Aspen Child Care

Families with pre-school children needing care would probably be wisest to choose Snowmass as their base, where organised off-slope activities for families are often staged and there's a fenced in sledging area at the Cross-Country ski centre. Snowcubs offers slope-side daycare for kids aged 6 weeks up here too. The Nighthawks program offers evening childcare with sledding, arts, crafts and video for children aged 3 to 12. Aspen has several babysitting agencies on call. Skiing begins with Big Burn Bears from age three and a half and there's a rare (for children aged under 7) 'boarding tuition offer for children aged under 5 - 'Bears on Boards'. From then on up there's a run of different programs for different ages, abilities and on-snow interests. Children from aged 7 to 12 up pay $35 a day for lift tickets, which compares poorly with children's lift ticket prices in leading resorts elsewhere in the world, if not in Colorado. A special trail map is available showing runs particularly well suited to children, including special gentle kids' trails through the woods and there's a special alcohol-free teenagers' bar in the town.

4 stars out of 5 overall