Imagine that you are having an amazing day on the slopes with your friends and family, having the time of your life and doing exactly what you came here to do. We all love to ski, but we also know that this sport can get a little tiring at times. As the end of the day is nearing, you might be dreading lugging not only your kids’ skis, but also all your own gear on the long walk back to the condo. But then you remember that you don’t have to! Because you chose a ski-in ski-out option, the comfort of your own private space and the pleasure of the ski slopes are at most a few steps away from each other. A few minutes after you head back and take off your gear, your close proximity to town allows you to have even more fun off the slopes, with an unforgettable apres-ski experience. A long day of skiing and family fun successfully concluded, you go to bed only to wake up the next morning, snap on your skis, and head out again! 

An ideal day of skiing goes off seamlessly and without a hitch and is only made better when everyone leaves happy. Although ski-in/ski-out lodging is not essential to one of these “perfect days”, we think that it is imperative to helping everything run smoothly and will greatly complement your ski vacation experience. You could attain that perfect ski vacation and, despite the higher price, ski-in/ski-out lodging is a luxurious and accessible option. If you’re looking to minimize the hassles of walking your gear from place to place, find yourself closer to restaurants and shopping in town, and gain easy access to the slopes (sometimes that means stepping out of your living room and clipping in) then the ski-in/ski-out option is for you! But limited availability means that if you want the best of the best for the lowest prices, you have to act now and score great lodging before the inventory vanishes. 

There are a few different types of ski-in/ski-out lodging, one of which was mentioned above where you step outside and you’re on the slopes. This is referred to as “true” ski-in/ski-out in the travel community. The other type is where perhaps your hotel is located on the slopes and it’s a short elevator ride down to the lobby where you can clip in and slip out the door. In both these cases, the convenience of being right on the slopes can entirely change a ski vacation experience. As someone who has experienced most varieties of a ski vacation, I can vouch that the most enjoyable experiences for me have been in a true ski-in/ski-out accommodation. I personally enjoy the convenience of being able to stop back at the room throughout the day, not have a far walk into town, and especially not having to carry my skis to the slopes every morning (the lack of an unpleasurable walk in my ski boots is also a plus). Being right on the slopes also puts you in the middle of the action, and I have found that kids absolutely love watching what goes down at night and seem to be absolutely enthralled with the snowcats and snowmobiles. 

As ski-in/ski-out condos are usually more money, I have found that they tend to be more luxurious although this is not always the case. Either way the table turns, I would be happy to enjoy a ski-in/ski-out experience with my family and I hope to share it with all of yours.