Ski and meet: Doing business on the slopes

Cold comfort: The Fairmont Banff Springs is a top meeting and ski destination.

By Mark Chesnut

With peak ski season rapidly approaching, the time is right to mix a decidedly snowy form of pleasure with your business travel. Indeed, the postcard-perfect slopes of North America’s greatest ski resorts can easily serve as an inspiring backdrop for that next meeting, conference or executive getaway. With venues as impressive as these, there’s no reason to come in from the cold.

The Fairmont Banff Springs
This historic ski resort, built in 1888, offers indulgent luxury as well as easy access to the breathtaking Rocky Mountains. Business-minded folks will appreciate the more than 76,000 square feet of meeting and event space; events worthy of the resort’s Scottish baronial style take place at the Mt. Stephen Hall, while unforgettably posh dinners are popular in the classically elegant Cascade Ballroom.

The Osprey at Beaver Creek, a RockResort
Scenically tucked into Colorado’s Beaver Creek Village, the Osprey at Beaver Creek, a RockResort, provides a picturesque setting for a variety of meetings and events. In the 1,200 square-foot Peregrine Room, which accommodates up to 75 people, visitors can mingle and network against the stunning backdrop of Beaver Creek Mountain.

Stowe Mountain Lodge
Located at the base of Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, Stowe Mountain Resort has 10 venue locations that can host meetings and events, including the new Spruce Camp Base Lodge, which is graced with a dramatic, 30-foot stone fireplace as well as 16,000 square feet of event space that includes a private meeting and dining room and an outdoor slope-side stone patio.

The Peaks Resort And Spa
One of the most business-friendly hotels in Telluride, Colorado, The Peaks can host anything from a board meeting to posh, Colorado-themed special events. Facilities include 5,200 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space for groups up to 350 — including Mt. Wilson Terrace, an outdoor space with camera-worthy views of the 14,000-foot peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Adjacent to theresort is the 11,000-square-foot Telluride Conference Center.

Related resources

• Family vacations
• Ski vacations
• Telluride hotels

Mark Chesnut is a writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He has never broken anything while skiing, but then again he snowplows an awful lot.

Tagged: Family time, Hotels