Taking the Kids: Ten-plus ideas for summer adventures in ski country

4. Get bragging rights after mastering Winter Park’s Alpine Slide (Winter Park), Colorado's longest at 3,000 feet with a 610 foot vertical drop.

5. Unwind at the new spa at Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, which was founded in 1936 as the country's first destination ski resort. How about a Sun Stone massage?

6. Take your pick of outdoor concerts at Deer Valley's Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater in Park City, Utah or Snowmass, Colo., where families always turn out in force for the free concerts.

7. Let your skateboarders lose it at the Town Square Skate Park in Waterville Valley, N.H., across the street from Town Square with features like mini ramps, horseshoe bowl, and all types of quarter pipes. Water Valley, incidentally, offers overnight skateboard camps.

8. Hold on for what might be the ride of your life down the Olympic Bobsled Course at Whiteface in Lake Placid, N.Y., where you can also watch freestyle aerialists and ski jumpers soar.

9. Take hot springs to the next level ... in addition to Steamboat's famous Strawberry Park Hot Springs, the family-friendly Old Town Hot Springs allow kids to propel themselves down two 200-foot waterslides into the hot mineral spring feed pools. And make sure to try out the free Saturday night Coca Cola Movie Series in Gondola Square at Steamboat's base area.

10. For those who can't get enough snow, this summer, there's snow-tubing at the top of Vail Mountain at Adventure Ridge.

At Smugglers' Notch, Sokoloff said he had helped develop 50 miles of mountain-biking trails around Stowe in recent years -- making it a popular destination for experienced mountain bikers. But there wasn't much available for beginners. That's why he was glad for the opportunity to develop the program and more trails here near Stowe.

Smugglers' Notch is family central in summer, with roomy condo accommodations, day care for infants, organized children's programming, a skate park, four pools and water playground areas, teen center and eco adventures at ArborTrek Smugglers Notch with zipline, a treetop obstacle course and tree climbing adventure.

But first, Mountain Biking 101: You have to be in the moment, focused on what you are doing, says Sokoloff. "You have no room for self-consciousness."

That's because mountain-biking is counterintuitive to what you normally would do on a bike. For example, your natural tendency would be to stand up if you thought you were in trouble, but on a mountain bike, you need to lower your center of gravity. Sit down! A lot more work than you'd think, a tired Enesi said after his lesson.

But fun to learn something new with your kids!

========

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and follow@TakingtheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you are visiting a major American City this summer, try Eileen's Kid's City Guides designed to help kids lead the way on vacation.)