring in ‘Da, Noise, Bring in `Da Funk” and “Dream Girls.” For details call the Westin at 303-572-9100.
5. At Crested Butte’s No Limits Center you can push yours. This southwestern Colorado resort is the place to try activities that you might not do elsewhere, or otherwise–whether it’s ice climbing, extreme skiing, paragliding or a smorgasbord of other activities and sports. Package prices depend upon the activities. A No Limits Winter Package that includes four nights at the Sheraton Crested Butte Resort, two days’ skiing, a horseback ride and a dinner snowmobile ride starts at $417. Call the Crested Butte Mountain Resort agents at 800-544-8448.
6. During the early and late ski season, take one of Keystone Resort’s Cooking School sessions and spend the free afternoon time on the Colorado slopes. The packages include morning culinary sessions by the resort’s chefs, many meals, a room in the historic Ski Tip Lodge, taxes and gratuities. The early evening classes are followed by dinner with the chefs. Cost is $575 per person, or $950 per couple, for the Nov. 13-16 session. For more details and the dates of the spring sessions, call 800-354-4FUN.
If you are in Keystone during the winter, call ahead to book space in the popular Thursday night Cooking School sessions. Fifty dollars buys a hands-on lesson followed by a meal with matching wines.
7. Rustic Irwin Lodge is set high on the mountainside above Crested Butte, Colo., and you travel the last few miles via snowmobile or Snowcat. But, once there, you have your choice of snowmobiling, Snowcat skiing or snowboarding off high-mountain ridges and cross-country skiing, plus a hot tub, wine and good food waiting at the end of the day.
A lot of skiers choose to spend part of a week at the lodge and the rest at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Moguls Ski and Snowboard Tours offers a $1,619 package that includes round trip air fare from Chicago (midweek), four nights at the Irwin Lodge (plus three meals a day) and four days of Snowcat skiing, plus three nights at the slopeside Grand Butte Hotel and a two-lift ticket. Call Moguls at 800-929-7300 for details. Call the Irwin Lodge directly at 888-GO-IRWIN for a variety of powder dream packages.
8. Off the Beaten Path, a custom trip planner, is running a women’s-only cross-country ski trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The adventure, designed for women with some cross-country or moderate alpine ski experience, is led by female guides experienced in leading interpretive tours in that region. The trip, Feb. 21-28, is $1,995, and the maximum group size is 10. For details call 800-445-2995.
9. One on One is the only way to go, especially if your instructor is a former Olympian or a top coach. At the Billy Kidd Performance Center, at Steamboat Resort, Colo., these all-day lessons cost $400 for one, plus $125 for each additional person. You can be a first-time skier or boarder, or a seasoned expert. Steamboat has a variety of lodging packages, including the White Sale Snowsavers, Jan. 5-Feb. 13, which start as low as $419 for six nights’ lodging and five days’ lifts. For details about One on One, call 970-879-6111, ext. 543; for lodging information call 800-922-2722.
10. The Tahoe Flex-Pak lets you explore more of Heavenly, a ski area that straddles the California/Nevada state line. The package includes five nights’ lodging, breakfast, three days’ skiing and a choice of tour options such as snowmobiling, dinner and show at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, a dinner cruise on the M.S. Dixie No. 2, a cross-country tour through the high Sierra or an Eco Adventures history tour of Lake Tahoe. The package starts at $299. For reservations call 800-2-HEAVEN.
11. Two Plus Two Plus Two is designed for skiers who want to follow the snow. Run by Ski Plus Tours, this trip includes two days at a ski area, two days’ Snowcat skiing and two days’ heli-skiing in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Where you go depends on where your personal tour director finds the best snow. The $2,975 package includes seven nights’ lodging, escorted transportation, most meals and the guided ski days. Trips for intermediate and expert skiers run from late November through early April. For details call 800-997-0754.
12. Getting older does have its benefits, especially at Sun Valley, Idaho. If you’re 60 or older, book a Prime Time Special week, Jan. 17-24 or Jan. 24-31. The package includes seven nights’ lodging, a 5-out-of-6-day lift ticket or Nordic Trail package, a welcome party and more. Prices start at $480. The Big Band Buffet dinner dances are an additional $22 per person. Call 800-786-8259.
IT PAYS TO KNOW THE DETAILS
Before booking a vacation, ask for all “terms and conditions” and for refund and cancellation policies. Packages are usually based on space availability and the number of rooms at that rate are usually limited. Call ahead to confirm these packages. No guarantee is made to the accuracy or permanency of these prices and dates.
