Family Ski Getaway Voting | Win A Ski Vacation | SKI Magazine

Family Getaway Finalists: Choose the Winners!
Drumroll, please... We’ve selected the finalists for our “Family Getaway Contest.” Now it’s up to you to help us choose three families to send on free ski vacations.

Complete Rules

You can read their entries below, select your three favorites, then click the "submit" button at the bottom of this form.

Vote For Your Favorite Entry, Below:

Today we went to ski at our favorite local resort,Kirkwood. Unfortunately, due to a fire on Friday, they were having small technical problems with the lifts. Basically the lifts weren't moving. My husband is all gung ho to ski up and ski down. The kids and I, well, we prefer the lazier route, riding the chair lift up and skiing down. It really would be a nice vacation for the entire family to ski at a place with reliable lifts.

We have had a rough year and a half. Had our 3rd child last March 3. Months later, we found I had a recurrent brain tumor that is incurable. Had surgery, radiation, chemo. Still on chemo. We have a 12, 10 & 21 mo. old. My husband and kids have been thru the ringer. Just a chance to relax, forget about cancer away from home would be bliss.

There are many wonderful things about skiing, but I would like to take my family to witness my ski explosion crash. It unfolds like this: You are enjoying a great run, cruising or ripping...it doesn’t really matter. You catch an edge and the fun begins. Down you go, twisting into the snow like a rag doll, impacting the (hopefully) soft and forgiving surface as all of your equipment and accessories fly off of your body. After the laughter, they say, “WOW! Let’s go again!”

I am a Sergeant in the United States Army and have very little time to spend with my family. My wife and I both love to ski and I want nothing more than for my daughter to have the opportunity to enjoy the mountains as much as we do. Please give my family the chance to spend some well-deserved time in the mountains.

We live in the Northeast and we love winter! Our daughter turns 17 this year and we know the days of family vacation will soon be difficult to come by. We also know that do to the economy we will not be able to travel to ski/board this year. Is there anyone out there who doesn't feel the need to get away from it all? The slopes are a great place to take in the beauty,work off the stress and enjoy life. Take us away....

Love to win a vacation. No fun for us since 2001. All work and no play make parents grumpy. Working 12-hour days, six days a week. Four kids. Layoffs. No savings. No vacation days. It’s time for some R&R.

I have a family of four ski worshipers. Unfortunately, I've been in nursing school for two years and it's expensive, so we've been unable to go skiing. My family and I "deserve" to win a trip because we're sacrificing so that I may help ensure the health of mankind for the future! It would be great to relax with my family on the slopes so we can reconnect with each other and nature. Thanks.

My kid has more chromosomes than yours! Our family is proud of Brandon. Born and immediately put in foster care, this "unadoptable child" with Down syndrome was adopted at eight months. Soon we discovered Brandon also had autism and fetal alcohol syndrome. Undaunted, Brandon has thrived. Now 14, Brandon loves the outdoors. He is exceeding all expectations. Brandon's family has plenty of reward in Brandon's heart-felt hugs and smiles. Yet you could help create extra reasons to smile and some lasting memories by helping Brandon thank his loving family with some deserved respite and family time in the mountains.

My parents met and married in Colorado where they ski patrolled at Arapahoe Basin. Roots called them back to the East to raise a family. They raised three skiers from the time we could walk: Mason, Jessica, then Davis. “You mean we could have been born in Colorado?!” we used to cry. My brothers soon took to the West and now ski under the big blue skies of Colorado and Montana. Family ski trips used to take place right here in Vermont growing up, but now that we’re all spread out, they’re few and far between. We love skiing together.

I am the father of an independent set of teens, who Facebook, Tweeter and X-box. What does this mean? It means that I spend most of the time looking at the backs of their heads. It also means that their world is limited to a 20-inch screen with filled fake reality. A trip such as this would allow me to see their faces, I hope I recognize them! It might cure them of their electronic illness that makes them believe that the world begins and ends on a screen.

Because skiing is life!

I'm a 46 year old single dad who taught my kids to ski when they were young, and we ski a lot. They've only skied in Minnesota and have no idea how amazing big-mountain skiing is. Skiing here means short, quick runs on small, powderless hills. The countless chairlift rides where I describe how fun it'd be to take them "skiing for real" just earns the response of "That sounds great, Dad. We'd love to go." Getting off the chairlift on top of a mountain with my kids on a wonderful ski vacation would be a dream come true!

This pesky recession, has got us snowed in. We’ve a mountain of bills to pay. It’s truly a shame that our family vacation must wait for another day. But wait, did somebody say ‘mountain’? Did I hear the word ‘snow’? Oh, how we all long to go! To Smugglers’ Notch, to Northstar, or Steamboat... We’ll run and get our coats. Our skis are ready, our bags are zipped. Please, please choose us for this trip!

