 Poster: A snowHead
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Congrats!!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Congratulations to all three of you! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Bored At Work, congratulations to you both on your new daughter.
My sons started skiing between 3 and 4. One of the most important things - take a spare pair of gloves/mittens out on the mountain. They can't help themselves when there's snow to pick up and throw around, or build into a snowman, and there's nothing that makes a little person as miserable as having freezing cold wet hands.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Bored At Work, Congrats! If you fancy giving her skiing a really early start we have space in our apartment in ADH from Saturday!! (then again maybe not). My son & daughter (now 4 & 5) started last winter & had a blast! they're more excited than me about going this year.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Congratulations Bored At Work. Mind you, you might now need to change your name to Working Bloody Hard At Work To Pay For Everything 
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Or Sleeping At Work 
Well done and Good luck.
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No experience can match seeing your first born. Please dont get disheartend when after 6 months the baby has cried, pooed and slept, and nothing else.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bored at Work, welcome to hell.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Bored at Work
Many congrats. i hope your daughter brings you as much pleasure and joy as my 2.
My oldest daughter (now 6) started when she was 2.5 years old. It was only an hour a day on a very gentle nursery slope in Val D'Isere with my wife and myslef. She had the choice of sliding next to my wife slowly or between my legs fast. Each run began with "I want Mummy" and about half way down it became "Daddy, I want to ski fast". To be honest, she really didn't ski but she got used to the idea and left with a positive view of skiing.
At 3.5 years old she joined a 1 hour group session on the same slope as she had skiied the year before. She didn't make great progress, possibly because she was the youngest and smallest but the instructor ensured she had fun. At 4.5 years old she returned to....... yes, the same palce and by the end of the week was skiing in control and turning. Finally, at 5.5 years old she skied in........ Val D'Isere again and in her second week was in a group of 8-10 year olds skiing all over the mountains.
For me, the lessons learnt are
1. So long as they have fun and take away positive memories, they are never too young to start enjoying the snow.
2. You might not think it makes much difference, but on reflection by the time she was 5, Zara had the confidence that comes from having done something for as long as she could remember. That takes away the aprehension.
3. Go to the same resort. OK, I'm lucky that Val D'Isere is effectively a second home to me but a key confidence builder is that Zara, really knows the place and what to expect. Last year she jumped into her skis and was half way up the drag before my skis had come off my shoulders. She knew the slopes, where to go and what to expect. I believe this makes a big difference.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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SimonN, I agree absolutely. We had all four daughters on skis in Belle Plagne by the time they were four and they loved it.
I would add that we always went around Easter because it is that much warmer. The one thing they do not like is being cold.
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Congratulations BAW  , I can happily say after a very tiring 8 1/2 months it is one amazing experience, I just hope yours sleep better than my little boy! He is like a tornado whilst awake, playing at 100mph but so far we have yet to have a full nights sleep - though we are slowly getting there, 7 hrs is the max.
We are also thinking of when we can get him on the snow, for play and maybe on soft skis etc. He is standing, usually supported by a sofa or similar already and has been doing so for about a month now. his leg strength is amazing so if his balance comes along soon then maybe next season we should have him out with us, even if just to play in the snow or on a sledge.
Cheers,
David
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You know it makes sense.
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Congrats!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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congratulations - and lock up your credit card now.
Ours started at 3 1/2 with gentle lessons out on the mountain - the (purely selfish) strategy, in view of the absence of grandparental or any other unpaid help, was to get them independent on skis as soon as possible so as to reduce our dependency on expensive childcare. Luckily, with the help of the FANTASTIC ski school Supreme in Courchevel, both took to it immediately. Strategy may have backfired somewhat as we now face unreasonable demands from both (now 7 & 9) for more and more skiing - including slalom training at the local dry slope which ain't cheap! But worth it to be out on the mountains skiing together and on equal terms ...
However idyllic the picture I paint, be warned, if you take them skiing, they will at some point (and quite possibly at many points) drive you demented by:
- leaving their goggles in the bubble;
- soaking their gloves and the insides of their boots playing snowballs
- peeing in their salopettes (take spares if you don't have access to a washer/dryer);
- getting bolshy at the end of the day about carrying their own kit;
- using adult learners as slalom poles;
- losing their salopettes (how? don't ask me ...).
