how young can you start skiing?

A snowHead

Just looking to the future here... how long do i need to wait until i can take our wee 10 week old girl and get her skiing?

Very Happy

A snowHead

I guess you could take her skiing this weekend. Whether she could ski is different gravy!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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We took both ours at four. before then it's hard to find skischools willing to teach them to ski - it's more playing in the snow.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

shoogly, the most important factor will be her personality. Apart from that, I think it may make a difference whether you will teach her yourself or (as we did) shove her in a class (they usually start off in a nursery school with an hour or two of skiing a day; that can be tried as soon as the school will do it as she can return to nursery school if it doesn't go well). If she's going to be in a class, she needs to be old enough to enjoy hanging out with other kids, watching them trying to ski, chucking snowballs at them (and at the instructor) and so on. Again, depends enormously on the nipper; I doubt that many kids would enjoy ski school until 3 or more likely 4. FWIW, our kids started at (just) 4 and got on OK, but really got to grips the following year, and then made annoyingly fast progress, as they all do.

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shoogly,

I agree it is the personality of the child - our eldest started at 4 , progressed steadily for a year or two and then as richmond says accelerated and made annoyingly fast progress . Loved skiing - Since she was 9 has been uncatchable ( possibly more of a relection on my inability to be frank ).

She was then and is now a diligent hard working sporty kid who always tries her best and does exactly what her teachers say .

So we thought her sister ( 6 years younger ) would be the same . She started too young ( play skiing from 3 yrs ) . Never too keen ( always preferred to stay in the hotel watching DVDs etc ) albeit that she is stronger and very sporty , but has what is best described as " attitude ". Suddenly however at age 6 last Dec she decided she wanted to do better and now is heading the same way as her sister - but she has always had a very keen interest in snow boarding and says that is what she wants to do.

So like most things it is individual personality but between 4 - 6 years is about right to start , but real progress to me seems to start at about 7-9 yers.

I guess my youngest in her stroppy way decided to kick against skiing as she saw how we all enjoyed it so much . And we are fortunate to go twice a year which gave her a lot of opportunities to be awkward.

I have always enjoyed skiing with my children more than any other sport we do together. They can get tons out of it ( especially as they can be better than parents from a relatively young age ) and whizzing down any slope with them is always fun.

You will have great fun !

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My younger son started when he was 5. I had not got hooked at the time and my wife paid for her nephew to go on holiday with them - nephew grew up in Calgary and was therefore very good - and our son had 1 on 1 tuition. At that age they quickly get bored/cold/frustrated and 1 on 1 tuition can allow for that, stopping for a chocalat chaud as and when necessary. He was quickly off the nursery slopes, being carried down red and blue runs when it got too steep. Nephew skiied backwards so he was always in front of our son and coaxed him along all day. He now skis very well (he's 16 now) and is fearless, which can sometimes be dangerous! Even at 5 years old having someone he didn't know very well was better than having mum or dad teach him. It also left my wife free to ski on her own. I've watched 5 year olds in ski school and seen them reduced to tears - you must not allow that to happen.

After all it is free

I started at 3. Not that I have much recollection of it.

My daughter started at three - but tbh that was mainly in the kindergarten and not on the 'real' slopes. However, two weeks of that and she was comfortable with the idea of snow, skis, and Mummy &Daddy leaving her for the morning.

at 4, 5 6 she has progressed well through 2 weeks p.a. of 1/2 day ski-school, albeit as far as I am concerned its still more about having fun than being "the best" (although there is a certain daddy pride in having a little one better than friends and collegues Smile

)

Although we tend to ski for a couple of hours in the afternoon with her after ski school, it isn't full on, and can be easily replaced with swimming, dvds or other pursuits. In short, we have still been treating it as a family holiday with skiing in it rather than a skiing holiday. Mind you now she's 7, I expect great things!

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So far my youngest student has been 2 years and 18 days old - she will be back for her third season this year and will still be three! Shocked

A friend's daughter first went on skis at 14 months - she can stand and be guided after 5 months of a couple of hours each weekend.

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An instructor I was talking to in Austria wouldn't let his 3 yr old son start skiing, as he reckoned that it put too much pressure on young knees that would lead to trouble in later life.

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It depends on the child but in general most will not be able to cope before 3 and some might not until 5 also a lot of ski schools won't take kids less than 3 years old

shoogly, On my first ski trip, when I was 40, I remember being very envious of a tiny tot - couldnt have been more that 2 & still in nappies - skiing down a blue run behind his dad, with his dummy in his mouth. Wonderfully low centre of gravity & not far to fall. I guess he was way too young for ski school, but is probably now a Swiss ski champion! Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

Our youngest started with an hour twice a day at age 3 and 3 months. The older at 4 and a half.

Good excuse to go to the US/Canada and get superior pupil-teacher ratios and teaching in English

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

As has been said - depends on what kid is into.

with our three - 4 and a bit was when they started skiing properly

A snowHead

Five.

