How and Where to Have Summer Fun at a U.S. Ski Resort

Families planning their summer travels may not think first of ski resorts. But many of these winter playgrounds are almost as busy in the summer. Without snow, their steep slopes are venues for water slides, mountain coasters, canopy tours, zip lines and mountain biking. Chairlifts and gondolas provide access to thrill rides and carry sightseers on scenic trips to mountaintop restaurants. At the foot of the mountains, many resorts also have golf courses, spas and other sports facilities. Consider some of these for your family’s summer adventures.

New Hampshire
Cranmore Mountain in North Conway was one of the nation’s first ski resorts to become a summer playground, adding a mountain coaster, giant swing and aerial adventure park. Nearby, Attitash is popular in summer for its single-rider Aquaboggan slides, with three different routes, hairpin turns and underground tunnels.

Overlooking the western White Mountains, Loon Mountain Gondola is New Hampshire’s longest scenic gondola ride at 1.3 miles long, and Loon Adventure Center at the base provides thrills at the outdoor climbing wall and a zip line whizzing over a river. In the state’s Lakes Region, Gunstock Mountain has one of the nation’s longest zip lines; a Mountain Coaster with banked corners and 360-degree turns; and the Aerial Treetop Adventure, New England’s largest aerial obstacle course.

Vermont
Vermont’s largest summer adventure park is Okemo Mountain Resort’s Adventure Zone, which features a mountain coaster, zip line tours, a treetop challenge course and mountain biking, as well as miniature golf, disc golf, Segway tours, bounce houses and a climbing wall. At Bromley Mountain, the Aerial Adventure Park includes 65 elements across five courses, while the ZipRider reaches speeds as high as 50 mph in its 700-foot vertical drop. There’s also a triple track Alpine Slide, Giant Swing and mini golf.

Utah
The Park City Mountain Alpine Slide is the state’s longest, with more than 3,000 feet of turns on two luge-like tracks. The alpine slide at Utah Olympic Park features 11 banked turns in more than half a mile of track. Also at the park are two Zipline Tours (one among the steepest zip lines in the world, reaching speeds of 50 mph), bobsled rides and classes in aerial ski jumping into the huge plunge pool. Served by the Chickadee chairlift, Snowbird’s alpine slide drops in curves down Chickadee Bowl and through a tunnel.