(JTA) — Is skiing somehow inherently Jewish?

Think about it: There’s the snow, the oblong shape of the ski, the way the chairlift hoists you up in the air.

Still don’t see it? Me neither.

But as a Jew who loves skiing, here’s what I can offer: Recommendations for five places in America the Jews should ski this year.

Keystone, for the kids (Colorado)

Keystone ski resort is brimming with kid-friendly activities, from the fireworks displays on weeknights to the terrain park for beginners to the tubing area and snow fort atop the 11,640-foot Dercum peak.

But the most kid-friendly thing about this 3,148-acre ski area — the second-largest in Colorado — is what it does for the pocketbook: Kids under 12 ski free.

As long as you stay at least two nights at a Keystone property, you don’t have to pay for kids’ lift tickets. And not just your kids, but anyone staying with you. There are no blackout dates.

This goes far beyond other resorts’ offers of a complimentary kid’s ticket for every paying adult. So if you’ve followed the Torah’s injunction to be fruitful and multiply, now’s your chance to reap some rewards.

There are two other good reasons to take your family to Keystone. Located just an hour west of Denver, it’s easy to reach. And most multi-day Keystone tickets are also good at Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek and Arapahoe Basin, giving you thousands more acres of skiing a few miles down the road.

Vital Stats:
Size: 3,148 acres
Trails: 135
Lifts: 20
Vertical: 3,128 feet (Base: 9,280. Summit: 12,048 feet)
Special features: Five bowls and a 60-acre terrain park consistently rated among the top five in the country. If your kids are too young for the slopes, the Mountain Top Children’s Museum at Breckenridge, less than 30 minutes from Keystone, provides some worthwhile distraction.

Uriel Heilman is JTA’s managing editor, responsible for coordinating JTA’s editorial team. He re-joined JTA in 2007 after a stint doing independent reporting in Israel and the Arab world. Before that, he served as New York bureau chief of the Jerusalem Post. An award-winning journalist, he has worked as a reporter for a variety of publications in the United States and in Israel.