Top Ten for Kids
When the kids are happy, everyone’s happy.
In Summit County, one doesn’t have to look far for an activity that will please toddlers to teens. The thousands of children who’ve grown up in this high country playground have never wanted for “something to do.”
Pardon if we boast, but we’re experienced old hands in teaching our youngsters skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, snowshoeing, swimming and dog sledding, just to name a few of the county’s myriad recreational opportunities.
Your kids can follow in the locals’ footsteps and adopt a Colorado winter lifestyle. And, who’s to say you won’t follow suit?
STOMPING OR GLIDING
Kids love to strap on snowshoes and try to leave “bigfoot” tracks in the snow. Snowshoeing is great exercise and can be enjoyed with limited instruction and little supervision. It’s offered at the Keystone, Frisco and Breckenridge Nordic centers. Copper Mountain features free snowshoe tours (970-968-2882), but for those 16 and older.
Cross-country skiing can be learned at a young age. At Keystone (970-496-4386), children practice gliding on the Polar Bear field, an area of level snow for kids-only (plus an instructor). The Breckenridge Nordic Center (970-453-6855) and the Frisco Nordic Center (970-668-0866) cater to youngsters, helping to enable them enjoy the sport for a lifetime.
CLIMBING THE WALLS?
If your kids have too much energy after a day on the hill and have you climbing the walls, then let them do the climbing.
At the Breckenridge Recreation Center, a regulation climbing wall welcomes kids, 6 years and older (970-453-1734) to make their ascents. Before leaving base camp, budding mountaineers are fitted with climbing shoes and harness. Ropes assure safe round trips.
Opening in January 2007, a Mighty Mite climbing wall gives four-to-six year olds a taste of things to come. One-on-one instruction/supervision gives the tykes an easy route up the wall.
There may be a short waiting line to use the water slide at this center’s leisure pool, but kids say it’s worth it. For the more serious swimmer, a lap pool fills the bill.
Basketball and tennis players get their workouts as well. Even toddlers and pre-schoolers aren’t forgotten — special programs suit their fancy.
The Silverthorne Recreation Center (970-262-7370) is so child oriented, they even offer swim diapers so tots can enjoy the pool and parents don’t have to worry about leakage. When the babes get bigger, the whale slide in the play pool will be their best friend. The 140-foot slide has its finale in a spashdown pool.
Swimmers choose one of four lanes in the main pool, and scuba hopefuls practice in the ten-foot-deep pool.
MOUNTAIN-TOP CHILDREN’S MUSEUM ISN’T ON A MOUNTAIN
Rest assured, toddlers and older children do not have to climb a mountain to enjoy the wonder of Breckenridge’s Mountain-Top Children’s Museum at 605 South Park Avenue (970-453-7878).
Here is a bit of a world designed solely for children in the midst of their terrible twos clear up to pre-teens.
Youngsters can immerse themselves on a dress-up stage, in a Goldilocks-type playhouse, a bear cave, and a puppet show. Older children display their talents at the “creation station” through arts and crafts, solving puzzles and playing games.
Pre-teens are fascinated by the Rocky Mountain Wildlife exhibit. Here, it’s possible for kids to identify and learn the differences between wild animals by examining footprints, bird eggs, antlers and rubber scat.
For the budding inventor, a hands-on lab offers experimentation and a workbench allows further creativity. Remote controlled trucks, magnetic mazes, and even a planetarium captivate inquisitive minds.
This museum offers a home-away-from-home center, helping kids feel not so far away from their own world.
A 12-FOOT-TALL FROSTY THE SNOWMAN
To a three- or four-foot tall child, gazing up at a 12-foot-high snow sculpture can be awe-inspiring. To us, each of the entries in the International Snow Sculpture Championships is a magnificent work of art.
This winter marks the 17th year teams from around the globe travel to Breckenridge to carve spectacular sculptures from 12-foot-high monoliths of compacted snow. Working round the clock for 72 hours, teams of four compete only for the glory of winning a ribbon.
And what masterpieces they create! Wondrous tableaux in snow of porpoises, elaborate snowflakes, graceful birds, and so much more. We can appreciate the intricate work achieved using only hand tools. However, children will be mesmerized by the size, scope and beauty of each entry.
This year, the Budweiser Select International Snow Sculpture Championships takes place January 23-28. The sculptures remain on exhibit on the Riverwalk Center for an additional week to ten days.
For more information, call 970-453-5579.
MULTI-GENERATIONAL TUBING
Why should kids have all the fun? With the advent of tubing with a tow, youngsters are sharing their glee with parents and grandparents. (It keeps the kid within each of us alive, regardless of age.)
Copper Mountain Resort’s tubing hill (970-968-2882) is right at the foot of the mountain, near the base of the Super Bee chair in the resort’s East Village. Pick a brightly colored tube and bring it on the Stinger surface lift. Then, choose to ride in the lane that best suits your liking — easy to adventurous. Copper’s hill is open for one-hour sessions from late morning to late afternoon.
