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How good can a little kid get?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Bottom line first; will an 8 year old, who has taken dry slope lessons and practiced 2 or 3 times per week for a few months be good enough to ski with me on blues & reds

The details; My regular ski buddy seems to have been taken from me, as his mum doesn't want him missing school. I want to take my 7 year old daughter, but I'm concerned that we'll spoil it for each other. I'm an average intermediate, but she's just a lil' kid, who's never skied before. I would hate it for her to be terrified on the slopes, but equally, it would be a wasted holiday for me to spend a week on the nursery slope. I could pack her off to ski school all day, but I'd rather we enjoy our time TOGETHER.

I feel that once she can ski (whenever that is), that she'll love it and she'll become one of the 'rest of lifers' for skiing

So.... can a 7/8 year old get to a fair standard? How good would an average kid that age be with some lessons/ practice?

Thanks for reading my jumble of words chaps & chappettes snowHead Puzzled Laughing
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Book a week's lessons for her in the Mornings.

Ski by yourself then and in the afternoon's, after lunch and she has warmed up with some food. Do some skiing that she is comfortable with. This is what most families do.
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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?
In April my then 7yr old daughter did a weeks worth of morning lessons, she has previously had 2 similar 1 week sessions at 6 and 4. I was really impressed by how confident (and fast!) when we skiied with her on the Saturday. We did mainly green and blue run and stuck to where she had been in lessons.

Could you not Put her in morning lessons letting you ski where you want the , then stick to where she has skiied in the afternoon for together time?
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emwmarine, I was interrupted by request for more porridge by my daughters while typing hence didn't see your post.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
faithsdaddy, all kids are different. Some are braver, more gung-ho, and adventurous than others.
But on the whole, the best way to put your daughter off skiing for the rest of her life is to follow your plan.
Sorry, but the answer to your question is No.

instead go with emwmarine's excellent suggestion.
With emphasis on "skiing that she is comfortable with".
Let her lead the way, let her show you what she did in the morning.

Skiing with your children while they are learning is pleasure, not a "spoiler".
Enjoy it while you can.
In a few years she will be going way faster than you and wanting to ski with other like-minded whizzy kids rather than her doddery day who only skis reds.
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Quote:

Sorry, but the answer to your question is No.


have to agree with that, and everybody else above.

Quote:

We did mainly green and blue run and stuck to where she had been in lessons.

(my emphasis) and this was a child who had already done 2 full weeks of lessons on snow.

As your child - Faith? - had done dry slope lessons she's had a great start and will progress fast on snow and she'll love skiing with you and showing you what she can do. BUT she'll also get pretty tired, maybe the conditions will be nasty, maybe she'll want to build a snowman, go toboganning, or watch a movie. Unless she is a gifted athlete AND brave it would be unkind to take her on red slopes or difficult blue ones - I've watched a lot of parents from the chairlift, taking little scared kids down red runs. Very often the parent can't ski them properly either, and is not under enough control to help the child (e.g. if they end up in a heap with lost skis).

If you can't stand skiing on your own, why don't you take lessons in the morning too?
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Loads of great input. All very helpful. I really appreciate it.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

If you can't stand skiing on your own, why don't you take lessons in the morning too?


I agree with Pam. My husband is a good skier and strictly speaking doesn't need lessons. But as both my daughter and I do need lessons he will always book himself into advanced lessons or some sort of clinic as well. His attitude towards lessons for himself is twofold. 1. It gives him a group of people at a similar level to him to ski with 2. It doesn't matter how good your skiing is - there is always something new to learn and he appreciates the feedback from the instructor.

Then in the afternoon he skis with me and my daughter. Although I am probably the one that ruins it for both of them I am not as fast and a lot less adventurous!
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I suspect you would both enjoy the holiday more if you found friends to go with.

If it is just the two of you, I would put your daughter in morning ski school stop for a leisurely lunch at a mountain café and ski a few easy runs together in the afternoon. Pick accommodation near other activities for after skiing eg. ice skating and bowling. We always choose accommodation with a pool too. My children would have happily skied all afternoon when they were 7 but they started at a younger age.
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faithsdaddy, Last season we prepared to take our two oldest granddaughters skiing - they were 7 and nine. They started lessons at Norfolk Snowsports club dry slope in October and progressed through beginners, continuation, and quite a few weeks in childrens supervised before we took them away in February. The progress they made was pretty typical (I instruct kids there).

On holiday to start with the younger one struggled with speed control, so stayed on the nursery slope for the first day and a half. After that we were able to progress them on, to all the blues and greens in resort, and short stretches of red. They did have the advantage of both myself and MrsS being instructors. Without experience of instructing I would not expect an "average intermediate" to bring a child on to the level you want unless they were unusually talented/bold.

