Taking the Kids: Spring skiing
Nothing would keep the Tointighs off the slopes. Not the difficulty of making reservations when and where they wanted; not the longer lines for rentals and lifts; not the lack of indoor eateries on the mountain. Not wearing masks everywhere.
“It’s about the memories and the experience,” said Keli Tointigh, a mother of five from Chickasa, Oklahoma. “Shame on us if we missed a year.”
“It’s 100 percent worth the hassle,” added her husband, John.
We met them standing in line at Copper Mountain, about 75 miles from Denver, Colorado, to get rental equipment. The resort is especially popular with Coloradans and other families because it is not as glitzy as say Aspen or Vail and has plenty of terrain.
Copper, incidentally, is also home to Woodward Copper, an action sports center that’s an hour from Denver, which offers year-round skiing and snowboarding, plus an indoor training facility with skate parks, Olympic grade trampolines, foam pit jumps and more. New this season, are private family lessons at Woodward Mountain Park (available through April 25 for six hours, starting at $649 and including parking and exclusive access to lift lines.)
For fitness-minded guests who want to be as socially distant as possible, the resort has expanded its Uphill Program (yes, heading uphill on skis) with four uphill routes, as well as Private Uphill Tours.
“It’s where we’ve always come,” said Katie Kelly, who was with her dad, Ron Black, and her preschooler Ben. “It’s comfortable. …This season, you just really have to be prepared,” she said.
That means at Copper, making reservations for parking. At other resorts, that means making reservations for the days you want to ski — just as you would purchase a ticket for a concert or Broadway show.
“Every mountain does things differently,” said my old friend Martha Mintzer, who with her husband, Arthur, has spent the winter sampling different snow resorts in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah, using their season IKON Passes, which offered them the flexibility to try many different resorts at a significantly discounted price, opting for stays at rental condos for a week or more before moving on.
They scrupulously booked reservations in advance, as required, avoided more crowded weekend days, brought lunch or ate outdoors and cooked at night. “It’s been awesome,” Mintzer said. “Everyone has been doing what they are supposed to do — and I feel good supporting the local economy.”
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