Kids 7 and 9? Can all of you ski?

My favourite ski resort (have been there the past 8 seasons... and back again this January/Febriary for 15 days...) is Steamboat (http://www.steamboat.com/).

It is about 3 hours drive from Denver. I would recommend taking either flights up to Hayden Airport (about 30 minutes transfer from Steamboat) - where you can either get a shuttle or rent a car - or get a shuttle transfer from Denver International. Yes, 3 hours (or a connecting flight) is a long transfer, BUT the the slopes tend to be quiter and less crowded because of it...

I have been to Winterpark (half way between Denver and Steamboat) before and wasn't impressed: I would say that it has a lot less terrain to offer new/younger skiers AND the resort was souless and there weren't m/any reasonable restaurants around. We stayed for 4 days, I think, and that was too much

Steamboat has a real "wild west" and "cowboy feel" and therefore has a soul (not just a ski town). It is laid back, friendly and unpretentious. There are a wide variety of bars and restaurants (http://steamboat-dining.com). It isn't a cheapcheap resort, but it isn't Vail/Aspen - there are some good deals to be had...

Ski-wise the mountain has a good amount of novice/intermediate terrain and that is being improved this year. More importantly, especially for your kids, it has a REALLY EXCELLENT ski school (have a look at the main Steamboat website for details).

We are staying right on the slopes (excellent ski-in/ski-out location) for the fifth year in a row (http://bear-claw.com). The condos are older than some elsewhere on the mountain, but they are very homely and cosy. The staff are excellent. There is a great private, on-call shuttle. The main building (Bear Claw 2 - where you should request a condo) has a sauna, leads right out to the pool/hot tubs and has a lounge/bar. It is one of the best ski-in/ski-out locations on the mountain and very good value for money. IF you book and pay in full soon you may be able to negotiate a bit of a discount (http://bear-claw.com/Specials.asp#).

My husband took some videos whilst skiing on our last trip there (using a camera mounted to his ski helmet) - http://www.curvica.com/client_test/sb/sbhelmetcam.html (click on the yellow highlighted runs to see a video of that run). Most of the runs he videoed were tougher blues or blacks (I am in the red ski jacket), but you get the idea of what the ski resort is like...

Boo