First Time Skiing

MadMadWorld · Feb 23, 2015

I was going to put this in a trip report but since it will probably benefit no else I will just post it here.

On Sunday I took my 2 year old out on skis for the first time. It was the first time pretty much all season where the weekend had snow as well as reasonable temps for her to enjoy. We were going to head to Wachusett but the last day of school vacation probably wasn't going to be the most favorable situation for her. Instead I decided to take her to a local sledding spot in town that had a gentle pitch and the snow was packed enough so that climbing back up wasn't unbearable.

Anyways, she lasted a good hour before it was time to call it quits. It was a huge success with smiles the whole time. It was definitely worth giving up a ski day for!

4aprice · Feb 23, 2015

MMW I wish you all the luck in the world. Somewhere I have a photo of myself in a big wedge with my daughter between the legs and the plastic skis. She's now a ski instructor. Got both my kids on the real skis and slopes at 3 1/2 and have skied with them (21 and 18 now) as recently as 2 weeks ago. Great Family sport.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

dlague · Feb 23, 2015

Tether time! I remember those days. When my son was 2 and a half we took him to smaller ski areas (McIntyre, Pats and Crotched for example) and I tethered him from the get go. I would reel him in tight and as we coasted I would let some line out. I was a lot of work but worth it. The next several years will be amazing! Good Luck!

legalskier · Feb 23, 2015

Adorable.
I like your approach- just having fun in the snow while getting used to having little skis on her feet. That pic of her riding on daddy's shoulders reminds me of when I did the same thing with my 2 y.o. daughter....except we were at a ski area. She loved it, but they didn't, lol!

Savemeasammy · Feb 23, 2015

Skiing in a tutu. Love it! I'm glad to see her smiling = WIN!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MadMadWorld · Feb 23, 2015

dlague said:
Tether time! I remember those days. When my son was 2 and a half we took him to smaller ski areas (McIntyre, Pats and Crotched for example) and I tethered him from the get go. I would reel him in tight and as we coasted I would let some line out. I was a lot of work but worth it. The next several years will be amazing! Good Luck!

Mine just turned 2 and she figured out the whole "stand up tall" pretty quickly. I don't think we will be tethering by the end of the season but who knows. My goal is to get her over to the Magic Carpet at Wachusett when it gets warm again. It has a really nice area with a long run out lol.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

jrmagic · Feb 23, 2015

That's great that she was smiling the whole time as the fun factor is the most important part when they are little and being introduced to skiing. Congtats!

hammer · Feb 23, 2015

Great job Dad!

KD7000 · Feb 23, 2015

Nice work! Skiing with my kids is so much fun.

xwhaler · Feb 24, 2015

Nice work MMW! As I recall our kids are almost exactly the same age so I can totally relate.
We started my son on skis in November at 21 mos over Thanksgiving wknd just pushing him around the yard and letting him stand up.
1st time on the carpet was Mid Jan at Pats and he lasted about 6 runs on there which I was thrilled with.
Planned to do the rope tow at Pico this past Sat but it was down so I took him on the Bonanza chair haha. Did 4 runs there with him between my legs.
It kills the back/arms but its so worth it I feel. Very difficult to contain a 2 yr old in a crowded lodge so we try and spend as much time as possible outside when its our turn to watch our son.
The Lucky bum skis are a good way to start but they provide very limited stability for the kids so its hard to get the full motion.

I'm definitely getting the tether and a seasonal lease package next yr to put him in regular equipment which should really have things start to come together.

Newpylong · Feb 24, 2015

That's what we are going to do next winter (plastic skis, just get comfy on them) - our son is only 22 months now.

He does snowshoe now though, so cute!

skirick · Feb 24, 2015

Excellent! This is what it's all about - passing down a good family sport from generation to generation. Did it with my kids and now I look forward to doing it with my grandchildren!

dlague · Feb 24, 2015

Continuing with my tethering experience - at 2.5 we leased the real deal - boots, bindings and skis for $79 which I thought was worth it. We got him out there about 10 times for short periods at a time. Cute to watch them walk around in those tiny ski boots. a year later put him in private lessons three days in a row and I could not believe the results! I kind of miss that stage at this point when most of my boys are moving on with their lives. Even our 12 year old, though he skis with us a lot, is moving toward wanting to ski with friends more.

Enjoy this point in their lives as much as you can!

First Time Skiing

MadMadWorld

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