Did you know you can ski in St. Louis? You can! And here are your essential must-do’s to get your family started (spoiler alert: planning now — yes now in March! — for next year will save you big money!)
Learning to ski is worth the effort, I promise, but an effort that can be made far easier with a little pre-planning and upfront organization.
If you’re not prepared, getting the family on the mountain can feel clunky. Photos of unpredictable kids, frantic glove searches, and sibling-on-sibling fights in the back seat of the SUV don’t always make the resort advertising.
But something magical happens when you are seated on your first lift of the day with your child’s undivided attention, screen-free.
Book and Buy the Basics with Epic Day Pass
» Save Big when You Buy Early: Planning in advance and booking now will help you lock in winter fun. Our local ski hill, Hidden Valley, is owned by Vail Resorts. That means Hidden Valley is included as part of the Epic Pass Portfolio.
Why this is important: You can purchase as little as 1 Epic Day Pass and save about 50% on your ski experience. An Epic Day Pass is basically a lift ticket that you buy in advance! That’s it, as simple as that. If you know that you want to ski 1-7 days next season, Epic Day Pass is the purchase for you! A little planning will save big in the long run.
Get Your Gear Ready
» Borrow, Trade and Swap: Ski gear is expensive and we all know how fast kids grow out of things. Take the opportunity to see what you can cobble together: ask your friends what their kids have outgrown, check social media to find sales and deals, get creative, and pay the gear forward next season.
» Plan to Rent: Hidden Valley offers full service rental options. Renting gives you access to an expert who can help you ensure proper sizing, and with renting gear, you won’t need to store anything during the off-season
Book Activities and Lessons
» Leave the Lessons to the Experts: Let go of the fantasy that teaching your kids to ski will be a magical experience (this also applies to that fantasy about teaching your partner— but that is for a different article). Remember, a child’s true colors shine with mom and dad. That tight boot or cold finger will be cause for an epic meltdown if you’re leading the lesson.
Leave the ski basics to the experts. We sent a St. Louis Mom contributor and her son to take a lesson this past month, and fun was had by both! Check out the story that highlights their experience here.
Learn to enjoy skiing at Hidden Valley in 2023-24 and expand your adventures to a mountain trip in 2024-25! Enjoy every turn, time flies.