My husband deserves a family ski vacation for many reasons. We're about to have our first child in early February, which is not only prime ski season, but his birthday month AND the winter olympics in Vancouver, which he's dreamed of attending for many years. Not the best timing, but you only get to welcome your first child into the world once! He's been a huge support during my pregnancy and is going to be an amazing father. He truly deserves a Tahoe treat and a few good runs this season.

This trip isn't so much about me, as it is for my husband. Bob was laid off with only one month to go before he could retire (if he chose to). I'm not sure what hurts him more, his loss of self-esteem or the fear that tomorrow will be just another extension of today. Our grand daughters live with us, they too, worry about him. He loves the mountains, this trip would be a gift to him and the girls.

My wife and I are Alpine ski instructors at a nice ski hill in Wisconsin (321 vertical feet). I work 40 hours a week at Home Depot, work for my wife on Saturdays at her florist business, and we instruct on Sundays. We work seven days a week during the winter. I also have a wedding officiating business. We love skiing out West, but with the economy the way it is, it is not likely that we will be going any time in the next few years.

We are house-bound! My husband is driving me crazy! And the snow around here sucks!! Skiing is something we did together when we were dating and we both love it; now that we have kids we can't afford it. Haven't skiied in years. Our ski gear is collecting dust in the basement—if it doesn't used soon it might wind up in our next garage sale!

Our family deserves to win the ski vacation because well.....2 words PANCREATIC CANCER! In October of 2008 our beloved mother, mother in law, and dear grandmother died after a 6 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Three months after she died, our brother, brother in law, and uncle was also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On January 9th, 2010 he will have defied the odds and survived a year with this disease. He has endured the atomic bomb of surgeries, the whipple procedure, only to discover it has returned. The next few months will be grueling for the sad Sorensen family.

Have you met my mother?

With two very active boys (8 and 11). My motto: To wear them out before they wear me out! Then at the end of the day, at least I can say they skied hard and will sleep hard. My oldest son was just talking about how much he likes the local ski areas but would love to try “conquering” other mountains.

Our cat died. The roof is leaking. My grandma is in the hospital. I crave snow.

My family has skied in Southwestern Michigan our whole lives. That fact itself should spawn such a deep sense of sympathy in the hearts of anyone who reads this that you immediately stop the contest and award; not one, but all three family getaways to the Visser family. If you have only skied here, you instantly understand our dilemma. If you are not familiar with Southwestern Michigan skiing, I hope to enlighten you a bit. The highest point of the "resort” that we frequent is 232 feet. That’s a 232 feet vertical…..not 2320! Thank you for your understanding.

While I do find some peace and solace listening to rolling waves and ocean breezes, I take sanctity in the serene, majestic surroundings of the mountains. Hearing the crackling tree branches from the weight of the snow, it’s as if the glistening flakes can speak their own language. When the wind whips up a torrent on the apex, it's pure survival. Nothing takes you away from the chatter of your mind than a whisk through fresh powder tracks. And...Nothing is better than finding that your seven-year-old daughter has inherited your passion for traversing the wide-open bowls with you.

Skiing has been, still is and always will be my driving force in life. The more I ski, the happier I am. The happier I am, the better family man I am!

There is only one way to put it: MOM NEEDS A VACATION!!! Lets face it, we moms do everything! Most of us have real jobs, on top of all the mom duties. "Feed the cat, feed the dog, cook the meals, wash the dishes, do the laundry, clean the house, pay the bills, taxi the kids, shop for groceries...PLUS be ready for anything, AND HAPPY TO DO IT!!!! WHICH I AM. :) I LOVE MY FAMILY.

from Baconator on 5.11.10.

Did no one win?

from cmuddly2 on 2.14.10.

I voted for Rush Limbaugh!

from dmaz101 on 2.06.10.

notyou...

Right. Don't bother to take the time to read about a family who could really use a wonderful vacation because of the hard times they're going through. Let's vote for the person who didn't take the time and pretty much entered the contest as a joke.

Let me guess... You're a fan of Rush Limbaugh, aren't you?

from notyou on 2.05.10.

Hey -- I voted for "My cat died." Actually I should've voted for "Have you met my mother?"

This is the Internet, not Readers Digest, so I went for short and funny.

Honestly, trying to wade through the heartfelt entries is a lost cause. And how do you choose between PANCREATIC CANCER, autism + fetal alcohol syndrome, brain tumor, pregnant, single dad or laid-off for saddest story? You don't.

from Kragore on 2.04.10.

Please note - I don't know if it's my browser/OS or if the site's been screwed with, but upon hitting submit on the three that resonated with me the most, all the boxes auto-checked and I got an error at the top of the page.

I'll come back later and see if it's been fixed.

from skiierx131 on 2.04.10.

Going to agree with you dmaz. I just read through them and didn't know if they were serious entries or not.... Honestly, a waste.

from dmaz101 on 2.04.10.

My cat died? Have you met my mother? These made it as finalists?

I'm glad I took the time to write an honest and heartfelt entry (which was exactly 100 words), which did not make it to the final choices.