Ski school is one of the biggest differentiators for the best family-friendly ski resorts. For our new 2013 Ski School Spotlight series, I interviewed Ski School Directors from top family resorts to highlight need-to-know program details. I’ve covered Park City Mountain Resort and Keystone Resort so far; today’s featured ski area, Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, will be our last spotlight of the season.

See my comprehensive review of Sun Valley for families for details, but I love this destination ski resort for kids of all ages.

We had a tremendous family ski trip to Keystone this winter. This award-winning Colorado ski resort offers families optimal terrain and accommodations, an exceptional Keystone kids’ ski school program, as well as off-mountain fun for all ages.

Keystone also offers fantastic parents-only perks including the spa at the Keystone Lodge and a dinner worthy of a very special date night at the historic Ski Tip Lodge.

The phenomenal Kids’ Ski & Ride School at Keystone Resort is one of the things that makes this Colorado ski resort one of the best family ski destinations in the country. The Keystone team has put significant thought and resources behind a program that ensures learning to ski and snowboard is fun for all ages and that kids develop best practices from day one on the slopes.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Fred Rumford, Keystone’s Ski & Ride School Director, and learned why …

It’s not uncommon to watch a kids’ ski school lesson where the instructor(s) spend more time corralling kids than actually teaching them new skills. This is inevitable in larger group lessons where individual skills are likely to vary greatly. What if your kids were guaranteed a lesson with no more than five kids as part of the standard ski school program … Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

This is exactly what Park City Mountain Resort …

I grew up in the Midwest spending snowy winters skiing, ice skating, sledding and building snowmen. After moving to warmer climates and taking a twenty year hiatus from winter activities it’s nostalgic and exciting to see my family dive into all that winter has to offer. Resort at Squaw Creek is a convenient lodging choice for families and complements a Squaw Valley family ski trip well because it offers so many on-property winter activities.

Ski-in Ski-out Lodging

It’s a five minute walk from the hotel …

Driving to Val Thorens in the French Alps is an adventure as it involves a non-stop steep climb up the side of a mountain for an hour. On arrival you feel like you’ve just reached the top of the world. True statement. Val Thorens is the highest ski resort in Europe at 2,300 meters (7, 545 feet). It’s also part of Les 3 (Trois) Vallées, the largest ski area anywhere offering 600 kilometers of interconnected slopes. Like most of the big brand ski areas in Europe where navigating logistics is overwhelming, insider perspective is key.

Big picture, the thrill of skiing with kids can happen at the simplest resort with few amenities, but we are spoiled in North America with all of the excellent family ski resort options offering vastly different experiences. Keystone Resort in Colorado is unique in that it was purpose-built just for skiing. Imagine whiteboarding the “perfect” ski experience and then building the town around it. That’s Keystone.

Although we were able to ski at epic Swiss ski resorts including Davos, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Verbier, and Crans-Montana during our two years in Switzerland, one of my regrets is that we never got to Adelboden for a family ski holiday. Located at the end of a glorious valley in the Bernese Alps, Adelboden feels remote, yet it is easily accessible from both Zurich and Geneva via car or train.

My family just returned from Squaw Valley and discovered why families love skiing here. Mother Nature provided perfect conditions with good snow and beautiful blue skies. My kids, seven and nine, found their ski legs and my husband and I discovered why we like skiing as adults – it’s exercise in a gorgeous setting. We’ve caught the ski bug and there’s no going back.

Sun Valley is easy to love. It takes just one family ski trip to appreciate its advantages and the reasons why their guest return rate is so high.

Where is Sun Valley?

Sun Valley is in Idaho, 155 miles from Boise. A common misperception is that Sun Valley is difficult to access. I disagree. Although flying into Boise may require a connection, once you arrive, the airport is very user-friendly …