How We Match Your Family to the Right Mountain

In this guide

1. How do we choose the mountain for your family?
2. How do we choose the hotel for how you travel?
3. How do we match the runs to each skier in your family?
4. How do we match an instructor to each of your kids?

Every family skis a different mountain. Before we book anything, we ask how your family actually skis together: who needs wide groomed cruisers, who wants steeper terrain, who is still learning, and who is happiest coming along for the lodge and the view. Park City and Deer Valley are two of the destinations we plan most often, and the same four decisions repeat every time: the mountain, the hotel, the runs and the instructor.

How do we choose the mountain for your family?

The mountain is chosen for your specific family by matching its terrain and layout to how your family actually skis, not by its name recognition. Park City is the largest ski resort in the country, more than 7,300 acres, and one of the few where you ski straight down into a real town with its Main Street restaurants and galleries close by. Deer Valley is one of the few American resorts that remains skiers only, with exceptional grooming, calm and attentive service on the mountain, and light, dry Utah snow. A family with teenagers who want variety and apres options often fits Park City. A family that wants a quieter, more controlled base often fits Deer Valley. We walk through this comparison, along with other regions, in our guide to choosing between three regions.

How do we choose the hotel for how you travel?

The hotel is chosen around how your family actually travels through a day, since how your family travels matters more than a star rating. Some families want a quiet base set a little back from the lifts, with space to spread out in the evening. Others want to be close to the action from the first morning. We ask about nap schedules, how many bags you travel with, whether anyone needs a lift in or out, and how your family likes to end a ski day before we suggest anywhere to stay. The hotel is one piece of a larger plan, and we explain how it connects to transport, dining and lessons in what a private ski trip includes.

How do we match the runs to each skier in your family?

We match runs to each skier's own ability and nerve, not to the family's average level. A parent who skis confidently and a child who is still finding their balance rarely want the same slope, even on the same morning. So we map out where the family can ski together, where the group splits for an hour, and where everyone meets back up for lunch. This is the same thinking behind how we structure skiing with children across a full week, so nobody spends the trip either bored or overwhelmed.

How do we match an instructor to each of your kids?

We match an instructor to how each child learns, not from a fixed roster of names. Patagonia Living does not keep a standing team of instructors in every destination. Instead, we assemble the right instructor for each child, trip by trip, based on age, temperament and how that child responds to encouragement versus structure. One sibling might need a patient, playful introduction to the snow plough. Another might already want to chase a faster instructor onto steeper terrain. We cover how this shifts the rest of the day once instruction is private in private instruction, what changes, and how lessons are typically structured in family ski lessons.

Every family skis a different mountain, and that is the starting point for how we plan, not an afterthought. Talk to us about your next ski trip.

Source: Patagonia Living on Instagram, the original carousel this guide is based on.