Your kids and skiing

[wa-loaf]

I've seen a few people mention skiing with their kids. I'm curious as to how many folks have kids and how soon you started them skiing.

I have a 3.5 yr old daughter that I started this season and a 7 month old boy who I think I'm going to start when he hits two. He's much bigger and more coordinated/focused than his sister was at his age.

 

[ckofer]

I started our kids about at about 4 on the slopes. One of my favorite days was when we went to Cannon for the day. I put him in an all-day class (lots of playing at this age). You're not supposed to visit them because the kids are likely to bail out. The class ended at 3. Of course this went against my skier sensibilities since the lifts ran till 4.

So there I was, at 3 pm promptly. I looked at his rosy, tired face and figured the day was more than done.

"How did it go Eric?" I asked.

He responded "I want to ski some more."

The day ended on the last lift after all.

 

[Greg]

I started my oldest daughter who turned 4 this winter. My youngest is 15 months and a bit more athletic (she walked 8 months earlier than the oldest one). I'll probably start her during the spring when she's 3. Any earlier than that probably won't work well.

 

[stomachdoc]

Our twins were about 2 when we first started spending winters at Waterville Valley. They spent time in the superb on-mountain child care program there. The following winter, when they were 3, they were introduced to the snow in a very limited, "playful" way (walking around in ski boots, sliding a bit). The year that they were 4, they were in the child care/ski school hybrid program that is essentially a full-day program with two one-hour ski lessons, with a very low student-teacher ratio (1:1 or 1:2). By the end of that season, they were skiing Valley Run quite well. The past two years (they are now 6) they have been in the Seasonal program, and now can ski the entire mountain. My 11 year old started at about age 6 in the seasonal program, and totally took me to school out at Snowbird a few weeks ago.

So, my advice would be to do small, fun, limited exposures at first and then ramp it up at around age 4-6, depending on the kid.

It's a blast to ski with them now!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

So, my advice would be to do small, fun, limited exposures at first and then ramp it up at around age 4-6, depending on the kid.

It's a blast to ski with them now!

From my perspective that is very good advice. I started each of my 3 kids when they where 5 years old. It worked out real well for all of them.

All kids are different though and some do well at an earlier age. I just always thought that 2 and 3 year olds would rather just play in the snow. It seemed to me that parents of these young kids where in a rush to share the sport they love with their kids, and in some cases, maybe too much of a rush.

I have a friend who started is 3 year old last season. He gets her there by promising hot chocolate with whip cream and sprinkles. They ski for an hour or 2 then the reward. Seems to work well for them.

 

[wa-loaf]

I should clarify when I say "start them skiing" I'm doing what most of you have done. Living 15 mins from Wachusett ($5 for 5 and under) is perfect for running over for an hour or so and having fun at the mountain. I got my daughter up about 8 times this season and she was enjoying Ralph's Run (on a leash) and asking me to go faster. She also was skiing on her own off of the majic carpet lifts (where I always have to stop and make a snowball for her to carry up).

My son I was thinking I'd pick-up some of those plastic skis for pulling him around the yard when he's two and just make sure he's having fun. If he's steady enough by the end of the season maybe head up and do the magic carpets.

 

[skidbump]

At 3- in boots and on skiis arround house
At 4-On mt "us not skiing" on bunny hill walking up and skiing down
At 5- In skiwee
At 6-in skiwee
At 7 in skiwee and skiing with us
At 9-Skiing and learning to snowboard"refused lessons"
At 10-completed move to dark side
At 18/21-snowboarded once last season"both"

 

[loafer89]

I started my son just short of his second birthday at Mohawk, and then we had him in ski school at Killington in January 2003. I credit Sugarloaf for alot of his skiing ability as they have a top notch kids program.

He is still a very cautious skier, and he is just starting to experiment with speed skiing even though he has been skiing for 5 years now.

 

[millerm277]

Well, my parents started my at age 6...so, here's my progression.

At 6 - Took a lesson at Camelbak, hated the fact that we went inside because kids were complaining about the cold, went to Killington, took another lesson and learned enough to ski beginner trails

At 7 - Took two lessons at Blue Mountain, and tackled my first Intermediate trail. (Lazy Mile).

Between 8-10 - Skied more at Blue and Killington, got up to groomed intermediates and the blacks at Blue. Took one more lesson at K when I was 10 to learn how to use edges and such.

Between 10-11 - Started skiing more, learned to tackle everything at Blue but Challenge, and learned how to deal with moguls and ice without falling.

At 12 - Big year, made my first trip to Hunter in the spring, and was able to ski all the diamonds on the front easily

At 13 - Lots more trips to Hunter, and a bunch of days at Killington, skied pretty much everything in good conditions, and single diamonds in bumps/ice.

At 14 - Started on the trees, could ski any trail well, in almost any conditions. (The exception being massive bumps).

This year - Skied 20ish days, learned what powder is really like on a bunch of different occasions, improved bump technique, and skied everything there is to offer at K.

Future - Improving bump technique, and getting even better in the trees.

 

[SkiDork]

both ours started at 2 at Killington.

They did the magic carpet at 2 then were on a leash at 3. at 4 they started ministars

At 6 they both started Killington Ski Club.

Now the 10 year old is a B mogul skier. The 6 year old is alpine racing with 9 year olds.