Let the brain and knees mature a bit first.

A snowHead

Our eldest started at 3 but it did'nt go really well until 4. The second one at 3 years old went really well. The second child (and subsequent children) are often more mature and just pick things up faster (skiing or otherwise). I made a mistake in being too pushy with our first child too. He's 6 now and ski's ok so we recently thought he may like to try water skiing, the instructor told me to bring him down to watch at the lakeside and just wait until he asked to have a go and not until then should I put him on water ski's. This is probably pretty good advice for snow skiing too (coupled with subliminal, mind bending using endless ski DVD's and promises of chocolate...of course)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I told our 4 year old that she was too young to ski, and because I was worried that she would be unhappy, and moan and cry, that I was not going to waste money on hiring gear and paying for lessons. That was in week 1, and we had lots of fun tobogganing, etc. By the end of week 1 she was begging to be allowed to try. We hired stuff for one day and I told her if she tried, and didn't moan, she could go into ski school. We just did pulling her up a tiny slope, and sliding down "hands on knees". Over and over again (very good exercise for Mum). She did really well so did the week's ski school, and did fine. But if we had put her into ski school the first day it would have been hopeless, especially as the whole class was German speaking. It took her several days just to orientate to the unfamiliar place, the slidey feeling underfoot, wearing all the extra clothes, etc etc. Some kids seem to take to it like ducks to water but they're always other people's kids. those tiny French or austrian kidlets you see around with their families have been skiing with their families, who are all experts of course, for years. I had lessons with a French ski instructor last year - she had just, only just, put her 4 year old in to a class with a colleague, on Saturday mornings, and was really quite anxious as to how he would get on. she had been "playing" on the slopes with him for ages - it was the very end of the season, he'd already done more hours on skis, with a mother who was a highly qualified instructor, than most UK kids would get in five years of ski holidays. You do risk putting them off for years if you push a reluctant child; you see it such a lot in Brit-infested resorts. Often a rather bullying father who can't ski for toffee himself. They probably bully their wives, too. wink

Oh come on darling, it's only a red".

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Whitegold, Do you have children - or any specialist knowledge?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

i occasionally teach 3-6 year old sessions and i feel that if you are UK based 4 or better still 5 depending on the child. 3 is too young IMO for holiday skiers.

pre school age kids dont do well in even very small groups (<4), if you want to take a 3 year old out one on one is a better way to go.

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I had a client once whose daughter (then 9yrs) had started at 9 months (she walked a week later). She was fantastic. Around Chamonix the ski schools take them from 3 yrs.

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We started skiing when we learnt walking. For me, being an autumn child, it meant that I was on skis for the first time when I was 16 months. We then progressed from mere walking with skis attached into regular cross country skiing by the age of about 3. Since I did not have a chance to try alpine before, I was whopping 7 years old when I tried it for the first. By that time the biggest challenge was only to get used to the stiff boots and fixed heels. Everything else was simple. My suggestion: teach your kid ski cross country asap. It will help enormously, not only when he-she wants to take up free-heeled activities on the mountains, but also in passing through the gates.

After all it is free

Our eldest started at 2 and a half the youngest started at 4. The eldest played in the snow a lot snowcastles as opposed to sand castles were the order of the day with lots of short straight running. The straight running made interesting with all sorts of catching, jumping, ducking GAMES. I put games in capitals as it is so true what everyone has said the snow must be fun when they are this young. The second year at 3.5 the youngest was snowploughing (with very very soft boots) finding his own way not being told how - remember too many parents try getting the very young to take up adult posture - big mistake.

Eldest had a few dry slope lessons coming up to 4 and then on the snow at 4, never had a lesson on snow but skied parallel within a few hours on snow was carving good turns at age 7 - sadly took up snowboarding at 10 !! shame.

So as most others have said it all depends on the child. We found the morning creche idea worked well. The wife and I got the first lifts up and skied hard till midday then had the afternoon with the kids so everyone was happy. When the youngest was still a baby, Grandma came along at did the morning bit changing nappies etc and then again before the youngest could walk she helped.

Whatever you chose to do remember you are on holiday WITH your children enjoy it WITH them - you will have some of your best days in the mountains.

shoogly, All of the above I guess it depends on the kid Austrians will start their kids from about 3 but most dont really start till 4 and 5. All depends on the child and how they are being taught I guess.

But I am sure it wont be long till your little darling is going past you at twice the speed of sound and making Mammy and daddy look like proper billys on the slope! Laughing

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anybody who makes their children ski will be getting a call to esther rantzem from me, plain and simply put it's child abuse.

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I started proper ski lessons at 5, having been at the garderie/jardin d'enfant, the year before.

My eldest is now 4 and a half, I am hoping to take her for a 1st week skiing in February. I had ask my parents about the best age to start, and as per what many have already said, their view (from their experience mith my sister and I) was that 4.5/5 year is about the best time to start...

