If I left this snowboarding idea to Z, he would have made us go when Zoe was like a year old LOL. When she was born in 2019, he started watching all these YouTube videos of babies practically shredding. Z loved the idea of introducing Zoe to snowboarding at the earliest age possible, but we took a pause on that idea once the pandemic hit the world. We finally did this trip and came back a couple of weeks ago. I may still have one suitcase I am avoiding on unpacking (which is very unlikely of me pre-motherhood), but I sure am going to recap our trip here! If you are ever thinking of a ski/snowboarding trip involving little kids, I hope you find this recap helpful.
First off, this was our first-ever family snowboard trip so there were many wins but also improvements for future trips. Z is an avid snowboarder but has not done regular trips as medical life (specifically, in the training phase) does not allow much time to pursue hobbies. Now that he is (finally) done with training, he is trying to rekindle this side of his life. Me? Well...I am not super into cold weather and winter sports. The last time I snowboarded was 7 years ago, which is when Z taught me and we almost got a divorce. Don't let your loved ones teach you sports...ever. But, I love my husband and this family of mine so I wanted to give it a try again.
Advice #1: Traveling with little one(s) is not a vacation; it's a trip.
I may not have done this specific kind of trip until a couple of weeks ago, but I had my share of traveling with Zoe, who is almost 3. As a mom, especially, traveling with a little one (or multiple little ones) isn't exactly a relaxing vacation. One of our largest suitcases was reserved for all of her stuff. It's hard work. It's essentially just a relocation from home. It's a trip. So, lower that expectation of a perfect vacation you dreamt of just a bit...or quite a bit. But, it'll still be a fun trip. You and your partner are creating memories as a family and for your little one. There is a lot of joy in that sense.
Trip Schedule
We flew into Denver on the morning of February 26th (Saturday) and stayed with a friend who lives there for the night. We drove up to the mountains the next day and came back to Denver Friday, March 4th. We flew back home the next day but didn't home until pretty late at night. We always schedule to return home with at least one full day at home before returning to work. We have felt the need to have those built-in recuperation days(s) more and more as we get older. You can use that day to start unpacking/doing laundry or just completely vegetated...whatever you find necessary.
As far as our schedule while in Breckenridge - we have tried various schedules each day to see what works best for us (parents) and Zoe (the toddler). All in all, we 4 snowboard days with 1 rest day (which was so needed). The 4th and last day of snowboarding was a little far too stretched for Z and I - by then, we were quite tired and sluggish coming down the slopes no matter how much we rested in between the rides.
On the days I was taking a group lesson (I took mine in the afternoon):
9-11am - Z goes out alone for solo runs while Zoe and I start to get ready for the day (we usually ate breakfast in our Airbnb)
Noon - Head out as a family, we always grabbed a bite to eat
12:30-3pm - I took my group lesson; Z was on the bunny slope with Zoe
3:30pm - Zoe and I head back to our room to clean and nap; Z hits the slopes again until the lift closes at 4pm
4:30-6:30pm - Rest
Between 7 and 7:30pm - Dinner
10pm - Zoe sleeps
When I was not taking a lesson, we would still follow a similar schedule, but I was on the bunny slope with Zoe from 12:30pm until she gets tired while Z does his solo runs. He would then take Zoe back to the room for a nap, and then I would do my afternoon runs.
Zoe was just a few months shy of being eligible to enroll in a snowboard school (starts at age 3) so that's why she was on the bunny slope most of the time during this trip. Perhaps, we could have considered a private instructor, but I didn't look into it much and don't know if that minimum get requirement also starts at 3 or not.
Breckenridge and many villages do offer babysitting services, but we did not utilize it this time.
Advice #2: Be prepared for that altitude change
We knew in theory what altitude change would do to our bodies, but we forgot just how much it affected us. Breckenridge sits at 9,600 ft above sea level while the ski resort's summit can reach up to almost 13,000 ft. Even though we had a day to adjust in Denver for a day, I, in particular, did not do well the first day in Colorado. I was extremely tired and had a raging headache all evening and had to try sleeping it off all night. There are some things you could try to do to minimize this effect:
Hydration, hydration, hydration! For someone like me who struggles to drink water consistently, adding Liquid I.V. to my water daily was very helpful. We bought a pack of 30 from Costco.