And I totally agre with SimonN - it's all so much easier if you keep going back to the same resort - they get to know the place, build a relationship with the instructors, and children thrive on familiarity - less settling in time is a bonus. And when I lost my 9 year-old on Christmas day (2 small ones saying 'he went that way' and pointing in different directions) in the middle of the Courchevel valley and spent an hour and a half looking for him, quizzing lifties and working myself up into a right lather, he just took himself off home to 1650 and was waiting for me when I fiinally got there!
Enjoy ...
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Poster: A snowHead
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I first took Sam when he was 3 - we went to Verbier which was a bad move and the timing was also poor as it was the week of the terrible Galtur disaster and it snowed non stop for 3 days. Anyway the good news was we were with Mark Warner and they really looked after the kids - plenty of playing in the snow and he had a great time.
I used Mark Warner for a number of years and they never failed to come up with very good child care.
So far as skiing goes he really got going at 5 with help from the ski school in Stowe VT, very much better than any of the European schools I had used for him before and after. I don't put him into ski school now as I find spending a bit more on 2 or 3 one on one lessons is much more productive for him.
He is now 9 and will ski just about anything, had a fantastic time at Villaroger week before Christmas, skiing with adults after the big dump.
CP
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 28-01-05 9:20; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Only just caught up with this news. Massive congratulations. Your universe now has a new centre, but don't forget to look after both the women in your life. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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A post-script to this thread; having recently returned from a trip with a large number of children, I am convinced that our strategy of starting them young was right - it seems that nearly all children simply want to go as fast as possible; with 8- and 9- year old beginner snowploughers whose craving for speed exceeds their abilities/control, their sheer size poses a far greater danger than if they are doing the same thing at 4 and 5. By comparison, our 7- and 9- year olds, while fast, were in control having learnt the skills they needed at an age when being out of control posed far less danger to themselves/others because they didn't wiegh so much and couldn't go so fast.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We're planning to go next March with the new addition, she'll be around 14 months old, so no skiing for her but maybe a bit of double-up sledging, snowman building etc ... only 11 months to go - yippie!!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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14 months = walking = skiing. What's the problem?
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| Quote: |
bit of double-up sledging
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Organised sledging is without doubt the most dangerous skiing based activity, ask any tour operator
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
Organised sledging is without doubt the most dangerous skiing based activity, ask any tour operator |
Was that meant as a "tongue in cheek" comment????
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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poma, don't wanna start her too young, she'll be better than me before she even starts school -
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Bored At Work, Did organised sledging with Ski Olympic in La Rosiere last week and it was mayhem. Asked the rep and she said if evryone sledged like that instead of skiing then thhe plane home would be empty. People and kids not looking up the slope, adults falling on kids, of course sledges, people sledging in unauthorised areas, sledges as snowboards, 3 on a sledge, sledges breaking. It had to be seen to be believed
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Frosty the Snowman, I was thinking more along the lines of a gentle sledging ... preferably on the flat with the good lady pulling me and the nipper along!
I know what you mean though, it can be pretty dangerous. A few years ago a young 'un was sledging round our way, wasn't looking where he was going, didn't see the barbed wire fence and hit it full force at head height ... his face was a real mess.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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kjgqwierfiquhgrf:- The sound ofFrosty the Snowman, chucking up in his deskside bin. have to agree that females are much better at sledge pulling (esp. uphill)
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Bored At Work, Be prepared for a change in your attitude towards skii holidays from now on. We took our son to Lenzerheide at about 14 months (along with Grandparents) and had a great time taking it in turns to go sledging etc. He's now 11 and his sister 9, and were on skis proper from about 5 and 3. Skiing holidays used to be all about doing big miles during the day and now its more about having fun regardless if that means skiing the same few reds/blues because the kids like the bumps on them, I much prefer it now with the kids.
Oh, when you do go away, see if you can hire a buggy on skis, there great fun for taking them walks.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Skiing holidays used to be all about doing big miles during the day and now its more about having fun regardless if that means skiing the same few reds/blues because the kids like the bumps on them, I much prefer it now with the kids.
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Ditto Ditto mate. Try La Rosiere as it has a snowpark on the way back down to the village, mad kids loved it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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FAQ
. I'm gonna print this thread out and keep for future reference, thanks for all the advice.
