 Poster: A snowHead
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The Frostlets have now been skiing for 7 weeks and to be honest they are decent skiers. Very little seems to worry them on piste. They had a 2hr lesson in La Ros and the instructor took them off piste for an hour. They found it hard but liked it.
There is nothing I can teach them so has anyone any suggestions as to what they should be doing next. We like skiing with them and are looking for a programme that we can adopt each week we go skiing to keep the progression going. Any suggestions?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 28-02-07 10:46; 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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Frosty the Snowman, I've been wondering exactly the same thing. Our kids are very good skiers, better than the OL and me by some margin. They're 12, so they can go off on their own to some extent, walkie talkies in pockets, but they want to do stuff which we're not up for, and they want to learn how to jump about and twirl around, which I don't want to do even if I could.
They had 1.5 days of off piste with Graham Austick of Piste to Powder in St Anton last week (see resort report), which they thoroughly enjoyed and which was very good for them. Something like that will keep them happy and move them on, but it's bloody expensive and I don't know that that type of outfit is to be found everywhere. We're thinking of reverting to Kitzbuhel next year and I haven't been able to find anything other than the main ski school.
Do ski regular schools offer off piste tuition for kids of that age? I don't see why not, there must be loads of kids who are up for it but whose poor old parents aren't. Presumably if you take a private lesson, they'll take the kids anywhere they're good enough to go, but what about classes? What about race tuition? I'm sure our kids will not be ski racers (I don't think I'd want them to be anyway, but that's beside the point), but they'd love to have a bash at it, and it'd presumably be great for their skiing.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 27-02-07 13:28; edited 2 times in total
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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.
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Frosty the Snowman, don't mench. You can't be expected to fondle your feminine side with one hand and type long posts with the other.
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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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| Quote: |
We like skiing with them
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Well you'd better make sure they don't get any better then, or you won't be doing much more of that!  How about getting them onto snowboards, then you could probably stay ahead for another one, or maybe even two, holidays?
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Let them ski on only one ski. That'll slow em down for a few years.
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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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| Quote: |
Sounds like you and the Mrs need a few lessons to make sure you can keep up
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Sometimes their learning curve is just steeper than yours, however hard you try! But not necessarily. One of my sons skis about the same standard as I do (he is not a natural athlete, and has spent a lot less time on the snow than I have, but he is young and strong, he enjoys it and has had quite a few lesson). The other son has had hardly any lessons since he started, at 8 years old. He skis like the wind, extreme elegance, very laid back, effortless, spent last season working in Val D'Isere, sharing a flat and days off with a BASI 1 ski instructor and trying to keep within sight of him and his friends on their days off. He says he failed, dismally, but he is just completely out of our class. He enjoys skiing with us sometimes, provided the terrain is interesting and he can shoot off jumping over things and going head first into snowdrifts (he's 28 going on 10). My daughter skis about the same level as me too, and I am better on the snowboard, just, because she has only done 6 days. Don't give up. They'll keep coming on holiday with you as long as Dad's paying!
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Frosty the Snowman, send them down the mines!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w, I am thrilled at their progress, just want to know how to maintain the momentum.
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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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Frosty the Snowman, is their continued progress more of a priority than giving them time-off from you/you time off from them when skiing? Sounds like you should choose between private lessons or ski school for the kids. Both have their advantages: ski school will give them more hours per week to ski at their level rather than be held up by you old folk, but they might make quicker progress with private lessons, especially if you are able to use the same instructor every year and build up a good working relationship with them.
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rob@rar, Dont really want ski school as I like skiing with them.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Wear The Fox Hat wrote: |
| Frosty the Snowman, send them down the mines! |
What? The nightclub in La Plagne 
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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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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| rob@rar, Dont really want ski school as I like skiing with them. |
But do they like skiing with you?
I'd say find a good private instructor who can work with the kids for a couple of 2-hour sessions per week - the kids continue to make good progress, and you still get plenty of time to ski together. I'd say that finding a good instructor and sticking with them for a few years would help with the kids' progress, but that does mean you return to the same resort rather than sampling others.
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Poster: A snowHead
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When I arranged for a private lesson for my teenaged niece last year the instructor had her going over small jumps, which she loved, and is obviously very good for balance etc. I expect if you wanted instruction specifically in the snowpark, that would be fine. It would also give them a specific set of skills which the oldies don't have, which they will enjoy. I think it's great that kids can often ski better than parents; it's a nice role reversal. What you have to watch out for is when they no longer say "come on Mum, we've been waiting aaaages." and start saying "That was very nice, your turns were much better coming down that last stretch".
