The short list
- Check the resort's unsupervised minor policy before you assume they can roam.
- Terrain parks and a village matter more than a licensed nursery. Vail, Breck, Park City, Heavenly.
- Alta and Snowbird become interesting. Smugglers' Morse does not, unless they're still catching up.
- Night skiing (Brighton, Keystone) is how you get more days without more mornings.
- Pass math: a teen on Epic or Ikon for a season can be cheaper than three window tickets, and they will want three mountains.
Independence
Some mountains let teens ski without an adult after a certain age; some want a waiver; some want you there. Ask. Then agree on a chair, a phone battery, and a hard 3:30. The families who have a good time are the ones who treat this as a logistics plan, not a vibe.
The brag mountains
If they ski well: Alta, Snowbird, Vail bowls, Heavenly on a bluebird. If they ski medium: Park City Canyons, Breck Peak 7, Steamboat trees. If they mostly want a park and fries: Keystone and Park City will make them happier than your expert-soul itinerary.
