I’ve going on ski vacations to Steamboat with my family for…more than 20 years now? (YEESH when I did I get so old?!) And I look forward to them every time. Oh how I’m always sad to leave this place! Even though I was sick the entire time during this last trip out to Steamboat (which made it even harder to leave!), I always get a ton of questions about how to plan a fun and healthy vacation and how to enjoy your vacation AND not feel like total crap when you go home, so I’ve been working on this post with a bunch of Healthy Ski Vacation Tips for you guys! Hope you enjoy!

Before the Trip:

Figure out your accommodations.

If you’re going to be hitting the slopes or other activities, I highly recommend staying somewhere that has its own kitchen (or at least a small kitchenette) with a refrigerator, so you can prepare to-go lunches to take with you. This fills multiple functions: 1) skipping breakfast sucks, and you’ll ski or board better if you’ve got something in your belly instead of being hangry all morning. 2) you can pack a lunch and/or snacks to bring with you on the slopes. 3) this will also save you SO MUCH $$ rather than eating out for every lunch and dinner on your trip!

FYI: there’s a free bus that takes you between the slopes, condos/townhouses/hotels, and downtown (where all the restaurants, shops and grocery stores are), and it’s pretty easy to get a shuttle from the airport. So you really don’t need to rent a car!

Pro tip: buy your ski tickets online IN ADVANCE for 15% off! We got the IKON pass this year, which gives you 5 days at Steamboat, and it was worth it by just skiing for only 3 days (we did 5, so it was more than worth it!). Highly recommend! 

Do some google-ing/yelp-ing for restaurants and a grocery store. These are some of my favorites with great options for gluten-free too:

Breakfast/Brunch: Winona’s Restaurant. A local staple, probably most known for their MASSIVE cinnamon rolls. Everything on the menu looks so good it’ll take you twice as long to decide, I swear. My favorites on this trip: chocolate chip and banana pancakes and the kale + sweet potato hash. Delicious!

Mexican/Tacos: Salt & Lime. If you like margaritas and/or tacos, this is your spot (and we’re probably best friends). Very gluten-free friendly. Had the Durango bowl, added shrimp – DELICIOUS. Family loved the tacos (which can all be made gluten-free with corn tortillas), especially the bison, chicken tinga, and carne asada. Mom loved the enchiladas. Great happy hour specials too!

American/Sports Bar: Carl’s Tavern. Great gluten-free friendly place to grab burgers or upscale American food, but it gets crowded fast, especially on game days! The rotisserie chicken is bomb, and so are all the burgers on the menu!

Upscale American/Small Plates: Laundry. Try to make a reservation here ASAP. It’s so freaking good, and so worth it. Their Brussels Sprouts hash was literally life-changing for me. A recipe re-make is coming soon for that one! The Pow Pow shrimp are SO good, as is the brisket.

Steakhouse: The Ore House at Pine Grove Restaurant. My family has been coming to this place since I was little. Now that I’ve grown up (and discovered I had celiac a few years back), I’m so grateful they have an entire gluten-free menu, which includes almost everything off the regular menu. Some favorites: Chipotle-Raspberry Salmon, Steak Tips, and all the steaks (obviously).

Italian: Mambo Italiano. This is a locals’ favorite spot, and you can substitute (super fresh, not sure if they make it in-house or not) gluten-free pasta for pretty much any of the pasta dishes. They’re also super knowledgeable and careful about celiac, which is great for me!

Italian: Mazzola’s. Honestly I love both these restaurants so much I couldn’t pick between the two. They have GF pasta, bread, and pizza available. And it is DELICIOUS. My whole family adored this place, every single dish was demolished, from the appetizers, to the entrees, to the fun and inventive cocktails. My favorite this time was the pesto chicken pasta, and the baked feta appetizer was great! 

Cafe for casual lunch/breakfast: Rootz Organic Cafe & Shop. Tons of gluten-free, vegetarian & vegan options. I’ve actually never been here because we’re always skiing during the day, but a friend who is both gluten-free and vegan highly recommended this place! They have breakfast options, smoothies, juice, sandwiches, delicious-looking bowls (even a paleo bowl!)  the whole (café) 9 yards.