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Frosty the Snowman, Sorry, don't know how old they are, so these might not gel. It might be an off the wall idea, but have you tried asking them what they fancy doing? It could be that they are quite happy to go where mum and dad go. Alternatively, could you set up things like orienteering challenges with answers to find (i.e. what colour is the roof on the chairlift etc) only on the mountain - all follow the same route, but at your own speeds, meet up at the end point for hot chocolate and the answers? How about slalom race and gate training - you could try it too. Alternatively why don't you all learn to snowboard like pam w, suggests- my swiss friend says that he will learn when his son wants to and that he expects it to slow them all down.
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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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Frosty the Snowman, Kids who live in or near the mountains would typically ski with a club, not take lessons at that age.
They will do some race training, but will also get dragged all over the mountain by their coaches.
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| Quote: |
Kids who live in or near the mountains would typically ski with a club, not take lessons at that age.
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True. The ski club in our area has all the kids on cross country skis regularly, because the balance is so much more difficult that it is excellent training for them. I can imagine a 12 year old being less than thrilled at the idea of cross country lessons, though! Maybe if you gave them rifles to sling over their shoulders??
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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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Frosty the Snowman, We are in a similar position with two daughters 14 & 13. This year we are going for a week with the Junior Club from the local dry slope (23 children in total who mostly ski at their level). They will have formal lessons in small groups in the morning with the local ski school instructors who they have used in the past which will cover racing and all round skiing then in the afternoon they can continue to ski in groups under supervision of Club instructors or they can ski with parents. They will also have the opportunity to do a couple of Flieche (not sure of spelling) races. We feel this will allow them to have the opportunity to cover much more ground than they would just skiing as a family. Shoud add that we have now decided to go out a few days earlier to ski as a family.
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When we found our daughter had outgrown group lessons we joined the SCGB and now generally take our holidays in resorts where they have a rep and combine this with the occasional private lesson. That left me in the first few years (12 to 16 or so) having to tag along with the SCGB group, but nowadays I don't always do so. The result depends to some extent on the rep, but many will do some offpiste and, of course, have their more difficult days mixed in with the easier days. The private instructors tend to stretch her more, but we can't afford many of these sessions. We've also tried the race training on dry slopes - it can make a big difference. She's 18 now and this season has been quite a mix. She's also training for her first ASSI coaching level with the intention of nearly a full season on snow and, hopefully, a BASI 3 next year. The result is that we actually ski together more now than for some time, sometimes as two (although I can't keep up if she decides to turn on the speed) and sometimes as three, all skiing at different speeds (and sometimes different routes) and coming together every so often. We parent also receive regular criticism of our skiing ability, but at least it can be constructive. When we ski as two it is sometimes just the two of us and at other times we ski with the SCGB so that I can leave out some of the more challenging diversions.
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| Quote: |
Well you'd better make sure they don't get any better then, or you won't be doing much more of that! How about getting them onto snowboards, then you could probably stay ahead for another one, or maybe even two, holidays? |
Fair point pam w, I enjoy skiing with Gregory so much that I resolved to ski 3 times as often as him, in the hope of staying ahead to some degree. Unfortunately he tricked me into taking him for 2 weeks this season so I've been forced on that principle to try to get 6 weeks in... wait a minute, that's not particularly unfortunate is it? 
I too am thinking about how best to further Gregory's skiing. Although I can still outski him, I'm not going to teach him as well as a decent instructor. But any more than a couple of private lessons a week would be going over budget and I don't want to waste his time trailing around with ski school that wont push him a little. There are of course, ski classes that focus on freestyle, racing, off piste etc. but as far as I've seen, they're typically full of local kids, most of whom look like they were fitted for skiboots on the way out of the delivery room.
I've been toying with the idea for some time, of a snowHeads bash focussed towards families. Until now I wasn't sure what the point would be other than simply laying on nannies/childcare etc. and there are, after all, tour ops who already handle such things eminently.
But maybe what's needed is something aimed at the slightly older children.
So, how about a family bash tuned towards kids of 11+?
We'd be able to set up small groups, focussed on the various more 'exciting' disciplines eg. The park/freestyle, slalom training, off piste training (assuming insurance details check out ).
