Teaching a 2.5 year old

MadMadWorld said:

I will if she gets too overconfident or lippy. Have to remind her who the better skier is.

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Just give her a little time before you start with the basejumping thing......

SkiFanE said:

You mean free for the adult? Not sure. But young kids are always free.

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Not around our area. I took my boys to 3 places (Ward, Nashoba, and Wachusett) and they charged kids for using the magic carpet even under 5. Nashoba was the most expensive as I recall. As you get further away from Boston, most places are free until 5-6 with a paying adult.

To the OP: where do you live? At that age Go close to home. On a nice day. Have low expectations for "learning" how to ski. Have big expectations for fun. Keep a pocket full of treats of some sort. Walk around. Try to expose your child to people having fun at a ski area.

Lots of past threads with good advice on this topic. Do a search.

I saw a dad once use a hockey stick with his son. He skied next to him while holding onto the handle. The blade of the stick went underneath his armpits and seemed to a good job supporting his upper body. They were flying down the beginner trail together. Seemed like a fun way for everyone.

To give you my experience: 2.5 is really pushing it. Not saying you shouldn't try. Just keep your expectations low. Not something I'd make a long drive for w/out a backup plan. Pick up a pair of kids skis and boots and you'll notice that they're not really all that light. They weigh a ton when you think about the size of a 2.5 y/o. You might be better off with those old plastic skis. Still, all kids are different and you might be blessed with a little ripper.

Now 3.5 is a different story. Both my kids started at three. I wouldn't call it skiing, but they were out there going down the hill and actually having fun. We always put them in a group lesson for the first couple of years as I found (find!) it impossible to teach them. YMMV.

Smuggs is good. As to the age of your kids it varies from kid to kid with as to when to start. My daughter is three and she's very excited to start skiing but my expectations are pretty low right now. As said the key is just having fun.


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My youngest started at about 2 1/2. He took right to it. My wife worked at a ski area and had him in day care there. One day she sees him going by with an instructor much to her surprise. I had taken him out the spring before when he was two to get him accustomed to being on skis. I just placed him in ski boots on skis and on a slight slope just walked in front of him. I also skied with him between my legs on a small slope. As others have said each kid is different so it is trial and error.

First test - if your kid can't ride a trike, he|she does not have yet the motor skills to start skiing.

I would suggest private lessons (one hour max) till your kid learns the snowplow (learns how to put some pressure on edges to turn. After this, you're good to go.

When my son started at that age, a very good day of skiing was 1 hour, followed by a hot chocolate break playing games in the chalet, followed by another 30 minutes of skiing. Expect lots of stops to eat snow and fool around. Riding the chairlift, hugging the mascot and having hot chocolate were by far the highlights of the first year.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but I've never seen 2.5-year old kids doing three-hour group lessons.

Go in with little expectations.

As the father of a 2.5 year old this thread has been pretty helpful. Thanks all.

I want to second that. Great info in this thread. I have a 19mo old. I'm going to walk him around on skis sometime this winter. 0 expectations. Thank you posters!

fbrissette said:

First test - if your kid can't ride a trike, he|she does not have yet the motor skills to start skiing.

I would suggest private lessons (one hour max) till your kid learns the snowplow (learns how to put some pressure on edges to turn. After this, you're good to go.

When my son started at that age, a very good day of skiing was 1 hour, followed by a hot chocolate break playing games in the chalet, followed by another 30 minutes of skiing. Expect lots of stops to eat snow and fool around. Riding the chairlift, hugging the mascot and having hot chocolate were by far the highlights of the first year.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but I've never seen 2.5-year old kids doing three-hour group lessons.

Go in with little expectations.

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Oops..edited my reply b/c you said "trike"... well at 2.5 is just fine on a trike. But yeah...group lesson at 2.5 is crazy. Once my kids got the balance and could head down fine...we sent them to lessons to get the snow-plow training.

The most commonly heard expression "Do a Pizza, PIZZA, PIZZA!" Teaching them to stop and make turns is actually a better plan. I have four boys now older and we always got them to learn their turns quickly. Our youngest went from wedge turns to parallel turns in three days. If you can swing it - do private lessons on consecutive days with the same instructor - it pays off!

