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­What’s New in Ski Resorts

Late-night action at Vail, Colo. Credit...Zach Mahone/Vail Resorts

The flurry of recent ski news in North America has drifted into several piles. To ensure their own longevity, resorts continue to court families and increasingly offer a variety of nonski activities — from the novelty of biking in the snow to pre-ski-run yoga classes — that keep casual skiers from straying. This year, there’s more terrain to ski, and sometimes more terrain per pass (Vail Resorts’ recent acquisition of Park City Mountain Resort in Utah means a lift ticket there is also good at nearby Canyons Resort, another Vail property). Among novelties, expect snowcat-based “food trucks,” ice glamping and a nightclub at a lightheaded 10,000 feet.

­­To encourage the next generation of skiers and snowboarders, ski resorts are relying on entertainment, easier slope access and a few bargain offers.

In Colorado, Aspen Skiing Company will unveil a $5 million children’s center at the base of Buttermilk, one of its four ski areas, this year. The 7,500-square-foot Hideout will house the ski school and serve students ages 2 to 12 with indoor play areas as a gateway to the family-friendly slopes. Nearby, its Snowmass resort will add four new lift-served snow tubing lanes for ages 4 to 14.

Replacing the classic bunny hill, new sculpted terrain with bumps, berms, banks and mini-halfpipes adds excitement to beginner lessons. Northstar California Resort near Lake Tahoe will expand its terrain-based learning area, while Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia will add similar features to its teaching area.

For the third year, Keystone Resort in Colorado will offer free lift tickets to children 12 and under, provided they (and parents) stay two or more nights at one of the resort’s accommodations.

­After-hours parties still fill mountainside bars, but several resorts are expanding the definition of night life to include nocturnal recreation.

Mammoth Mountain in California plans to introduce “cosmic tubing” at Woolly’s Tube Park, featuring a D.J. and music-synched disco-style lighting along with food and drink specials. Steamboat Ski Resort in northwestern Colorado introduced night skiing last year and will add two nights for a total of five per week this year.

Guests of the Sebastian-Vail hotel in Vail, Colo., can enroll in its new “night owl” fitness program, offering moonlight snowshoeing, tubing and biking. In Aspen, Hotel Jerome will offer twilight dogsledding.

­­To vary guests’ itineraries, resorts are increasingly expanding their snow-play menu beyond skiing and snowboarding.

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Stair climbing at Telluride.Credit...Ben Eng

Top on the list is snow biking — the equivalent of mountain bikes with puffy snow tires. In Colorado, Crested Butte Mountain Resort just purchased 10 snow bikes, offering renters the opportunity to pedal on approved trails after taking a two-hour lesson and a guided tour around the mountain. In Breckenridge, Colo., Breck Bike Guides now offers snow bike rentals as well as guided tours.

Sugar Bowl Resort near Lake Tahoe, Calif., will introduce snow-bike-specific trails at its affiliated Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort next door. The 6,000-acre Nordic ski center will also offer snow kiting, in which a kite-boarding-style sail propels the skier holding it.

Several new programs combine adventure and relaxation, such as “Mountain to Mat” workshops at Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe, including a half-day guided ski tour, lunch, an afternoon yoga class and a mini spa treatment. Telluride Ski Resort in southwestern Colorado will offer a four-day “Ski, Yoga, Ride,” bracketing ski lessons with morning and evening yoga classes.

­Among new lodging options in ski country, the rustic-chic 64-room Hotel Jackson will open in downtown Jackson, Wyo., in January. Near Jackson Town Square, the hotel will offer complimentary breakfast and free shuttles to the airport and to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

In Stateline, Nev., the new 539-room Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe will open in January, with four restaurants, a 25,000-square-foot casino and live music venues.

In British Columbia, Four Seasons Resort Whistler will introduce glamping on ice this winter, offering helicopter transfers to the Pemberton Ice Cap in the Coast Mountains for a pampered overnight in a pop-up snow hotel, complete with hot tubs and pre-warmed duvets on the beds.

­The food truck phenomenon has been adapted to the slopes in the form of mobile snowcat machines that go where no caterer has gone before. In Colorado, Ski Cooper will dish hot food from its snowcat-based Cat Trax. Nearby, Breckenridge Ski Resort will introduce its mobile Snowdrifter, a trailer towed by a snowcat, which will rove around the resort throughout the season.

Slower on-mountain options offer rooms with views. In southwest Montana, Big Sky Resort will open Everett’s 8800 atop Andesite Mountain, promising hearty fare, fireplaces indoors and out and views of surrounding peaks. In Park City, Utah, Canyons Resort built a new home for its Cloud Dine restaurant, popular for its chicken potpie, expanding capacity 40 percent. In Lake Tahoe, Northstar’s Zephyr Lodge will introduce a twice-monthly “mountain table” menu, sourced entirely in California.

Skip lunch and go straight for taffy and Tootsie Rolls at the new Candy Cabin, selling sweets by the pound at the top of the Strawberry Park Express Lift at Beaver Creek.

­The traditional après-ski party will expand at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Friday through Sunday, a midday party at its East Peak Lodge will start at 1 p.m. with drink specials and live music.

For six nights throughout the season, Vail Mountain will offer Decimo, a nightclub at 10,250 feet reached by a gondola with heated seats and with free Wi-Fi for posting Instagram updates.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section TR, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: . . . and New Reasons to Stay Awhile. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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