The goal, I think, would be to provide special interest groups to keep kids of secondary school age occupied for half the week.
One model would do so between 9AM and Lunch-time each day, the afternoons being family time.
The other would do so full-time for the first 3 days, the second half of the week being family time.
The family time could be left generally for families to work out for themselves, although we do have the prospect of arranging some events for added interest - I like Megamum's orienteering idea
Of course there would likely be younger kids around too but I think they tend to be more easily catered for by the traditional ski school model which we could organise ourselves or not depending on numbers.
Would anyone be interested in such a thing?
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| admin wrote: |
| Would anyone be interested in such a thing? |
Damn straight!
I think you should start a new thread for this though...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Definitely worth a new thread. We would be interested but i perceive a problem with next years school hols as ours seem to coincide with nobody 
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admin, Unless the kids that you see in groups are wearing club jackets they are probably not locals.
I spent half-term on my club holiday in Gressoney. The kids were split into three groups - fast, not so fast and the really little ones.
We skied with a couple of the local race coaches in the mornings doing a mixture of slalom and GS, then the faster ones would ski with me in the afternoons leaving the parents to go at their own pace. The quick ones were good enough that they were invited to join in with the local club at the end of the week.
I would suggest that kids of that age are not going to get the most out of 3 days of tuition.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Admin - a fantastic idea which i think you should implement in about five years time.
We're taking our oldest who is five to Puy St Vincent with snowbizz because I have heard very good things about their tuition. Small class sizes all English etc. They also do race training etc so looks pretty good tuition wise. Only downside for older children may be that the resort seems very small. So small that I am ditching the board for the week and have enrolled in ski lessons so me and little P will be learning to ski at the same time. This hopefully will act as a source of major encouragement to her (and me).
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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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admin, This sounds something very similar to what we are trying to offer as a Ski Club the downside is that it would probably have to take place in hols.
if you do decide to investigate further we are staying with this company to try and keep costs at reasonable level for families http://www.renouveau.asso.fr/
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You know it makes sense.
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| DB wrote: |
| Let them ski on only one ski. That'll slow em down for a few years. |
After a few hours they will manage this on the nursery slopes and then show off skiing around the mountain with one ski in the air.
This will just show you parents how bad your technique is 
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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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admin, Put me down as quite interested as well please.
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Poster: A snowHead
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admin, I fall into the interest in about 5 or 6 years time category - but it does look as though you have a market out there for the idea now
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Ray Zorro, is it something about Hampshire children because mine are the same?
admin, I would be happy to try to "persuade" mine for next season but like Frosty the Snowman says, the problem is liekly to be coinciding school holidays (this year there were at least two half-term weeks, and my youngest's school is not taking 2008 easter holidays till after Easter 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Last year for school hols next year, and our hols are all over the place too. Half-term is 16th Feb, Easter (but not Easter) is 4th April for two weeks (the real Easter is 23th March) . Will no doubt be messed up further with University terms etc.
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mine is 12 and has gone through through the ESF and this year Magic in motion, she really liked the park and off piste group this year but finding english speakers of a similar standard is hard.
easiski, Not sure i agree with putting in them with non english speakers at that age and hoping they learn language as well as skiing skills. Mine did her slalom training with esf with all french speaking kids and although her skiing came on loads she felt a bit left out with the language barrier....
There always is race training with clubs like kandahar, etc especially in the spring time with the british championships coming up.
I for one would welcome a morning school type session and a familay afternoon ski as Admin is thinking about
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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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easiski, am I right in assuming that our 13 (by next season) year old kids could expect to have off piste lessons in a class with a standard resort ski school such as the Rote Teufels in Ktzbuhel (assuming that they reached the required standard)? I have no doubt that they'd love to join your class in L2A in April, but regrettably that's not a runner.
I'm all in favour of them being better than me, but obviously they need to ski at least some of the time with someone who can teach them and, for off piste, guide and generally stop them from killing themselves.
Coincidentally, my son was invited today to trial for his school ski team, following his school ski trip to Ad'H at new year. If he passes, he'll presumably have some race training, mainly on dry slopes, I assume. It turns out the the daughter's school has a ski team also, which she's going to find out about. Quite why we and they didn't know about these teams before, I don't know.
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FAQ
So I suspect that anything more than "off the side of the pistes" is going to require more adults in the group than just 1 instructor, plus there's all the kit - transceivers, probes, shovels etc.
