Crested Butte is one of the last family-owned ski areas. The pricing is excellent for families there. The kids pay a fee equal to their own ages (from ages 5 to 12) for a lift ticket, and it has a very cute little town.

There's a free shuttle bus and numerous restaurants.  Other things to do in the area include free guided mountain tours, dogsledding, and ice-skating.

Crested Butte has a pleasant atmosphere and we all liked it.

In addition, there is a skiing instruction and activity program for age groups 3-4, 5-7, 8-12, and 13-16, as well as daycare for non-skiing kids ages 6-months to 7-years. 

This commentary was first published by FTF in 2002.

[Editor's Note: In 2005, the Okemo Mountain Resorts of Vermont bought the Crested Butte Mountain Resort for its ski/ride operations, leaving the lodging and other businesses to operate independently. Long known as a playground for extreme skiers and riders with some of the toughest steeps in the West, the folks at Okemo are making many upgrades geared to families. New high-speed quads have already gone in, and soon visitors will have daily two-hour, introductory Round the Mountain tours provided free of charge by mountain guides. Additionally, the Okemo group has said that some of the famous blues, blacks and double black diamonds of Crested Butte will be re-groomed to provide more beginner and intermediate terrain.]

For more information, visite www.skicb.com or call 800/810-SNOW