Taking the kids: Summer on the slopes

(Tribune Media Services) -- It's so hard to choose.

Would you rather take your middle-schooler golfing or mountain biking? Maybe you want to try fly-fishing, white-water rafting or a long alpine slide?

How about racing down an Olympic bobsled track (Park City, Utah, www.parkcityinfo.com), or a state-of-the-art skateboard park (Breckenridge, Colorado, www.gobreck.com)? Or, perhaps, an old-fashioned hike amid the wildflowers (Gunnison-Crested Butte is considered the "Wildflower Capital of Colorado," www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com), or an Alpine Berry Body Ritual at the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (www.fourseasons.com)?

These days, there's as much to do at ski resorts in the summer as in the winter, as properties all across the country offer special activities for families that include junior spa treatments, concerts and festivals. Is anybody up for a teddy bear parade? If so, then head to Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont, www.stratton.com, the weekend of July 28.

So what if you haven't planned ahead. You'll still find plenty of deals, whether you want to splurge at a deluxe hotel or you're counting vacation pennies. In fact, a summer trip to a mountain resort can be a downright bargain, with even pricey Snowmass and Vail, Colorado, offering rooms for $100 a night. You may even be able to find places for less.

Spend four nights at a ResortQuest mountain condo, www.resortquest.com -- there are 11 mountain destinations to choose from across the West, including Whistler, British Columbia -- and get a $50 gas credit, car cooler and atlas.

Book two nights in a Solitude Village condo in Utah, www.skisolitude.com, and get the third night free.

Sign on for a local volunteer project in Summit County, Colorado, and save 15 percent on your lodging at Keystone Resort, www.keystoneresort.com.

Military families are invited to Stowe, Vermont, www.gostowe.com, for special discounts and packages. The kids will love the miles of Recreation Path ideal for wheeled sports.

Settle in at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, www.jacksonhole.com, to tour nearby Yellowstone and, just a mile away, Grand Teton National Park. The three-night Buckaroo Welcome Package in a Teton Village condo starts at about $1,000 for a family of four and includes a rafting or float trip and a day at the resort's first-rate Kids' Ranch Summer Day Camp.

Book a two-bedroom suite at the Canyons Grand Summit Hotel, www.thecanyons.com, or the Sundial Lodge and get free breakfast for the four of you.

Stay at the small, eco-friendly Cedar House Sport Hotel, www.cedarhousesporthotel.com, just a few miles from Northstar at Tahoe Resort in California and they'll arrange everything for you -- even rock-climbing lessons for the kids. There's a great mini-golf course next door. AAA Rates, including breakfast, start at $160 a night.

Invite the grandparents, as long as they can handle the altitude, or join forces with another family. Some of you can take the younger children to fish in a local pond while the older crew opts for mountain biking or mountain boarding, a blend of skateboarding and snowboarding on wheels.

The best part is that a lot of the mountain activities are free. It doesn't cost anything to splash in a river or hike a trail. (Smugglers' Notch Family Resort in Vermont, www.smuggs.com, offers guided hikes daily and a slew of other activities. Ready for a high-tech mountaineering treasure hunt or to try a Segway?

At the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, www.ritzcarlton.com, you can even borrow a Labrador to hike with you. His name is Bachelor. Bring your own pooch and the hotel promises plenty of special dog treats.

Your gear is free if you stay at Teton Mountain Lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, www.tetonlodge.com, everything from a Kelty kid carrier to trekking poles and waterproof rain shells. Ask about the young explorer's package.

There's free music, storytelling and special family campfire sessions Wednesday nights and concerts on Thursday nights in Snowmass Village, www.snowmassvillage.com, and face painting in Winter Park on Saturdays, www.winterpark.com.

Even better, when you need a morning or afternoon of adult time, leave the kids guilt-free, thanks to first-rate organized programs designed to entertain them and teach them about the outdoors. Keystone Resort, for example, has teamed up with Keystone Science School to introduce kids to the local wildlife and flora. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has special Team Extreme Adventure Camps for middle- and high school kids complete with rock-climbing, caving and mountain biking, as well as plenty of organized fun for younger kids. Smugglers' Notch Resort is so confident that kids will love their activities that they promise a money back guarantee, if the kids don't have fun.

For those who want a dose of culture, there's everything from family-interactive Shakespeare performances in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, www.shakespeareinthevalley.com, to the Maine Performing Arts Festival in Bethel, Maine, www.mainepaf.org, the first week of August or the Vail International Dance Festival, www.vvf.org, which begins on July 29. Let your kids create their own masterpieces at the Breckenridge Arts District, www.gobreck.com, or at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah, www.sundanceresort.com.

Let the kids help plan the itinerary and they'll be more amenable when you want to check out the shops in the quaint mountain towns or a museum at the top of the mountain, or set out on a longer hike than they'd like.

Just bring plenty of M&M's! E-mail to a friend

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

Copyright 2009 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

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