You will 💩 more often - I am sorry that this is so TMI, but this is particularly the case for the little ones. Zoe is currently potty trained for her pee but not for that #2, so we still bring diapers to our trips. I felt like I was going back to the newborn days when I used to change 💩 diapers 5-6 times a day. You have been warned.
Take preemptive ibuprofen. Unlike many assumptions out there, ibuprofen does not have addictive patterns so it's ok to take it even as a preventative measure as long as you're following the dosage guidelines. We took ibuprofen daily to cope with the effect of the altitude change as well as the sudden increase of intense physical activity, aka snowboarding. We were still sore, of course, but not in pain.
Choosing the location
We are not locals and live nowhere close to the mountains (we live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex), so having access to various amenities was important to us. Colorado has so many great options; we chose Breckenridge this time and with hopes to check out other places in the future. A few must things that were on our list: snowboarding school (for me), a sizeable village where rental equipment and restaurants are readily accessible, many lodging options to choose from. To us, who don't visit Colorado frequently, Breckenridge scratched off all the list.
Regardless of the winter or spring season, the pandemic really drove up the lodging cost as more people are flocking to outdoor activities instead. For us, we planned this trip rather late which left us lesser options and higher costs. I admit trips like this aren't cheap so I suggest you start planning much sooner than later.
We ended up booking a charming AirBnb place, which I tend to favor over regular hotels since having a child. Ours came with one bedroom/one bathroom with a pullout bed. It's ideal for a family of 3 or 4 at most. It also had a small kitchen with almost everything one would need to make basic meals and a nice cup of coffee. It was a short walk to the QuickSilver Lift (Peak 9); the short distance to the slopes was essential for us knowing that we would have our hands full (3 boards and, oftentimes, carrying Zoe).
Sleeping arrangement
Any parents of little ones know how important nap and sleep are and how these types of trips tend to mess things up. It does make things easier now that Zoe requires less frequent naps (once or sometimes none a day) and so we are not completely bound by her nap schedules. However, we knew she was going to need one because she was doing a lot of physical activities. We also wanted her to try sleeping through the night without interrupting our sleep too much.
For our recent travels, we no longer request a crib or pack-n-play because she ends up co-sleeping with us. However, after looking at our place we realized that it might be best to have her sleep separately from us so we could have a little more freedom to do whatever we want in the evenings/night after she was asleep. We ultimately had her sleep in the actual bedroom (what a spoiled child...) while Z and I used the pullout sofa in the living area so we could have access to the TV and kitchen more easily without waking her up. While we didn't have the most comfortable sleeping experience (thanks to the not-so-great mattress), it ended up being a better sleeping arrangement for us on this trip.
Other random thoughts
Since this was spring ski/snowboard season, we didn't have to bundle up too crazy which was nice. Layering is typically the key for cold weather. In our case, we simply wore light thermal shirts and leggings. We love the HeatTech from Uniqlo for both adults and kids.
I didn't really buy anything "new" for Zoe considering that she will continue to grow. Her coat was a hand-me-down and I bought her snow pants from Facebook Market for a fraction of the price.
We always wanted to make sure Zoe was staying hydrated and energized so we carried around a small backpack with water bottles (infused with Liquid I.V) and snacks, like pouches, cheese, and crackers.
Your lips will get chapped badly! Highly recommend to pack vaseline/aquphor. I also liked using the Lip Sleeping Mask - LANEIGE | Sephora.
Unless you are trying to make your child the next Chloe Kim or Shaun White, keep the experience FUN! We only wanted Zoe to have a fun and a positive association with snowboarding/being in the mountains. If that meant her wanting to play snow fight for an hour, that was what we did. If she wanted to stop doing anything, we immediately stopped and didn't encourage her to do more at that time.
What we ate
In our travel experience, food is always one of the top things we care about the most haha. We actually did not go to too many places. I typically made breakfast at our Airbnb, thanks to having a kitchen. For lunch, we usually went to a cafe so we can grab a small bite to eat with a cup of coffee, so ultimately most of our restaurant experience was for dinner.
