Teaching your kids

[Angus]

I think the easiest way to get them to start truning parallel is the stem christie. Basically they initiate the turn from the the wedge and then unweight the uphill ski once the turn has started and move the uphill ski parallel to the downhill ski. Try a few runs like that and then he shoudl be able to get the feeling of how he shoudl turn. It shoudl be automatic from there.

Agree.

maybe strange but I demonstrate by lifting the entire ski off the snow and then progress to more subtle unweighting and edging - but that's what they pick up by watching during follow the leader. my younger child definitely alternates between a true parallel, stem-christie and snowplow turn based upon terrain - steepness and need to turn - bumps.

 

[jrmagic]

That was explained to me by an instructor at Killington. Only stands to reason. My kids always had been told to put hands on knees, but I noticed that none of the kids at Killington were doing it and they were skiing just fine.

I initally had my son put his hands on his knees and when I saw how far back he sat, I decided to go with the arms stright forward. He might look a little funny but it definitely put him over his skis more. I tell him to try and reach his hands out as far as his tips. Of course at times this reverted into the Jesus opse going down the trail lol. I kept reminding him an now that I got him poles, he keeps them forward.

 

[2knees]

i'll be at sundown sunday morning with them. give me a shout brian/greg and we can get some of the kids skiing together. i realize abby is waaay beyond my two but it sounds like b's daughter might be in the same skill category. i.e. sunnyside.

and we can trade off watching them and sneak some runs on temptor before the world comes to a soaking end.

 

[bvibert]

i realize abby is waaay beyond my two but it sounds like b's daughter might be in the same skill category. i.e. sunnyside.

Mags has only been out a few times, most of those times were on the carpet at Sundown, only one run down Little Joe from the lift so far.

 

[Greg]

i'll be at sundown sunday morning with them. give me a shout brian/greg and we can get some of the kids skiing together. i realize abby is waaay beyond my two but it sounds like b's daughter might be in the same skill category. i.e. sunnyside.

and we can trade off watching them and sneak some runs on temptor before the world comes to a soaking end.

Mags has only been out a few times, most of those times were on the carpet at Sundown, only one run down Little Joe from the lift so far.

I asked my little one which trails she wanted to ski this weekend, and she said the "chairlift that take a long time to get to the top". :lol: I'm sure I can convince her to rip up Little Joe a few times though, especially if there will be other kids there. Abby can go off with my wife if they want. I'm still doing the backwards edgie-wedgie thing so she's not that far ahead of your girls. In a few years, they'll probably all be ripping together.

 

[bvibert]

In a few years, they'll probably all be ripping together.

That will be cool. Mags is always talking about skiing with your daughters.

 

[gladerider]

This thread is very refreshing. I'm surprised to see it go this long without someone showing up to say "You really must get them professional instruction if you want them to do it right." I've always thought skiing is not as technical as some make it out to be.

my kids had a week long ski school instruction every year from year 1 for 5 years and i can tell you this: there is no one "right" way. some kids develop earlier/better than others depending on many factors. and i do agree with you, it's not about the technicals, but there are technics involved and teaching kids those technics is a special skill, if you ask me.

 

[SKidds]

I'll follow that post with a maybe you shouldn't give up on ski schools too quickly. No, it isn't the only way they will learn "right", whatever that is, but getting the ideas and concepts thru to kids isn't easy, is something that instructors who deal with skiing kids day in and day at are effective with, and unless my kids are way outside the norm, your kids will listen to an instructor on hill more than they will listen to you!

What kind of instruction have you tried? Just a one off lesson here and there for an hour or two? Those can be tough, as there is often little reward achieved in such a short time. We have found that the day long programs work pretty well. With our guys, they might have had a bad morning session, but by the end of the afternoon they make such progress that they really feel good. On ski trips we don't do ski school only, because the kids do want to have fun skiing with me to show me what they've learned. A note on ski schools, the kids may not take to it right away, but if you stick with it they are likely to have a breakthrough quickly, and when they do it is much more fun.

All our guys started by 3. Wedge lock, harness and leash, etc. I found that ski school wasn't effective for them until they were 5. Prior to that they just didn't pick up the instruction quickly, or weren't having fun. At 10 my daughter was skiing Skyward and McKenzie top to bottom at Whiteface, bumps and all. She really started to excel when she was in classes with other kids hitting the expert trails, keeping up with her peers, making friends, having fun. So ski school isn't just for the little guys learning to ditch the pizza wedge and get to french fries and hockey stops. At 6 both the boys were skiing Excelsior top to bottom, and that is a long, relatively tough intermediate by any standards. So we have been 3 for 3 on ski school successes, even though there might have been a rocky start to ski school to begin with.

 

[2knees]

In terms of instruction, its been a 3 one hour (ish) lessons. so sporadic would be a good way of calling it.

I dont know what to think after yesterday. they both made easy work of the learning area at sundown. older one rode the lift by herself, good wedges and even some real turns out of my younger one. and i said nothing to them. they just didnt want to ski the magic carpet. It was going great until my younger one took a fall and banged up her lip.

i think i just have to take the good with the bad. like i said originally, i'm not pushing them at all. If they dont want to ski, that's totally fine with me. but i was getting concerned about the frustration my older daughter was exhibiting the last time out. I got none of that yesterday. just smiles all around. well, until the aforementioned fall and the balloon animals that they got went pop. :razz: