Alpine Meadows Kids Camp

"Friendliest staff and wondeful facilities"

Kids Camp at Alpine Meadows is a top class ski school.  The staff is friendly and warm.  The facilities are kid-friendly and clean.  Best of all, the price is right. Don't be fooled when you see that Alpine charges about 20% less than other ski resorts for full or half day kid lessons.  You won't be getting anything less for the discount.  

Although we arrived late for registration, the staff at Kid's Camp quickly got us registered and found a spot for our 4 and 6 year olds.  I was excited that while there is a "no parents zone", parents and kids were easily able to see what kids club looks like from the registration table.  The facilities were pretty large with separate rooms for different aged kids.  The happy colors and decor helped kids ease up because Kids Camp felt like a fun place.  The staff was friendly and casual setting a comfortable tone.

The instructors seemed very experienced with working with young children.  This was the first time that our 4 year old was going to participate in a full day ski program.  I was half expecting a protest at drop off.  However, the instructors were very skilled in keeping things positive.  When our 4 year old who is positively obsessed with the color green kept insisting that he didn't want to wear an orange vest like the rest his group, I was really grateful that the instructors were flexible and allowed him to wear the green one.  It went a long way in keeping him happy to go along with this new experience.  

The beginning bunny slope is serviced by a magic carpet and is located right outside the doors of the kids camp area.  It was a breeze to get the kids out the door and onto the snow.  The adult to child ratio was no more than 1:4 at any time.  Although the area is fenced off, it was located between a couple of chair lifts.  This made it easy for parents to stop by regularly to catch a peek at how their kids are doing.  The instructors were incredibly patient and upbeat all day.  The only complaint that I have is the person operating the magic carpet wasn't as attentive as I would have liked.  There were a couple of times that a kid would fall on the chair lift and no one would notice for 3-4 minutes.  Meanwhile, the skier was laying awkwardly blocking the magic carpet.   This caused other kids to trip up if the little fallen over skier was not able to scoot over to the side.

Kids who are turning well on the bunny slopes move on up to the subway chair which is a bit of a hike away.  I don't know how a 4 year old would carry all their gear over, but our 6 year old was surprisingly happy to make the trip out there.

Lunch at Kids Camp was a corn dog.  I really wish that they could have served something more healthy. I'm not one of those "everything must be organic" types of moms, but it is a shame to feed kids corn dogs when there is an opportunity to get some healthy food into these little bodies that are so hungry from all that physical activity.  Our 4 year love all the hot cocoa breaks though.    

At the end of the day the instructors go through what your child has accomplished during the day and what they should be working on next.  Our kids were so excited for moms and dads to hear about all their accomplishments.  Our 6 year old was beaming that he made it on a chair lift and was feeling so much more comfortable making turns.

Alpine Meadows Kids Camp is an excellent full day ski school at a reasonable price.