Advice #3: If you are going to a popular ski resort, reserve your spot for dinner.
I had read about this before but turned out to be very much true during our visit to Breckenridge. Hungry skiers/snowboarders/visitors will flock to the restaurants and fill the space up very quickly! While Breckenridge has lots of (great) restaurants, most of them can handle, what I consider, smaller capacity. Most of these places do accept reservations online (Yelp, Google, etc.), so if you have some places you want to try, be sure to reserve in advance. There were definitely some places we would love to try out but couldn't because they were booked a couple of days in advance.
In no particular order, here are the places we went and liked:
Cabin Juice Elevated Eatery and Bar - we went there for dinner and it was excellent. I had salmon and Z had elk for dinner. The elk was surprisingly tender, light, and, tasty. This was our favorite.
Southridge Seafood Grill - we only went there for lunch, but it was so good! We wanted to go back for dinner, but unfortunately, it was completely booked out and was not taking any walk-ins. Highly recommend.
Empire Burger (not pictured) - the burger was great - tasty, fatty, and juicy. The side dishes were so-so, though.
BoLD Restaurant and Bar - the food tasted fine but the menu was nothing really unique. Just regular American-style dishes.
The Crown - good selection of coffee with charming decor. We found this place to be a good spot for lunch.
Breckenridge Village is quite big, so you really will have many options to pick from. Just make sure you always have snacks ready for the little ones because the wait time was consistently pretty long in many places if you didn't reserve.
How to travel with snowboard equipment
The only person who owns a snowboard is Z. Zoe and I both rented ours through Christy Sports & Ski when we got to Denver. We had some challenges finding a rental for Zoe as she is so small so we had to call around a few Christy stores before driving there. Also, depending on when you are going, you may want to consider renting equipment in Denver as there may be more size options available. However, rest assured, I easily counted 4 or 5 Christy Sports (and there were many other rental shops) just in Breckenridge Village so you shouldn't really have too much issue getting rentals.
Also, we found flying with Southwest to be the best option because of the amount of luggage we had. Southwest still has 2 bags for free per passenger so we took full advantage of this. Thanks to living in the metroplex, we do have fairly affordable prices flying to Denver daily.
Enjoy a short video clip of Zoe practicing snowboard!
Lastly, we concluded our snowboard trip to Loveland Pass, which is at almost 12,000 ft elevation. It was freezing and we were very underdressed so we didn't stay out too long. It was a lovely sight to see.
Things we learned from this trip
Plan early! Like many things since the pandemic, everything has gotten more expensive. Lift tickets, rental car, and etc., can all be purchased early and the earlier you purchase the cheaper it is. Toddlers can get a ski lift pass for free although we didn't use it for this trip. Since we planned this a little last minute, it ended up being a higher budget trip than we probably wanted it to be.
Prioritize on location when traveling with little kids. We debated a lot whether to stay in a ski-in/ski-out resort, which is typically located adjacent to the ski lift or right on the slopes, or near the village. While we got lucky finding an Airbnb that kind of satisfied both of those, there were moments when we wished to stay in a ski-in/ski-out place just because of the proximity to the slopes (aka less distance carrying around your child who refuses to walk). There were definitely pros to staying in the village, as well, as we could easily take a stroll to the coffee shops and restaurants. So, you have to decide what's more important to your family.
If there are multiple little kids involved...maybe bring a stroller or a wagon. We decided not to bring a stroller this time around because I didn't think we needed it, which was about 85% true. Many places aren't stroller friendly and it would have been yet another bulky item to bring on top of already overpacked situation. However, there were times I wished we had a wagon to transport her and all the gears. This would be problematic if actually needing to use the lift, but for bunny slopes, it's on the bottom of the slope so you just walk over there.
Toddlers do remember this type of experience. Sometimes, the thought of planning a trip makes moms like me have a headache because there is so much mental load prior to the actual trip, especially you're not used to traveling to a mountainous environment. And while there were certainly some exhausting moments, watching your child having a blast and still talking about that trip does make it worthwhile! I'm becoming more of a believer that experience is truly a gift that a parent can give, I feel very privileged to be able to that provide that.
Hope you found this recap helpful for your future planning!
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