Grocery stores: Natural Grocers is a great option downtown. If you don’t need a specialty store, City Market or Safeway, which are off the main strip.

Need a break from skiing?

Check out the Old Town Hot Springs! For $20 you get a towel rental and can hang out in the hot springs all day if you’d like. It’s a great way to spend a day off the slopes and just relax – you are on vacation, after all!

Out Here Yoga is a great place to practice on your day off (or any time on your vacation!) It’s one of the most beautiful yoga studios I’ve ever visited – you have a view of the mountains from the class. Everyone was super welcoming to us visitors, and encouraged us to come back whenever we could! Loved the flow of the class, the instructor was great, and I loved the energy. Would definitely go back next time I’m in town!

Get out of here with your rules.

Don’t go into a vacation saying you’re “not allowed” to have X and X and X or dessert at any restaurant, because then you’ll only want it that much more. At the same time, if you’re used to dieting or restricting constantly, and then you say “oh f*ck it, it’s vacation” and eat dessert for every lunch and dinner of vacation… your body prooobably not going to be feeling too good, you’ll probably be feeling super guilty about what you ate too, and feel like you need to restrict again to make up for it. (If this is you, I’d highly recommend working with someone who can help you get out of the cycle – like me!) 

Pack travel snacks

Make sure you have stuff for the plane (or car ride, if you’re driving) because you never know when you’ll get stuck in an airport, or have a delayed flight resulting in zero time to grab food between connections. A couple things I usually bring: jerky, bars, Superfood Trail Mix, Vital Proteins Collagen, some dark chocolate (duh) and Activated Charcoal (in case of accidental cross-contamination and gluten ingestion – EEK). 

If you’re going to be bringing your lunch with you, make sure to pack some tupperware and resealable bags!

 

WHEN YOU GET THERE

Head to the grocery store!

Remember that grocery store close to your place (with the kitchen!) you looked up? One of the first things my family does after we get settled into our place is to head to the grocery store. We stock up on necessities for breakfast, lunches to pack for the slopes, and some snacks to tide us over between getting home from the slopes and going to dinner. 

Breakfast ideas: eggs, bacon/sausage, avocado, fruit, green juice, toast, pancakes, oatmeal, whatever your heart desires! Fuel up for a big day on the slopes. Bonus: restaurant portions are usually HUGE, so save some of your dinner and scramble those veggies or meat in eggs the next morning for breakfast!

Lunch ideas: this can get a little tricky, if you have to be gluten-free. You could grab some GF bread for sandwiches, or go the bowl route (this is what I usually do, since GF bread isn’t usually great without a toaster!) A super simple idea is to pick up a rotisserie chicken, some veggies, and some sweet potatoes or rice, and bake/prepare those in advance. DO A MINI MEAL PREP!  It only takes a few minutes to chop everything up and throw it in the oven (here’s where that kitchenette comes in!), and then quickly throw together tupperware lunches! Buy a spice blend and some hot sauce. Bring a fork along with your tupperware. There are some pretty good (gluten-free!) options on the mountain too like soups and salads, at Rendezvous Saddle and Ragnar’s!

PRO TIP: Usually on ski trips you won’t have to worry about carrying a cooler with you – it’s colder outside than it is in your refrigerator anyway! So your lunch will be fine for a few hours when you’re hitting the slopes in the morning.  

Après-ski snacks: I love snacking on GF crackers + cheese or hummus or carrots and salsa or guacamole, or a bar/trail mix that I brought along on the trip. Chips and salsa is my family’s JAM. 

Make some reservations for dinner

The popular places fill up fast, so check those places you bookmarked and call them up! I feel like I never eat enough veggies on vacation, which makes me feel really sluggish. So I try to do that at dinners.

Eat deliciously, ski like crazy (but don’t be a dummy), and HAVE FUN!!

What are your favorite healthy ski vacation tips? Leave them in the comments!