Kids Program

[Denison]

Looking to enroll my to-be-7 year old son into one of full day ski programs this season. He should have more fun with peers then with tagging behind daddy / ahead of mommy. I want to start with half-day, see how it works out, how he likes it. Our experience at Kids Kampus until now is few Private Lessons, with varied success.

Last season, I'd classify him as an intermediate skier (for kindergartner) or beginner for adult. WF site says that for kid his age they got "Junior Adventure Program" and "Cloudsplitter Club Program" - what is the difference? Does "Cloudsplitter Club" require full season payment and commitment? Is any of these 2 programs have smaller groups, more skill based groups? Which trails do they take 'em? How filled/crowded these programs are on a regular weekend?

Thank in advance to those who'll share his experience.

[Face4Me]

The CloudSplitter Club is a season-long program. The kids ski full days every Saturday and half days on Sunday. There's also a couple of holiday Mondays for Martin Luther King Day and President's Day.

It's a great program ... my kids have been in it from the beginning, and they really like it. They break the kids up primarily by ability, though they also try to match age groups as best they can. The advanced group skis the entire mountain, as conditions permit. Going down from there, they'll take the kids on whatever trails are appropriate based on their ability and the conditions.

In the less advanced groups, there are typically about 4-5 kids per instructor, while at the more advanced levels, they go up to about 7-8 kids per instructor. The nice thing is that the kids generally ski with the same instructor for the whole season, unless they advance to another group during the season. This generates a lot of familiarity and continuity between the kids and the instructors. Also, the instructors in this program are generally "more seasoned", as opposed to the high school kids you'll typically find in the other Kids Kampus programs (please don't anyone misinterpret this comment ... my kids had a great time in the other Kids Kampus programs as well, and learned how to ski there! I think the "kids" teaching "kids" just works better for the younger ones in that 4-6 age range.)

Like I said, it's a great program but it does have the season long "commitment". That said, there's no "requirement" to show up each weekend, but you do have to pay for it in full, in advance!!!

I don't have any experience with the Junior Adventure program ... I had moved my son from the Kids Kampus programs to the Cloudsplitter Program when he turned seven.

Either way, I don't think you can go too wrong with Whiteface Kids Kampus programs. Like anything else, there are going to be some bad days, and some things that you may not like from time to time, but overall, they really do a GREAT job over there! (IMHO)

[SKIdds]

We've been using the day long Kids Kampus programs (Play and Ski, Junior Adventure) for the past 4 years. Very nice programs that our kids really enjoy. Our daughter has been in the Junior Adventure program the past three years. Even though we often go holiday weekends, kids are split by ability and the groups are relatively small. Usually not more than 6 or 7 kids, sometimes as few as 2 or 3. Heck, on some week days our kids have had a private instructor. When she was 7 and in the Junior Adventure program she didn't leave the Kids Kampus area, but she was in the lowest ability level for the program. At age 8, getting better, her group skied the Face Lift. This past season at age 9 she skied off the gondola with her instructor, skiing Excelsior and Essex. I believe they would have taken the Summit Quad and skied Parons and the Follies, but one of the girls in the group didn't want to. Just for frame of reference on ability level, this past season our daughter could comfortably and confidently ski any intermediate trail, and could also get down some of the easier expert trails taking a bit more time (Essex, Lower Cloudspin). They do separate by ability level as best they can, but even when doing so the group may be limited by the ability or desires of another child. Overall I give the program a big thumbs up. My daughter has not only had a lot of fun, but has shown steady improvement in her ability level.

[Denison]

thanks guys. here is my re$earch results:

from the price point Cloudsplitter Club program is a much better deal, even this "late" at $1020 plus lunch for 15 full and a 13 half days comes to $52 per full day. Last season's rate for full day+lunch for Junior Adventure is $105! Commitment is the key though..

i checked similar program at Gore, their Mountain Adventure. Last year's full season rate is $1080 - that's lunch included and 28 full days of skiing with President's weekend off (smart move). With last season prices it comes at $39 per full day. This program would require another level of commitment - from me to ski Gore most of the season, not sure I can do that. On the plus side is a great tubing park at the Bowl, no comparison to what we have here at NJ's Campgaw mtn.

I hope Gore regulars read new posts on this forum as well, so I will not create an empty thread pointing here. How good is Gore's program, how far do 7-year-olds venture?

[SKIdds]

Cloudsplitter Club looks like a nice program if you are going to ski a lot. Basically, if you know you are going to get at least 6 weekends in (including MLK and President's Week) then you have passed break-even on the Club and anything more is gravy. So if you can commit to at least that then the Club looks like a no brainer. The Gore program is a better value and with all full days and more weekends your break-even might only be 5 weekends, but as you said.....you need to commit to Gore for the season.

Good luck deciding.