I would suggest if you want to take her, both do lessons for half days, and ski together for the other half. If she was to then carry on with the dry slope by the next season she will be good enough to ski with you perfectly well. Our 2 now do Junior Club, and blast around the whole slope, waves, moguls, freestyle kicker, slalom gates, the lot!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
English dad coaxing scared-stiff pre-teens down the reds into Val d'Isere is an oh-so-common sight. Not good IMO.
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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.
I don't think I've come across any children who are obviously children (so, what, under 16?) who are able to ride with competent adults, but you'd find that out pretty quickly.

I would think that any significant imbalance in ability/experience causes problems, as there's no sensible handicap system in place. If you're a skier then you could try taking up snowboarding to even things up a bit, or at least think about it so you understand what you're expecting. Or Telemark maybe.

Just ride separately and then meet up now and then to compare notes. If you're not comfortable with your own company, then go to a smaller North American hill and everyone you bump into on the lifts will be your lifelong friend in about 30 seconds anyway.


I'm curious as to the precise age kids tend to get better than their parents, if they're going to do that at all.
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philwig wrote:

I'm curious as to the precise age kids tend to get better than their parents, if they're going to do that at all.


Mine are probably better than me already aged 12 and 9. They started skiing at 5 and 3 respectively whereas I started at 20.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
As a parent you will know your kids mentality and physical abilities. As a dad you would hope your kids get better than you, as a coach you are trying to get them to reach their potential. Just look and see the kids flying the blacks at any resort and you can see how good kids can be. There is no substitute for talent and for the parents DNA.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

I'm curious as to the precise age kids tend to get better than their parents, if they're going to do that at all.



I have found around the age of nine/ten. This is when they get angulation. I still don't have it
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
The only 7 year old I have ever seen who can stay with adults (advanced adults at that) is SHer Chattonmill's son; but that is an exceptional case. Worth contacting him for advice - but that little boy has had several weeks per year on snow since he was 3, and has all the hallmarks of a future professional. I think lessons in the morning followed by easy greens and blues , as others have suggested, should be the plan.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I guess the answer to the question in the thread title is "Some can get very good, but it all depends". The actual question posed by the OP is more like "will my daughter be good enough after some dry slope lessons to ski blues and reds with me in her first week on snow?"

To which the general answer has been "No".

As for the parents/children question, many of us have kids better than us because our kids started at 4 and we started at 40. The more ordinary the parent, the easier for the child to overtake them. The kids of most World Champions probably ski worse than their parents.
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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?
pam w, maybe, but the instructor we had in la Plagne, was also complaining that his son was now skiing better than he does, and he was (IMO) very good, so I get the impressions it happens to the best as well as worst of us Happy
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why don't you go together, get her and you morning lessons, explain to your instructor you will be skiing easier slopes with your daughter in the afternoon and ask for some specific drills that will task you on these easier slopes, you both get to improve at your own rate and enjoy each other's progression... OP this isn't aimed at you but i really don't get the great desire for needing to ski difficult terrain all the time when a lot of people cant do pretty basic stuff on simple slopes
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My eldest, 13, can keep up with all the adults we ski with, the 8 year old isn't too far behind and is faster than some adults who have been skiing for 20 years. However, both have been skiing since they were 4 years old.

I would go with the general opinion, lessons for the young one in the morning, ski yourself out and then ski with junior in the afternoon at their level and speed.
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My advice would echo the ski-school in the morning and then LET HER show you where she went in the afternoon.

We did this with both my kids and it worked out just fine.

To answer this....

philwig wrote:
I don't think I've come across any children who are obviously children (so, what, under 16?) who are able to ride with competent adults, but you'd find that out pretty quickly.

I would think that any significant imbalance in ability/experience causes problems, as there's no sensible handicap system in place. If you're a skier then you could try taking up snowboarding to even things up a bit, or at least think about it so you understand what you're expecting. Or Telemark maybe.

Just ride separately and then meet up now and then to compare notes. If you're not comfortable with your own company, then go to a smaller North American hill and everyone you bump into on the lifts will be your lifelong friend in about 30 seconds anyway.


I'm curious as to the precise age kids tend to get better than their parents, if they're going to do that at all.


My son is 13 and he lead me around Alpe d'Huez this Easter(he could set the speed), he race trains at least once a week at Welwyn and now on snow at Hemel when we have time.

