This past weekend we took a family ski trip to Steamboat Springs Colorado. We had the best time! I was so looking forward to this ski trip but was also a little nervous. Haha. This was our first time skiing with the kids and we knew it would be a lot of work for everyone. Especially Tooth! I haven't ever been a solid skier, have little experience, and have only been skiing once since having kids almost 10 years ago!
It ended up being the best weekend! It is so good for the soul to get away - and what a beautiful setting for a vacation. Tooth and I love Steamboat Springs. We spent our first Christmas together (14 Christmases ago!) in Steamboat. Lots of great memories together in Steamboat Springs. So we were very excited to take the kids on their first ski trip to Steamboat Springs!
In this blog I will cover where we skied, where we stayed, and where we ate. We truly had the best weekend together and a huge thanks to a couple friends who are very familiar with Steamboat Springs and gave us awesome tips for our skip trip with kids.
Where we skied:
We were given the amazing tip to take the kids skiing at Howelsen Hill, which is just across the street from the main mountain at Steamboat Springs. Howelsen Hill is a much smaller mountain to ski, which was perfect for the kids. Free parking, less runs, less people, and much cheaper lift tickets! We knew we'd spend a lot of time on the bunny hill anyway, so we thought it would be perfect to start at Howelsen Hill.
We loved skiing at Howelsen Hill so much, we decided to ski there three days in a row! It was truly so perfect with the kids. It is much smaller than the main Steamboat mountain which was way less intimidating for the kids (and me - ha). I highly recommend Howelsen Hill to anyone starting out! Huge bonus: Howelsen Hill is FREE skiing for all ages every Sunday. Woot-Woot!
Howelsen Hill doesn't have all the restaurants and shops at the bottom of the slopes like the bigger mountains. But they do have a cute lodge with hot chocolate, snacks and food. The shopping, restaurants, and bars are just across the street. So it's all very close together. The kids also loved walking the street and shopping the cute mountain boutiques. The kids both got new ski goggles and I'm so happy they loved the weekend and want to go skiing again. :)
As far as ski rentals go... We did rent skis for the weekend for both kids. I called a week in advance to make reservations for the kids. We rented skis, boots, and helmets from Christy Sports in Steamboat Central Park location. This was a very smooth, easy process.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at The Lodge, which was booked through VRBO. This was a great spot! The Lodge was so cute. We liked the location, style, and space in this room. Ryder and Blakely were able to share a room - and have their own beds, which they loved. Haha. The Lodge is walking distance to the main Steamboat ski mountain. It's maybe a five minute walk. There were a lot of people walking to and from their resorts around where we stayed.
The Lodge is about a 5 minute drive to Howelsen Hill. Everywhere we wanted to ski, eat, shop, etc was 2-10 minutes away from our condo. S
You get one free parking pass when you stay at The Lodge. TJ came up to meet up the last night and they were kind enough to give us a second parking pass for free for his car as well. Overall, we had a great experience and stay at The Lodge and would definitely go back!
Where we ate:
I honestly forgot to book reservations before our Steamboat trip and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get into any restaurants because of the holiday weekend, but we had no problem at all.
For breakfast/brunch we ate at Winona's, Freshies, and Creekside. We all had different "favorites" but Creekside was mine! Such a cute spot. I also loved the location of Winona's because it's on the Main Street in Steamboat. That was my favorite latte all weekend!
For dinner we ate at Mahogany Ridge, Table 79, and Beau Jo's. Mahogany Ridge was a family friendly restaurant a friend recommended. We went straight from skiing. It's super casual and lively there. Table 79 is a little more formal, but still plenty of kid there. This was our favorite dinner by far. I had the salmon, Tooth had the duck and both were amazing!
And of course, Beau Jo's pizza! Beau Jo's is smaller in Steamboat and didn't have the usual mountain/ski town vibe I normally experience. But this pizza is always a hit. I really wanted to eat at Salt & Lime, but we couldn't get in this time. So this is on the list for our next ski trip with kids!
We truly had the best time in Steamboat Springs on our family ski trip. We're so grateful for time together as a family making memories I'll forever cherish. I hope these tips help if you're headed to the mountains on a Steamboat ski trip!
