Snow and sensibility: 30 of the West's best low-key, family-friendly ski resorts

Sunset, Dec, 1997 by Ben Marks, Jeff Phillips, Lora J. Finnegan, Kurt Repanshek

* Don't get us wrong: there are few things we'd rather do than spend a week skiing with the family in Aspen, Whistler, or the Valley - as in Sun, Deer, Heavenly, or Squaw. The problem is that a lot of other people feel the same way, which translates into pricey lift tickets, long lift lines, and an experience that sometimes has more in common with a mad dash to the mall on Christmas Eve than a leisurely day carving moguls with the kids.

* Fortunately the West is blessed with such an abundance of ski resorts that many of them fail to make the radar of the slaloming hordes. Which makes the 30 low-key ski resorts on the pages that follow such great places for families. True, a few of these ski areas are almost as expensive as their flashier cousins, and some have loyal local followings that keep them busy on weekends. But the variety of terrain and quality of snow at these places may surprise you. And with the money you save, you might just be able to justify a late-season weekend for two in Aspen.

The Rocky Mountains

GRAND TARGHEE, WYOMING

Most skiers fall asleep with prayers for snow on their lips. At Grand Targhee these prayers are answered with powder so dry and light you can't make a snowball out of it. In fact, more often than not, the big winter storms dump drifts so deep that powder hounds joke about needing snorkels to breathe.

This icy bounty is no accident. Perched high on the western wall of the Teton Range just across the eastern Idaho state line in Wyoming, Grand Targhee sits at the narrow end of what amounts to a geographic funnel. Storms pushed up the Teton Valley by prevailing winds stall against the snaggletoothed range; the difference in snowfall from this side of the Tetons to the other can be significant. During a visit last February, the midmountain snow base at Grand Targhee was 185 inches; the midmountain base at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort just over the ridge was 110 inches.

Though this small resort caters heavily to families, the emphasis is on serious skiing. Skiers staying at the tiny village nestled at the base of the lifts tend to eat early in the three restaurants serving dinner. Even on weekends the resort's only bar is pretty quiet by 10. Probably everybody is home praying for powder.

* Lodging: Rooms in the Targhee Lodge start at $59, rooms in pine-furnished Teewinot Lodge start at $89, and condo units start at $143. Other motels are a 20-minute drive (in good weather) down the mountain in Driggs, Idaho.

* Transportation tip: Reserve an airport shuttle from Idaho Falls or Jackson Hole ($60 round trip per person) when you make your lodging reservations.

- Jeff Phillips

SILVER CREEK, COLORADO

I know I'm not in Vail anymore. No shiny gondolas. No skiers in poofy fur hats or gold-lame parkas. Then again, no sullen chair-lift guy giving me attitude.

Here people are skiing in simple knit hats, basic bibs, and off-the-rack parkas. The chair-lift guy gives me a cheery hello and a quick weather report (sunny all day). Okay, so I miss the cozy gondola ride. But Silver Creek has other lures. On the Expedition triple chair, one seatmate volunteers that he took his family to Vail last year but actually prefers Silver Creek. I ask him why. "No lift lines, and great beginner terrain," he says, then adds with a chuckle, "but mostly because we get the same Colorado powder without the Vail prices."

Granted, it's no giant, but Silver Creek offers plenty of beginner and intermediate runs, so families can ski together all day without getting bored. For the little ones, the bunny hill is visible from the day lodge deck, so parents can relax while watching the youngsters' progress.

In place of shopping and nightlife, Silver Creek offers ice skating, snow biking, and tubing. And cross-country tickets cover trails at both Silver Creek and the neighboring Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center (the YMCA of the Rockies), which has dozens of groomed trails in a forested bowl. Suits my attitude.

* Where: 78 miles northwest of Denver, 15 miles north of Winter Park on U.S. Highway 40.

* Snow stats: 1,000-foot vertical drop, 33 runs, five lifts.

* Cost: $32, $28 for ages 13-17, $15 for ages 6-12.

* Lodging: The accommodations here are affordable but nothing fancy. Package deals offering four nights' lodging and three days' lift tickets and rental equipment start at $394 (for four in one room in Granby) or $408 (for four at the Inn at Silver Creek).

* Contact: (800) 754-7458.

- Lora J. Finnegan

BEAVER MOUNTAIN, UTAH

Your legs wear out before your wallet does at Beaver Mountain, a vintage room-and-pop ski area hidden in Utah's Wasatch-Cache National Forest, a handful of miles from the Idaho border.

Ted and Marge Seeholzer aren't making millions off the ski area Ted's dad took over in 1939 to give family and friends a place to ski and to keep the kids growing up in nearby Logan out of trouble. But to them that's not the point. While many ski resorts have lift tickets surpassing $50, and cheeseburgers in the $5-and-up range, Beaver Mountain was designed more for fun than profit.