Seasonal youth ski programs (Bear Valley vs Tahoe)
I'm exploring seasonal youth downhill ski programs for my 7 year old for next winter and wondering if other families have experience with this in either Bear Valley or Tahoe. So far I've been looking at Sugar Bowl, Tahoe Donner, and Bear Valley. Bear Valley has the best schedule for us (every other weekend, program includes both Sat and Sun) but also the most limited housing options in the area. Curious what others with kids in ski programs do for reasonable accomodation (ski leases, etc.). Thanks.
Jan 30, 2025
Parent Replies
Generally speaking most people who do ski programs for their kids have a 2nd home or a ski lease. It would be cost prohibitive to do short term rentals every weekend in/near tahoe. We loved bear valley when we visited a few seasons ago, super family friendly. Not a big corporate resort and we stayed in arnold. That being said, if you're looking for lots of dining/nightlife options it seemed like that area was quiet compared to north lake tahoe. One thing we did for my daughter was palisades had a mountain camp which was two weekends in a row at the start of december. It was cheaper than normal lessons and it was a good intro to the season.
If you're open to South Lake Tahoe, we've loved the ski school at Sierra. It's a smaller mountain compared to Palisades or Heavenly, but they do a great job with kids. You can find places to rent in Meyers or South Lake that are anywhere from 15 to 30 min drive from the mountain. You can buy a 3 pack or 10 pack of lessons for pretty reasonable prices (this season, the 3 pack averages out to about $235/day for 8:30am-3:30pm and price includes equipment and lunch). My kids (6 and 4) are learning at Sierra and they love it!
We have been very happy with Sugar Bowl's Sunday program Mountain Shredders. And, once my kids aged out of that, they joined the snowboard development team at the Auburn Ski Club, located at Boreal - every Saturday.
We joined the Oakland Ski Club, which provides convenient and fun lodging right next to Sugar Bowl.
I highly recommend.
We love Bear Valley! It’s an amazing mountain for family and friends at all levels. Our girls — 5 & 6 — started skiing at Bear Valley a few years ago, and we hope to do the ski club next year. But we have cousins and other friends in the program now who rave about it—and all the kids are such little rippers around the mountain. The parties and events for families participating in the program all look inviting too. Other things to consider: Bear Valley rarely has traffic to/from the Bay Area, but there is also no road-plowing to the houses so it’s more of an adventure. It’s beyond beautiful once you’re up here with great surprise stashes of fresh snow, but Bear Valley is wayyyyy less developed than Tahoe. Bear Valley’s cross-country ski area is pretty special too.