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Our boy went into ski school aged 4 yrs 1 month after about two years of begging to go skiing. He had been with us at 2 and done sledging etc and loves watching skiing on TV. Although he said he enjoyed it he didn't really get going very well and could barely muster a snowplough. This was partly because the two Austrian girls taking the class where not that inspirational and partly because he wanted to go straight like the racers on TV!

We are taking him again in January when he will be 5 and 1 month and decided to try him in a lesson on the dry slope a couple of weeks ago. He had 1/2 an hour 1:1 instruction and came on more in 30 minutes than he had in a week.

I think this was down to several factors:

He is now at school (been in nursery since a few months old) and gets being told what to do a lot better now. Also been doing Sat morning football which helps with this.

Although he is very confident and boisterous at home he goes right back into his shell in new environments. The 1:1 scenario makes this easier to overcome I believe.

Being a bit older he can appreciate better the concept that he has to be able to master the snow plough in order to be able to move on and then be able to go skiing with mummy and daddy.

We plan to give him 2 or 3 more 1:1s on the dry slope between now and Jan and I'm sure if ski school goes OK in resort he'll be doing a few easy runs with us in the afternoons. I think if we had done this last year it would have been better but he was probably still a bit too young.

The main thing for me is that at just turned 4, I think he was a bit too young for a 1 week a year skier to start but if we had gone and not let him ski he would have been most put out. The fact that he was absolutely busting to have a go meant that we were not too concerned about putting him off for good. As others have said it's wrong to try and make them do it but you can make skiing seem very cool to them in a subliminal way! The water skiing scenario above makes good sense, wait till they ask but give them plenty of opportunities to ask!

Our little girl will be 2yrs 5 months this time but won't ski until she's 4yrsd 5 months. However, I don't thinik she'll stand for her big brother doing it without her for much longer than that!

I saw a lot of very young children skiing in Slovenia. A lot of them were on reins which their parents were holding while skiing behind them. The kids were basically just going straight down the slopes and the parents were doing all the work, controlling speed and direction behind them, usually in a snowplow.

You know it makes sense.

All, young uns (<5) learn best one on one and in 20 minute sessions, a fun break, then another session....

Whether or not they are ready for a small group is dependent not so much on physical development but cognative. here is a simple test I use when given a group of kids (and one you can get a friend to do to check them) to see if each child will do well in a group environment.

Ask the parent if "johnny" has any siblings. if so ask "johnny" his name, then ask if he has a brother/sister and what one of their names is. When he says "Sue" ask him if Sue has a brother and what is his name.... If he says Johnny (or one of his brothers) he is ready for a group, if he cant answer he isnt ready and will need more one on one attention....

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

skimottaret, hmm, think I'd better cancel my January group lessons... wink

A snowHead

lol, skimottaret, i'm not sure i could answer that! Very Happy

Lots of very informative replies here. Thanks very much. A lot to think about and bear in mind when the time comes. We'll never push her to do anything she doesn't want to do, but from what i gather from the responses here is that short lessons on skis and lots and lots of messing about in snow off skis is the way to go.

Is it worth getting kids lessons on dry slopes before going on a snow holiday? or is that a recipe for disaster and an experience that could put them off for life?

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

3 and toilet trained will let you into ski school at Thredbo.... but they have a heap of special stuff for the small ones... "carpet" squares to start them on .... a "train"(snowmobile and trailer dressed like Thomas) to take them a bit further uphill withou using a lift .... snowrunners, a special super slow lift with extra careful lifties ... a special area with tunnels and mini jumps and mini "race course" .... and even instructors who dress up as certain animals that represent their ski levels (eg like "can stop on request")... and small "passports" that show their current levels and get stamped as they improve their skills.... They also have inside time after lunch and return for regular warm Milo to keep them warm... (oh and ski school has a dryer for their clothes at lunch time if needed)

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I learned snow plough, turning, weight control, straight line etc. both on tracks and trackless ski course on cross country skis by the age of 4. I think it was very useful indeed. Free heels, narrow and long skis as well as leight weight mean that you really need to get it right. But once you can do that, you can easily manage. I still believe to be able to come down gracefully a difficult blue or easy red at least with my cross country skis, if I have to. I will even throw in a few nice telemark turns which you should also teach kids to do instinctively. That will help. it will indeed.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Mouth Junior will be 2 in December and he will be taking to skis this season. We could not keep him away from them last season at the age of 1. Toofy Grin

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After all it is free

shoogly, From personal experience 4 minimum, but more likely to b 5. I have 3 kids who all ski and the youngest startet this year aged 4 but was too young. Think once they're school age it's better.

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When I went skiing in Val Thorens last winter I asked our ski instructor what age he'd started skiing and he said he'd got his first pair of ski's for his first birthday, but what do you expect I come from a skiing family, put me in a swimming pool and I'd sink!

Help!!

how young can you start skiing?

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