He could probably pass his BASI I and II already. I'm working on my L3 at the moment; he will be better than me within the next year or so. We hope to ski twice next year; he has approx 6 weeks on snow, plus he has been racing for around 4 years.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Was always gonna be just a matter of time before this thread degenerated into a my kid is the best skier in the planet competition
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I agree, my kids were also very quickly better than me (though that wasn't difficult), but they were also capable of skiing reds and the odd black by age 8 with their instructors (they did learn very early). If the OP's daughter has had some practice on dry slopes and maybe the odd time in a snow dome and is quite adventurous then I don't think some steeper blues and easy reds may be completely out of the question - BUT it will depend on the child. Maybe faithsdaddy, could try learning snowboarding with her learning skiing and then they could both practice on similar slopes in the afternoon?
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I'd go for morning ski lessons for her (and maybe you?) and then warm up with lunch and ski together in the afternoon. My two kids are perfectly capable of out skiing me but we still like them to do lessons as they have fun with kids their own age, often do more funky stuff than mummy wants to do and they enjoy it. We ski as a family in the afternoons even from when they weren't particularly competent. I agree with the previous poster who said skiing with them is never a spoiler, it's great watching them progress and you have to do that bit before you get to the bit where they are whooping you on the slopes and making you look cr@p Laughing
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We had our 6 yr old skiing this year, she had already been on skiis for 2 weeks at 3 and 4 yr old, as usual it was ski school am and with us pm, one of the main reasons she loved skiing was the friends she made in ski school, her "gang!", my older daughter did not like ski school much but she is a bit shy.
You know your child the best so,
She may enjoy ski school more than being with you so don't feel like you abandoned her but make sure the school group is mostly, if not all English speaking and the instructor has excellent, preferably mother tongue English. Our kids all learned to ski in Soldeu, Andorra.
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If you want your daughter to get as good as possible as fast as possible (which sounds like the real need here, rather than trying to guess the unknowable of how good she will be/get) then I'd highly recommend going for private tuition each morning. 2-3hrs per morning has the _potential_ to turn her into a decent red-run skier by the end of the week.

I found that my sense of enjoyment completely recalibrated once we started skiing with kids. A green/blue with a few small jumps off the side and a narrow track cutting on and off becomes a huge amount of fun because they are enjoying it.

With enough skiing and enough good tuition then it might be you holding her back within a couple of years.

As to the question posed, about how good a 7-yr old can get... I'll resist.
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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.
snowdave, there is no way my daughter would have agreed to a private lesson at this age. She likes the company of other children.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
If an 8 yr old took "dry slope lessons and practiced 2 or 3 times per week for a few months" they might very well ski you off the mountain!!
OTOH, if they don't take to the dry slope environment, trying to get an 8yr old to do so could well put them off skiing for life ;?

I had the same concerns before taking Gregory the first time. We did the ski school in the morning thing that most here are recommending so I got to 'burn it up' a bit in the morning. Most importantly, some of my all-time favourite skiing memories are now from 'Going 3-2-1- superspeeeed' down blue runs snowHead

This year (12yrs later), he joined the off-piste bash and now counts La Grave amongst his skiing conquests!
Accompanying him on this journey was like experiencing the joy of learning to ski again only without the bruises! Cool
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Not going to add much here apart from re-iterate that Lessons in the morning is for the best. To be honest my daughter really enjoys spending time with her peers, its not that she does not enjoy time with Mum and Dad, its just as all things in life its good to have a balance, she gets to spend time playing and surrounded by other who are experiencing the same issues with learning as she is so she feels normal and not under any pressure.

In the morning my wife and I ski together and in the afternoon we ski as a family (read extended play session/picnic/re-enactments of key scenes from frozen/hunting for olaf, with the odd bit of sliding around on snow thrown in occasionally Smile

If I was to take my daughter on my own, given that most of the time I only take occasional lessons as I find it more cost effective to ski, and take a lesson when a hole in my technique needs addressing. So instead as a member of a certain club that won't be mentioned here I can usually find like minded souls to ski with in the morning, and the other option is on this very forum there is a dedicated section to find other snowheads who are going to be in the same resort as you. Perhaps have a look there before booking to see which resorts there may be SH in and reach out to them first.

I think a combination of skiing on your own or with other people you have found here or via other 'cough' means and then afternoons is better. You will probably find your daughter is super excited to show you what she has learned in the morning which is a much better headspace to be in than her resenting you for dragging her down a slope she is not ready for on day 1.

G
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Sorry OP but this seems like a pretty dumb-ass idea to me!

Though she's never skied before and you have no idea how fast she will learn, you want to ensure your daughter is at some level so you can go ski where you want to? I see
Learning to ski with the kids is part of the fun, but pushing them too hard to get to some artificial ability level isn't fun for anyone.
No offense meant here, but if you're just an average intermediate you might also consider that you might not be good enough to get her down a red run if she freezes up (this happens for the strangest reasons no matter how good you think they are!)