Do not want to be this guy!

dlague said:

The most commonly heard expression "Do a Pizza, PIZZA, PIZZA!" Teaching them to stop and make turns is actually a better plan. I have four boys now older and we always got them to learn their turns quickly. Our youngest went from wedge turns to parallel turns in three days. If you can swing it - do private lessons on consecutive days with the same instructor - it pays off!

Do not want to be this guy!

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OMG...I'm giggling here. That dad - moron...kids been traumatized and he wants a hi-five?! OMG...kid should have whacked Dad with the ski pole, over and over for his idoicy.

I've been skiing since I was 5yo...no way I could teach a kid to ski, I really have no idea how to ski, I just do it. So we went professional with all of them once they were comfy on skis. Plus...kids never listen to their parents lol.

OH..that ski vid brought up something I've been thinking. Skiing with kids between my legs, and having to snow plow with them...my how that hurts the knees. Like no other skiing I've done. Then I see some kids flying down fast cruisers (blue or black) in full out snow-plow with parents behind them... I wonder if thats the cause of so many knee problems in adults? Seriously! They're not developing the correct muscles, they're straining the wrong ones and the knee...and at a young age. Seems like it could have a lifetime of consequences.

SkiFanE said:

OH..that ski vid brought up something I've been thinking. Skiing with kids between my legs, and having to snow plow with them...my how that hurts the knees. Like no other skiing I've done. Then I see some kids flying down fast cruisers (blue or black) in full out snow-plow with parents behind them... I wonder if thats the cause of so many knee problems in adults? Seriously! They're not developing the correct muscles, they're straining the wrong ones and the knee...and at a young age. Seems like it could have a lifetime of consequences.

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I think it's worse on the back IMO

MadMadWorld said:

I think it's worse on the back IMO

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Yes tethering is really hard on the back! Been there done that. With our first son we made the mistake of having lesson spread out and he snow plowed a lot and when it got to steep - those darn skis straighten right out. Then find yourself hauling ass to catch them before a tree line! After that we compacted the learning process and got to making decent turns pretty quickly. Did not want to be the guy in that video!

I just put my 2.5 year old in ski boots for the first time and now he won't take them off. He is stomping around the house with them on .

from_the_NEK said:

I just put my 2.5 year old in ski boots for the first time and now he won't take them off. He is stomping around the house with them on .

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Sounds like my daughter!


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Skiing with the kids is amazing and I absolutely love it. Skiing is something you can do as a family from young to old. I'm so psyched that I booked a vacation in early December to Snowbird with my old man of 67 yrs old. I still remember fondly of him taking a vacation day on Wednesday's and hitting Wildcat for two-fer day. Anyway, great thread here. Couple things I learned in no particular order….
- magic carpets are great. I brought my kids (now 11 &10) to Pats Peak and they had a free magic carpet and we had a blast. Free - amazing. Lasted for a few hours, cost me some gas and hot chocolate. Kids loved it.
- Wear a backpack. Have heat warmer packets, hot chocolate in a small bullet thermos, candy, granola bars in there. Keep the kids fed and hydrated too. Give them water - make them drink it. They won't want to. Nice to have the backpack of bribes right there.
- Bring a camera - my kids love the photos and the videos.
- Get used gear on ebay or wherever. Renting is a pain in the butt. You can score some cheap "disposable" stuff on there.
- Get great mittens to keep the hands warm.
- Make sure you get a helmet and a baclava to go under it. Gotta keep them warm. Decent goggles too!
- Get a couple pairs of smartwool ski socks for the kids. Gotta have the warm feet.
- Try to keep a lid on your frustrations as they have no idea how much money and effort you are shelling out to be skiing. One day you will finally have your moment. Mine was at Wildcat when my boys were around 5&6. I was going to get the tickets and left them in the lodge with my old man. Asked them to see if they could start getting their stuff on - when I came back they had gotten everything on.
- Terrain parks, woop-de-doos on the sides of trails are your friends. They will love them.
- My kids were self taught mostly. I gave them some pointers but you could talk them silly with all kinds of recommendations and techniques but IMO the only thing that really works is repetition. How do you get better at skiing - go skiing….especially in all types of conditions.
- The rewards when you see your kids improve are amazing. Love it.
- Now my guys are quite the skiers and love it. It is such an amazing family thing to do as you know. Enjoy it!