THIS is what it's all about!

[orsonab]

My kids are the reason I started skiing two seasons ago; I wanted my sons to enjoy an opportunity I'd never had growing up. Somebody had to go with them so I "reluctantly" volunteered... and now it's me waking them up at the crack of dawn with my ski pants already on and a steaming bowl of oatmeal to give them a glow on the slopes. My daughter just turned four and now it's her turn....

 

[Euler]

Kids push me

I have two kids, 7 and 10. They really help me (force me?) to expand my range as a skiier. I would have never considered skiing icy moguls, but my kids love them. Since my 7 year old is so small that if he falls down in a trough he is all but invisible to an oncoming skiier, I'm forced to ski the bumps with him. Lo and behold, I'm finding out that I like it! Now they're insisiting that I take them into the trees - more new territory for me.

 

[ckofer]

Great story. My son is only 11 months old, still have some time, can't wait though. I am thinking once he hits the 3 mark to get him out there. What age did you all start your kids on skis?

My kids were messing around on skis at the 2-1/2 to 3 yr old range. Things came together pretty good at 4. As I remember both kids were doing top to bottom at Killington at that point.

It's cool stuff. Each year you see the strength and coordination build in leaps and bounds. Keep it fun for them. When they're small, a full day of skiing may be too much. Quit before they complain. Ideally, they're talking about the next time on the way home.

 

[Skier75]

That's great! Cheerish this time with her, it's the best.

 

[bvibert]

That's great to hear that she had such a great first day out this year. Sounds like she really made a lot of progress over the summer. You should be able to move her over to the Sunnyside triple before too long at this rate, then it's up the big lift to Tom's Treat!

 

[Mikey1]

It's a beautiful thing to see a young one so excited about skiing. Congrats on a great father/daughter day!

 

[SIKSKIER]

Great story. My son is only 11 months old, still have some time, can't wait though. I am thinking once he hits the 3 mark to get him out there. What age did you all start your kids on skis?

Pretty cool story Gegg.Kids can actually start as soon as they walk.I've had friends get the kids on skis at 18 months.They can't really ski but just get them used to walking around a little with those funny shoes on their feet.

 

[crank]

My son started at age 3. I spent a lot of time with him on greens and blues, sometimes, I admit, wishing I was skiing more challenging stuff and jealous of my buddies skiing powder and trees. Now he's 14. He loves skiing. And now we're skiing powder and trees together. Get in lots of mileage with your kids - it pays off.

 

[ccskier]

Pretty cool story Gegg.Kids can actually start as soon as they walk.I've had friends get the kids on skis at 18 months.They can't really ski but just get them used to walking around a little with those funny shoes on their feet.

I do have a little pair of tie on ones that I am going to put him into ASAP.

 

[downhill04]

Great news!! I totally agree with the “this is what it’s all about feeling”. I will have to bring my little guy out to Sundown one afternoon. He and your daughter can have edgie wedgie races

 

[Greg]

Great news!! I totally agree with the “this is what it’s all about feeling”. I will have to bring my little guy out to Sundown one afternoon. He and your daughter can have edgie wedgie races

That would be fun. It seems like many of us in the Sundown crew have little kids right now. It's going to be neat in a few years when they're all buzzing around the mountain together. I look at the Hunter crew (180, JimG., etc.) whose families all ski together and it's inspiring. It can be a bit humbling when Spencer comes flying by you though... :lol: That kid is a trip.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Powder days are awesome. As you all know, I love skiing bumps. But THIS is what it's all about:

Very cute kid Greg, but not really. I know people who don’t have kids to a large extent because having a family would get in the way of them skiing as much as they want.

For them skiing is an end to itself.

I love skiing with my kids, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just sayin.

 

[Greg]

Very cute kid Greg, but not really. I know people who don’t have kids to a large extent because having a family would get in the way of them skiing as much as they want.

For them skiing is an end to itself.

I love skiing with my kids, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just sayin.

I guess I should have posted this as "this is what it's all about for me..." :roll: I just knew the semantics argument would pop up...

I respect the decision to not have kids and anyone that is self-aware enough to know they don't want, or shouldn't have kids is okay in my book. It's my expectation though that if I can get the kids hooked, then my day count will inherently increase. If they don't like it, that's fine too.

I like JimG.'s approach. Let the kids decide. He goes skiing regardless of whether his kids want to come along or not, but most of the time, they do.

 

[campgottagopee]

That's waaaaaayyyyyy cool!!!! My wife and I don't have kids but our good friends do and we ski together all the time. It's been so fun watching their progress. Now 5 and 8 they both start4ed when they were 3 and truly are good skiers.

 

[SkiDork]

Greg, thats awesome. As you know I have 2 who I've chronicled their progress here and on other boards from time to time. It really is fantastic watching them make progress from year to year.

But now, we REEAAALLLY need some video. Make sure you get some next time you go out.

Also - you should probably be removing the edgy wedgy fairly soon. I bet she doesn't need it any more. Or did you already? I can't remember...

Dork

 

[Greg]

Also - you should probably be removing the edgy wedgy fairly soon. I bet she doesn't need it any more. Or did you already? I can't remember...

She saw a girl a bit older than her head down with no edgie wedgie and asked me to take it off. I obliged and things didn't go well, but that was before she was able to head down independently with the E-W. I think we'll take a few more runs with it the next time out and then try it without it. Again, she already exceeded my expectations on Saturday and I didn't want to push it.

 

[catskills]

Greg, very cool thanks for sharing. This brings back many fond memories for me.

Keep it fun. At this age its not about how many runs you got in. Once in awhile stop along the trail and build a snowman in the woods. Stuff like that. :wink:

Smugglers has an awesome kids program.

 

[SkiDork]

When are you taking her back out? Get video next time!

 

[castlerock]

She saw a girl a bit older than her head down with no edgie wedgie and asked me to take it off. I obliged and things didn't go well, but that was before she was able to head down independently with the E-W. I think we'll take a few more runs with it the next time out and then try it without it. Again, she already exceeded my expectations on Saturday and I didn't want to push it.

BURN THE WORM.

It's time.

I also used the EW, no harness, ski in reverse technique

My almost 6 year old daughter (will be 6 in Jan) was at a similar level a year ago. By the St. Patricks day storm, she skied Stein's.

 

[Greg]

Day Two

Day Two for Abby and we made more amazing progress. I tried to remove the Edgie Wedgie for her second run and she got a bit too much speed so for the rest of the day we used it. I did put it on the inside edges though which gives her tips a bit more range vs. on the actual center of the tips as we did on day one.

She did make some interesting progress. There were two instances when she got too much speed and almost crashed into someone. She instinctively jammed a pretty impressive snowplow that slowed her right down.

We also progressed to lift 4 at Sundown which is the highest of the learning area lifts. It's very similar to one of the summit triples so I think we'll be heading to the top on the next outing.

Another awesome afternoon. I'm simply amazed how much progress kids make every few runs. Good stuff.