...then he had 5 days of morning lessons with ESI in Alpe d'Huez, and here he is on Combe Valentin in Les Deux Alpes (a black run, admittedly in relatively easy conditions as it was quite soggy on the day).
In the next days he started bugging me to join me offpiste...
I know, I know, proud dad bragging, and he's still got a lot to learn (including how to use the poles), but it was SO good to see him jump a couple of levels
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
horizon, Fantastic and there's nothing wrong with being a proud Dad.
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?
horizon, It looks like he's getting the hang of the game pretty quick. Great fun
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
He's 8 and he had already had a few weeks on skis but practically no ski lessons yet (not ideal but the reason is that he doesn't live with me so he always wants to ski with me as much as possible on holidays).
So it's not surprising that 5 days of ski school over Christmas week helped him use all that on-snow experience, but still good for me to see the improvement happening!
1) Always have 3 x the skiing that the kids do
2) Always have a oesson on each holiday
3) Persuade the kids that ski school is rubbish
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.
Yep Kids learn to ski scary quick don't they? Me and the rugrats decided to have a few lessons before our first trip to the mountains in February, I've very occasionally had a play on skis on the hills round home in the past, maybe 6 or 7 hours over 20 years, the kids nothing.
My 10 year old daughter has had a couple of lessons at the Tamworth Snowdome getting ready for our first trip at half term. By the end of those 2x 3 hr sessions the stated aim was to have the students at the recreational standard so controled speed and linked snowplough turns. In fact her and most of the other kids in the class got that by the end of lesson one and after spending the first half of lesson 2 polishing up the turns went on to start parallel skiing. Since then she has had an hours recreational skiing then went to the junior club session last Saturday. At the start the guy running it explained the snowlife awards scheme they do in the club sessions and how the Tamworth recreational standard is a fair bit lower than the snowlife level 1 intro award. By the end of the session he said my daughter and her partner in crime she'd made friends with on one of her lessons didn't need to do level 1 or 2 as they were already halfway through the things they needed to do at level 3. She is easily better than me after my learn to ski in a day and about 6 hours recreational since.
My 6 year old daughter is making equally scary fast progress, read the poster all round Tamworth and they say the little ones typically need 4 - 6 sessions at each of the 3 levels to get them to recreational standard. She had one session at level 1, one at level 2 and after her first level 3 the instructor said one more will probably see her through that level and OK to ski there outside lessons.
Thankfully the 14 year old isn't learning quite so fast so will take a little bit of the hols to get to the outskiing me bit!
horizon, RobW, brought back loads of happy memories (my "boys" are now 23,20 and 18.)
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.
RobW, Oliver is a very good skier, congratulations!
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
The snow in Obergurgl looked great in a lot of places. Both kids are great aren't they?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
horizon, Let's hear it for proud Dad's (and Mum's for that matter). I absolutely love it when I can ski with my boys - we learnt at the same time and they left me behind within the first hour! I've improved by going to a dryslope and taking my one precious ski holiday a year and can now ski out with them.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Great stuff, horizon.
So how do you rate Alp d'Huez? Did you manage to ski any of the far-off-piste stuff or was it a strictly family holiday? If we do La Grave next season we could easily do a day at Ad'H.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
horizon,
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
He skis like me, and I've been at this game for about 15 years now. Almost depressing watching kids master this stuff in a matter of a few days!
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?
I know I'll never keep up with my pair, at the moment I think a far more realistic goal is to be capable of skiing the same stuff they do even if I meet them at the bottom 10 minutes after they get there and stop for me. At the moment I think I'm still close to what they can do, but I must admit to watching Minimum_1 go down the odd black that I still haven't/won't yet try. However, I have now done a couple of short black runs so perhaps after January's holiday I'll have cracked basic blacks in good snow without thinking too hard about whether I actually want to be there.
Megamum, Hardest thing my 10 year old did at the snowdome a couple of weeks back was skiing as slow as me!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Reminds Me of my 1st family ski holiday, the eldest was 13 and had quite a bit of practice on dry slope previously. On the 1st morning we were graded for ski school and He got put into advanced with me. One or two in the group were kind of putting him down and they were old enough to know better, when He said it was the 1st time that He had skied on snow. So they got told in no uncertain term's by myself.
Well on the 1st day He struggled, held his own on day 2, then from day 3 their was no stopping him, by the end of the week probably best in group and the knob's had long since dropped out. Their was a presentation at the end of the week and He got a special award for most improved horizon, You will know how proud I was when the Others who had stayed in school started a chant of "It's all gone quiet over there" pointing at the chaps who were saying He would never cope in advanced class and had dropped out themselves. Very proud moment indeed.
Trouble is about 15 snow weeks later I cannot anything like keep up with him
...He got put into advanced with me. ...He struggled,...and He got a special award
Normal kids seem to pick up the skiing lark pretty quickly so I can imagine how good The Almighty in child form would progress
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Nothing wrong with being proud now, you have to pay for the skiing so at least you can get something back
After all it is free
After all it is free
I really, really wish I'd started skiing at that age...
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.
horizon (and all other proud parents).
We all look forward to the day when our young kids will ski as well as us
So we can ski "as a family".
Well, your kids will ski "as well as you" for just one day.
Now my kids either give me a start and whizz past me half way down
Or they wait at the bottom
Occasionally they get fed up with that, take the lift up again, and lap me
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Jonpim, I'm guessing that is what my 10 year old (and quite possibly her 6 year old sister) will be doing to me at half term! At least the 14 year old isn't quite as good as me yet but no doubt she will soon catch up if she puts her mind to it!
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
