Dreaming of a Rocky Mountain family ski trip? Crested Butte Mountain Resort, in central Colorado, is ready to
fly in members of your family—even your in-laws—to get you on the slopes. Crested
Butte offers a lot of family-friendly snow options beyond its ski trails: a
tubing hill, ice skating and an Adventure Park (with diversions such as a
climbing wall and bungee trampoline). Kids can take advantage of kid-only ski
trails, ski school, and kids' club (which includes evening activities too). The
resort even offers ski lessons for family members with physical or cognitive
disabilities.
To bring you to the snow, Crested Butte Mountain Resort is offering some new "fly free" deals that caught our attention:
- Friends and Family Fly Free: This is a buy two, get one free deal, which you can replicate up to three times, for a total of three free roundtrip airline tickets for every six purchased tickets. This is a terrific option if you’re planning a ski-trip family reunion. The rules: you have to fly into Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) on United, Delta or American, between December 17 and April 4, 2010, and you need to stay at one of CBMR’s lodging properties for at least four nights. All the members of your party don’t have to fly in from the same airport, but you must have the same days on your itinerary. The maximum travel credit is $450 per free airline ticket—which shouldn't be a problem if you’re coming from a major hub; when we checked a few dates using O’Hare, LAX and Newark, we consistently found fares in the $350-$375 range. There are also blackout dates: December 26-29 for inbound travel; December 30- January 3 for outbound travel; and March 12-16, 2010, for any travel.
- Kids Are Free in CB: You get a free airline ticket for one child on American Airlines for each accompanying adult, for travel between January 3 and February 12, 2010. You also get a free kid's lift ticket for every adult lift ticket purchased (lift tickets normally cost $44/day for kids ages 7 to 12 and $87/day for adults). With this deal, you have to book a minimum of three nights at a CBMR property, with a key airline booking restriction: You must arrive on a Sunday through Wednesday, and depart on a Tuesday through Friday—which probably means pulling the kids out of school for a couple of days.
Which is the better deal? If you are willing to let your kids miss a few days of school, the Kids Fly Free gets you more value, since it’s a buy-one get-one and includes free lift tickets. Plus, there is a shorter required minimum stay. If your kids' winter break falls in February instead of March, or if you can't travel during the Kids Fly Free six-week travel window, the Friends & Family Fly Free deal is also a great option.
As for lodging: Crested Butte has lots of family-friendly of condo options. One-bedroom condos start as low as $199 a night, but most one- or two-bedroom condos are in the $200-$300-a-night range. The three-bedroom options tend to run about $400-$450 a night, bringing the per-bedroom rate down to $130-$150 a night—a nice deal for an extended family who’d like to share a communal kitchen and living room. One great option: Crested Montain North Condominiums, which is walking distance to lifts, restaurants and shopping, and whose units feature equipped kitchens, fireplaces, and washer-dryers. For the dates we checked in early February, a two-bedroom unit costs $279 a night, while a three-bedroom costs $417.
To book either deal, call 800/600-2803.
More Skiing with Kids:
10 Ways to Save on a Family Ski Vacation
10 Ways to Spot a Kid-friendly Ski Resort
