I’ve spent at least 30 hours over the last couple of years researching family ski trips.
The selfish reason is that I just love skiing and want the kids to have a reason to still be coming on family vacations in 20 or 30 years. The selfless reason is that I’m investing to help them develop a skill for life. Skiing is like riding a bike, in that it gives agency, and a love of exploring outdoors.
Last year it took me at least 5 hours of research to decide our plan for 2026 (Ikon, with our first trip to Mammoth), even using multiple LLMs. With three kids, one of them too young for ski school at most places, there were a lot of inputs. Can she get in at this resort? Is there enough beginner terrain for Ms.8 who’s still cautious? Will Ms.10 be stretched? Is the village walkable or will we spend the whole trip driving to/from the mountain?
The information is out there. It’s just scattered across blogs, forums, and resort websites that haven’t been updated since before covid.
Last week over MLK weekend I decided I could probably fix this for myself and maybe for other people. A few days later: whereshouldwe.ski .
Total time to launch: about 5 hours, thanks to Claude Code.
It has 1,000+ resorts around the world, with comparisons and rankings on the things that actually matter when you’re traveling with family:
- Minimum ski school age (some start at 2, some not until 4)
- Walkability (can you get from lodging to lifts without a car?)
- Beginner terrain quality
- General family vibe
- Season pass (Epic, Ikon, independent)
- Cost tier
Most ski sites are built for terrain nerds who want to know vert and expert acres. That was me 10 years ago, but not anymore. Now I need to know: can Ms.3 get into ski school, and will we spend the whole trip in a car?
This was a fun little project, and I’ll plan to maintain it if it gets any traction. At worst, it will make our decision for next season a bit easier.
Try it if you’re planning a trip: whereshouldwe.ski