The short list
- Group lessons usually start at 4; private often at 3. Read the mountain's number, not a forum.
- Full-day with lunch is worth it if the school is good. Half-day if your child still naps.
- Magic carpets matter. A 'beginner' chair that scares them on day one can sour the week.
- Dress them. Then dress them again. Wet mittens are the trip.
- Brighton, Okemo, Smugglers', Keystone, Deer Valley, Solitude Moonbeam — these are the teaching hills.
- Skip Alta, and be careful with Snowbird and the bowls at Vail.
How ski school actually works
You check in, you label everything, you walk away, you feel terrible, you go ski, you come back at 3:00 to a child who either had the best day of their life or wants to go home forever. Both are normal. Ask about max class size (6 is good, 8 is crowded, 10 is a parking lot). Ask whether lunch is included. Arrive 15 minutes early on pickup — especially Park City on a holiday week.
The mountain list
If ski school is the trip: Deer Valley, Smugglers', Steamboat, Okemo. If value is the trip: Brighton, Winter Park Discovery, Keystone. If you already live in the Wasatch: Solitude Moonbeam, then Brighton nights.