Keystone Resort’s tubing hill at Adventure Point (970-496-4386) is at the summit of Dercum Mountain, just a gondola ride away. Pick a lane; each has a high bank for cradle-like security and a long run-out. Take the surface lift to slide the hill as many times as your hour-long session allows. Open daily, and on night-skiing evenings the tubing hill is open until 8pm.
Both resorts require tubers to be at least 36" tall.
IT’S EASY, WHEN YOU KNOW HOW
Instructors in the Ski & Ride Schools at Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone have been teaching kids from three to 15 how they can enjoy the mountains from top to bottom.
Pre-school to masters level courses take the intimidation out of learning to ski or ride. Day classes for every ability level are offered at each resort, plus night classes at Keystone show you the ropes, under the lights.
For kids who really want to improve their skiing or riding skills, private tutoring and weeklong extended study programs are available.
Snowboarding classrooms take place in the resorts’ terrain parks so kids can learn the lingo and the moves. For skiers, advanced powder and bump classes give kids skills and comfort levels wherever they are on the mountain.
Breckenridge Ski Resort (970-453-5000); Copper Mountain Resort (970-968-2882); Keystone Resort (970-496-4170)
SLEIGH BELLS RING
Climb aboard an old-fashioned sleigh. Wrap yourself and the kids in warm lap robes. Let Jack Frost do his nose-nipping bit. And, enjoy a ride through a silent Colorado valley or forest. Bell-laden draft horses bring you effortlessly to a heated tent or ranch cabin for a sumptuous western-style dinner.
Keystone offers scenic sleigh rides (970-496-4386) in the afternoon and dinner rides to a cabin at the far end of the Keystone Ranch in evenings. Choose the one that best suits your children’s schedules.
Copper Mountain’s rides (970-968-2882) take you into the White River National Forest to an 1860's miner’s tent to chow down and enjoy and cowboy entertainment.
Named for the family’s cattle brand, Two Below Zero (970-453-1520) offers rides on Frisco’s recreation peninsula. Their sleighs are pulled by mules that bring you to a tent camp for an authentic western-style dinner.
Breckenridge features a variety of rides. Nordic Sleigh Rides (970-453-2005) presents a stage show in addition to dinner. Choose from Mountain Man, Dance Hall Girl or The Unsinkable Molly Brown; each is family-oriented and “G” rated.
SNOW MONSTERS TO THE RESCUE
If you hear “There’s nothing to do” from your youngsters, let them check out a most imaginative and entertaining website. SnowMonsters.com is the brainchild of Keystone and Breckenridge Ski Resorts. Colorful and fun, the site features games, movies, cartoons, a nature quiz, mountain facts and fables, and a kids' club link. This should keep little tykes happy until it’s time for bed.
WHEN THE WATER’S STIFF
Every child knows what stiff water is...Thumper coined the phrase.
Ice needn’t be as slippery as it was for him and Bambi, not with your selection of skates and your choice of rinks, ponds and lakes.
Keystone’s five-acre lake is the largest Zamboni-maintained outdoor skating lake in North America (970-496-4386). Rental skates for tiny feet to Bigfoot are available for the day and evening sessions. Toddlers who can’t even stand up can enjoy the experience snuggled warmly in the comfort of pull-along sleds.
West Lake in Copper Mountain Resort (970-968-2882) offers skating day and evening. And, the family can try its skills at the sport of curling. Rentals are offered at Giggleworks, the interactive toy and kids’ stuff store near the lake.
Ice-skating’s a big deal in Breckenridge year-round. At the Steven West Ice Arena (970-547-9974), an indoor rink caters to summer skaters and the outdoor rink is filled with winter visitors and dedicated locals. Maggie Pond at The Village in Breckenridge (970-453-2000) is a more provincial choice. Rentals are available at both locations.
If you’ve brought your own skates for the family, the Silverthorne Ice Rink (970-262-7340) offers free admission for daytime sessions.
MUSH!
Who can forget his or hers first dogsled ride, wrapped in blankets and sitting on a sled behind a team of energetic dogs who were born to run. Now you can relive that experience as your children can enjoy theirs for the first time.
And, at Good Times Adventures, a few miles north of Breckenridge, you can be the musher. You’ll drive the team over the river and through the woods in the Arapaho National Forest. Partway through the hour-long ride, others in your party, who’ve been riding on a sleigh in front of your sled, and taking pictures of you as musher, exchange places with you.
Kids get a charge taking the ride, and nuzzling up with the friendly dogs after your run.
All children are welcome; however the ride is not recommended for toddlers under 3 years of age.
Dress in skiwear, but with after-ski boots. Don’t forget sunglasses and sunscreen.
Good Times Adventures (970-453-7604) provides round-trip transportation to and from Breckenridge.
Lillian Ross has worked in New York publishing, Montana ad agencies, and the Colorado ski industry. She also has been a travel correspondent for The Denver Post..
