Ski with kids

There is something fantastic about skiing with your kids. You well-up with pride at their performance and at the bond between you as you tackle the outdoors in tandem. But to get them started, there is some key advice on skiing with very young children to follow. If you get your kids hooked, it can be a lifetime of fun for everyone.

flickr image by Zaui

The first piece of advice on skiing with very young children is to acclimate them to the sport by enrolling them in a ski school that also offers daycare. For the first day you can watch them so there is no separation anxiety (on either side) but the child will quickly warm up to the mix of indoor and outdoor activities that these programs offer and the peers they get to experience it with. There are two other main advantages of this arrangement.

First, they only bring the children out to ski in small doses (30 minutes max), which is something to keep in mind if you take your youngster out without ski school. The other advantage is that the ski school has something you do not: the magic carpet. This so-called carpet is actually a conveyor belt that takes your child to the top of the tiny hill they ski down without any problems. It is not intimidating and the children learn to self-load at their own pace.

As a parent the next slice of advice on skiing with very young children is that you should go to the slopes without wearing skis. Carry them halfway or just a few feet up a bunny slope and set them perpendicular to the slope as you go downhill about 10 feet below them. Now ask them to turn towards you, gravity will take over and they will run into your waiting arms. They will enjoy the short trip and this is something you can repeat. Generally, they will start trying to avoid you by executing some sort of basic turn. This will also help them overcome the fear of sliding down a slope alone.

When they are ready for the bunny slope or any other slope, the last piece of advice on skiing with very young children is to buy your youngster an “edgie wedgie” or some version of this miracle device. For less than $10, you can buy this piece of rubber that hand screws onto the tips of the child’s skis and prevents them from ever crossing. This will prevent those cataclysmic and common falls where the child is hurled 10 feet in the air only to do a brutal face plant upon landing. If they never know as skiers that this is possible, they will be much better off and so will you.