 Poster: A snowHead
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Just to mention another resort, Lake Louise has a fantastic setup for kids. We have taken our children (now 9 and 5) there from 4 months old and I just can't fault it in any way. At age 3+ the daycare arranges 2 x 1 hour group ski lessons each day with instructors from the ski school. The kids love it, but it is optional so if they don't fancy it on day it's no problem and they simply stay inside and do something else. There is a very high ratio of staff to children both in the day care and on the slopes and we found it to be exceptional value.
At 5+ the main ski school starts with nine levels of grading and assesment every day so a child can progress rapidly through the levels. What really amazed me was that they moved kids into a higher level when they were ready and able even if there was no-one else at that level, so it wasn't unusual for a child to end up effectively having private tuition all day long for group rates! I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen with ESF, it seems they like to group people together even if there is a bit of an ability mix. Our daughter had never skied in Europe until December 2003 when she was age 8 and she immediately achieved the 3 star award in ESF only missing out on the gold star because they wouldn't allow the time trials due to poor (icy) conditions, so I take this an a good indication of the quality of the tuition in Canada. When we are in Lake Louise again (11 days  ) I think she'll probably go straight in at level 8 or 9 and will ski with them all day every day, my son will be starting in group 2 but we'll probably only put him in for half a day to start with.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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solarfish,
Did your daughter go from starting main ski school at 5yr to 3* ESF/"level 8" (what do these entail?) at 8yr in 3 weeks of skiing, or more?
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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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slikedges, She started the couple of hours per day at about three and a half years old, but real skiing (in ski school groups) at five and a half. She had 2 weeks at 5 years, missed out completely at 6 years and 2 weeks at 7 years in Lake Louise (skiing most days) and reached level 7 there. Then at age 8 went to France for 1 week and got the 3* at ESF. So in total she has had about 5 weeks of ski school. She is already out-skiing her mother and has started coming off-piste with me.
However I think a very large contributing factor to her progress is the fact that she absolutely loves skiing. When we were in LL in 2002 she was the only member of the family that skied every single day. One of the advantages with having a two week trip is that we can take the odd day off or even just half a day, but my daughter insisted on skiing all day every day.
Unfortunately my son is already saying he wants to board rather than ski, but I have told him that he will have to wait until he is 9 to do that. This is partly because I think that he would be a little less reckless on skis to start with, but also because I am convinced that if he learns to board first then he will never learn to ski and I would rather he was able to do both and then choose his favourite.
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We just returned from Lapland - our 5 yr olds second week on skis and he is perfectly at home sking a full range of blues, after only the two weeks in ski school. The emphasis would appear to be on playing in the snow, wearing skis!!!
He was happy in the adverse temps of -20 on occasion, although the little sod refused to wear a decent hat and did get his face chapped on Tuesday......he also, now wants to learn to board - having seen a little lad of about 6 or 7 on one in ski school....... I have said not yet, until he is capable of parrellel turns, reds etc on skis.
Trouble is, he has progressed so quickly I doubt if I will be able to accompany him round the mountains for much longer. He was practising jumps etc by Wednesday last week and shussing down the nursery slopes, top to bottom without so much as a turn and even I after 8 seasons skiing, am not that confident!
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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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solarfish,
wow! obviously lots of progress from 5 on
my kids have just had their 2nd week of proper skiing at 4.75 yrs and tho they came down a couple of reds there is little sign of fluidity yet
i pretty much guessed lot more progress in next couple of years as size strength coordination improves
i'm sure you're right about your son and i'm intending the same for the same reasons 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh dear: cold and three year olds...
So I am a cruel and heartless B**rd, for as per my earlier posts of this thread, we were taking mine and neighbour's girls for their first time on skis to LesArcs 2 weeks ago, and they started out on the kindergarten slopes at what was allegedly -18C (although I suspect by afternoon, when they were out, probably no worse than -10...). But it was for 1.5 hours only, possibly 2 at most.
As the saying goes, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". And a combination of a long suffering mum who knows about these things through personal experience, and doting grandma with the necessary wads of Euros made sure that the right clothing was available. Hopefully no-one on here will report me to social services.
So they survived, and they enjoyed it, wanting to do more and more each day. And in the second week, the temperature rose, my daugher went for lessons in the morning, and was able to ski with us (for about 1 hour at a time) during the afternoon.
Interestingly, and one to learn from, although she made great progress, and could happily snowplough unaided down a variety of blues during those afternoons (proud father video will follow, available in all good retail outlets..) , the ski-school were not prepared to put her up a class - not because she didn't have the technique, but because she is/was lacking the strength required for a full 2,1/2 hour work out on the real slopes - and in retrospect, they were absolutely right - the physical stamina of a 5 year old, who were the majority of the next class, is very different to that of a 3+.
So she became a little bored with repeating her previous week's training on the kindergarten slopes, and was anxious to go out with us, to try new things. But overall, I was happy with both the child care and the teaching element of the Spirit1950 skischool - indeed the hugs and kisses exchanged at the end of the week showed a great relationship had been built up between teacher and pupils.
Was she too young? - I don't think so :- the school made the learning fun, and the instinctive element of "what I should do on slippery stuff with two planks on my feet" took over. Where they taught how to carve? - absoutely not. Keep weight forward? - yes, but through play (bending under hoops etc.) not rigorous drill sargeant methods.
And the main question: Did the girls enjoy themselves and have a lot of fun and are they already talking about going again, and "next time can we go to the top of the mountain Daddy?" ? Oh yes. (sigh)
And you can't really ask for a better endorsement than that.
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JimW,
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I recognise the "next time can we go to the top of the mountain Daddy?" very well!!!
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FAQ