Also dry slopes are enough to put anyone off for life and are nothing like skiing on real snow on a real mountain.

[PS as you can tell I'm having a happy morning, as it just rained hard on my new paint - stupid N. Vancouver weather! wink ]
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Thanks for your replies everyone. I didn't see them, as my spam catcher keeps hiding the notification from me.

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to force my kid into being as good as me, I'm trying to make a best guess if she'll be able to get to a standard where she'll enjoy it. I know her, and if it's ALL struggle, she won't enjoy it.

I'm leaning towards enrolling her on the next dry slope course at Aldershot, so we can both see how it goes. If she hates it, I'll leave it a year or so before trying again. If it goes well, I'll see if she fancies a ski holiday with Dad. I asked her yesterday about this idea, and she's up for it.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
You might want to read my thread here - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2496717&highlight=esprit#2496717

I went skiing with my 6 year old who had been skiing for about a year. Going with Esprit was good for us both as I met other parents and skied with them while Oscar had plenty of kids to play with. We are going away again next year to Belle Plagne.
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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?
Quote:

if it's ALL struggle, she won't enjoy it.


well no, very few people would. But she's far more likely to struggle if you try taking her on more challenging runs before she's ready. Most kids enjoy learning, in regular ski classes and they love showing off to their parents what they've learnt. But as emphasized by several people with exact experience of this, that means skiing on terrain she has already done with her instructor. Some people say "kids have no fear" but that's bunkum. Some kids are very bouncy and fearless, but by no means all. If your daughter already does tricks on her scooter (or better still skateboard) in the skate park and laughs off a few crashes here and there, fine. But some kids can be really quite fearful of skiing unless introduced to it gradually and it takes skill to judge that. Anyone who has spent much time in ski resorts has seen petrified kids who have been taken way, way, out of their comfort zone by parents who lacked that skill.

If she hasn't yet tried any dry slope skiing, you could give it a go, if she really wants to, but frankly, it's not much fun for somebody who isn't motivated - it can be an unforgiving surface to fall on. She might like it better if she has a mate to go with but a snowdome would be much better.

But don't think about dry slope lessons as instead of putting her into ski school when you go on holiday.

What did you think of the suggestion that you take up snowboarding, so you will both be learning together?
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faithsdaddy wrote:
I'm leaning towards enrolling her on the next dry slope course at Aldershot, so we can both see how it goes. If she hates it, I'll leave it a year or so before trying again. If it goes well, I'll see if she fancies a ski holiday with Dad.


That's fine but the Aldershot slope isn't going to bring anyone on to be ready to ski blues and reds. I'm only an averagely fast recreational skier but it takes me about 10 seconds top to bottom.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
dogwatch wrote:
faithsdaddy wrote:
I'm leaning towards enrolling her on the next dry slope course at Aldershot, so we can both see how it goes. If she hates it, I'll leave it a year or so before trying again. If it goes well, I'll see if she fancies a ski holiday with Dad.


That's fine but the Aldershot slope isn't going to bring anyone on to be ready to ski blues and reds. I'm only an averagely fast recreational skier but it takes me about 10 seconds top to bottom.


Also I wouldn't put too much correlation between enjoyment of dry slope skiing and enjoyment of real skiing.
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It's all relative [sic]. The answer to the original question is "pretty damn good", but then most of us weren't born with the natural talent or snowy environment of Kelly and Henry Sildaru.
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dogwatch wrote:
... but the Aldershot slope isn't going to bring anyone on to be ready to ski blues and reds...


It did with my girls. They did a Saturday morning club there for a few weeks as well as other lessons and it brought them on really well. Very comfortable on blues on their first trip.
Too long ago for me to remember how well they coped with their first red but I don't recall it being at all traumatic Confused
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
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I canlt really knock a dry ski slop begining as thats how I learnt to ski, but I remember the first couple of times as being pretty miserable.

However first time you get on snow after that and its all plain sailing.

Apart from button lifts, boy did I get a shock first time I went on a proper button lift as opposed to the baby ones they have at dry ski slopes.

G
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Just wait till you try a long steep t-bar with little-un on the other side that isn't pleasant at all.
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Nope don't need to wait till I do it with a little one. I am 17 stone and 6 ft 2, first time I went on a t-bar with my 5-2 and very small wife i got all the experience of that I will ever need to know I am never going on one with my daughter.

LUckily the place we ski the only T-bar that you have to do is paired with a button so its optional, thank god hate those things.

G
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