They both do around 40 to 50 days per year

 

[Paul]

We started my daughter at 4 1/2 at the Bretton Woods Hobbit School. She pretty much stayed in some type of lesson for that first year. The following year she started on a leash on some of the easier terrain and by the end of the season, was pretty confident on all greens, and some easier blues. She started a little tentatively this year, but looked like she was about to start making progress towards actual parallel skiing. Then her Father proved what a klutz he is and that was pretty-much the end of it. She's 6, we'll see how she bounces back next season.

 

[loafer89]

Warren has become so interested in skiing especially at Killington, Pico and Sugarloaf that I gave him a 1987-1988 Killington trail map, a 1991-1992 American Express guidebook to Killington, a 1989 Pico trail map and a 1996 Sugarloaf trail map with the gondola remains still on it.

He has all of his lift tickets since he started and a collection of trail maps, much to my wife's dismay.

 

[drjeff]

My daughter started for a few days in the program at Killington just past age 2, then this past season as a 3 year old she was in the Mt Snow Cub Camp program all season, that combined with a few private lessons while we were in Utah this season had her making unassisted(i.e. no leashes/tip connecting devices) linked wedge turns off the summit of Mt Snow, down some intermediate runs by mid-march. She was on snow 30 days this past season.

My son will turn 2 between X-mas and New Years this year, and my wife and I plan on getting him started just the same as we did with my daughter.

My daughter's favorite ski question/statement now is "Daddy, when i get big enough can I get pink poles?"

The only really challengin we found about the ideal springtime to start the kids, is that ski apparell manufacturers essentially don't make a lighter wieght outfit for kids, its basically either a full winter wieght snowsuit/coats+ pants or basically a wind pant/wind breaker outfit, and gloves/mittens, its either a full winter wieght or "grandma's old crocheted knit pair" Challenging when its a 45 degree spring day out!

 

[ALLSKIING]

Warren has become so interested in skiing especially at Killington, Pico and Sugarloaf that I gave him a 1987-1988 Killington trail map, a 1991-1992 American Express guidebook to Killington, a 1989 Pico trail map and a 1996 Sugarloaf trail map with the gondola remains still on it.

He has all of his lift tickets since he started and a collection of trail maps, much to my wife's dismay.

I wonder where he got the idea of keeping all that stuff..:lol: :wink:

 

[wa-loaf]

both ours started at 2 at Killington.

Can you put your kids in ski school as young as 2 at Killington?

 

[SkiDork]

Can you put your kids in ski school as young as 2 at Killington?

Yup. The Friendly Penguin takes kids as young as 6 weeks for day care. Once they reach 2, they go out to the Magic Carpet twice a day.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Most kids are able to start skiing by 2 years old.I have 5 or 6 friends that started theirs at 18 months.At that age it more about walking around on the skis and getting them used to the equipment.Then look out the next year!!

 

[wa-loaf]

Yea, I think as long as you make it fun and stress free for them at 2 and 3 they'll be hooked. My 3.5yr old hasn't been since the end of March and is still talking about skiing and the mountain. I had to hide her skis and boots, because she was getting too excited whenever she saw them. :grin:

 

[downhill04]

I started my son skiing at 15 months last season at Mohawk. Took him 3 times that year and skied with him between my legs. This season he was able to stand and ski on his own but didn’t have the leg strength yet to snow plow to slow down. I bought a harness/leash system to help keep him under control and he was great. He is able to make turns now and if the trail is not too steep he skies the entire thing under his own power.

We tried to ski Mohawk once a week depending on the weather. If it was too cold we stayed home. I tried to pick the best possible days so that he wouldn’t get discourages by cold weather or icy conditions. He really enjoys it. Just this past weekend he looked up at a poster I have of Tuckerman’s and said “daddy want to go skiing”

Here are some pics from his first time on skis. Got to love skiing with a pacifier in the mouth

 

[Angus]

Started my son skiing - reason I'm back to downhill - when he was six.

My daughter got started last year at 4 1/2 years old. We started in March on warm days and skied on 1/2 day tickets. Mid-sized mtn - Crotched. Take a couple of runs, go in have a snack and some juice - not alot of skiing. Finished the season skiing at Stowe on Toll Road (??) where I had to carry her down the mtn from about the mid-point because she was exhausted.

This year we went out mid-winter, half days again and skied alot more runs with less breaks even on days when it was real cold - avoided windy days. She had much more stamina and technique wise seemed to intuitively understand how to turn - again 1/2 days at Nashoba, Crotched and Wa-Wa (my only real day of corn spring skiing in early March!). Finished the season off at Sunapee over patriots' weekend where we skied top to bottom almost the entire day with 2 breaks (1 for lunch).

Amazingly, with her low center of gravity, she is a great bump skier. Last run of the day at Wa-Wa had an argument with her about where she'd enter the bump field (from the top of mid-way down) on Smith-Walton. We have discussed here before but I used a ski harness last year just for peace of mind - mine! This year - we took one run with the harness on the 1st day. When we got to the bottom, we went over to the beginner area and I told her to prove to me she could turn on command. We took two runs on the magic carpet area with her turning back and forth without any problems - immediate improvement and focus! It helps when her older brother tells her that harnesses are for babies!

I skied twice this year without children. It's nice to be able to ski some terrain at a different pace or manner than you would with a child but by mid-day I'm missing their company. This year it was great to watch both my son and daughter make huge strides in technique and confidence. Season was capped off at Sunapee for my daughter skiing a "big mountain" and with Son of Angus now having skied every trail at Wildcat (with exception of Hairball) with style and grace - most of the time - in late April!