With snow again falling lightly outside my office window this morning, I once again find myself compelled to bring y’all a ski deal. Maybe it’s the continued and very out of the ordinary snow in Portland, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m headed to Colorado on Tuesday to hit the slopes over Christmas, but something has inspired me to make sure everyone who is craving some time up on the mountain this winter should be able to find an incredible deal to make it happen—and I’m going to help.

My family just scored a great last minute deal to Steamboat over the holidays, and this morning I found a great deal at Steamboat for families—if anyone out there wants to join me in Steamboat over Christmas, just look for a girl in a light blue jacket and helmet bombing down the mountain. The deal allows kids to ski free under 12 with every adult lift ticket purchased, which can add up to some huge savings. There are also great slopeside hotels starting at just $144/night (remember to negotiate down!).

In fact, with people pinching their pennies with the current economic downturn, ski resorts are offering up some pretty great deals to encourage folks to still book that ski vacation this winter. Last minute deals for ski trips over the holidays are also a great way to save a lot of money. A tip I learned from my father? Call the hotel up (especially in slow seasons like this one) and tell them you’d like to stay for 3 nights IF they are willing to bump the price down a bit. Sounds strange, but it usually works. They’d rather have you paying for 3 nights at a lower price then leave the room empty, so it’s a good way to negotiate a room at rock bottom prices.