How long does it normally take to teach 5 year old to ski?

A snowHead

How long does it normally take to teach 5 year old to ski?
I am back from Lake Tahoe and had a fantastic trip. I thought after two full days of ski school my five year old would be able to ride a chairlift and ski down some green runs with me. On the plus side she almost finished level three and she seemed to enjoy the sport so there is promise for the future.

Maybe my expectations were too high?

A snowHead

I guess it depends on the child, teacher and conditions. Our 3 year old was skiing on his own after a week of 6 one hour lessons. By week two he could ski greens and blues with us. Now at 3 years and 4 months he outskis me technically and can ski any run on the mountain. I am a fan of one to one lessons rather than gorup and certainly worked for our little one.

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eguynth, Mine learned to ski in Switzerland from Age 3. After one week they were allowed off the ski garden and onto the Poma, after a week of the Poma and blue slope they were allowed onto the T bar and blue slope, after a week on the T bar they were allowed on the chairlift and the whole mountain. However, that is not to say that parents had to do what the ski school did and outside of lessons they were riding the chair lift with parents after the first week, but I think 2 days to enjoy free skiing green runs may have been a little optomistic.

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Long time ago now, but the first time I went skiing I was 6 and my sister 4, 3 days on the nursery slope to start with, but we were happily skiing easy blues by the end of that week. Thinking about that is getting me all nostalgic for Santa Caterina now!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Depends *entirely* on the kid. I've had 3 year olds that've taken to it so quickly they've ridden chairs and greens in the first morning. I've seen six year olds in weekend clubs spend 12 full days (a week a day throughout the season) on the magic carpet and not learn to stop by themselves. On average, in two days, I'd hope to get linked turns down the easiest greens. There're some greens in my resort that're harder than blues in a lot of places, so by easy I'm talking about nearly flat gradient meadow type skiing. Saying that, it depends how the lessons went too - group lessons can be waylayed pretty badly by big splits in atlethic ability or maturity - one kid crying, not being able to stand up or multiple bathroom breaks can really disrupt how much I can teach.

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rjs,

After all it is free

Equynth, where abouts did you stay in Tahoe, used to work in a sick little resort called Sierra, would defo recomend if you havnt allready visited! However dont take your kids for lessons there as all the kids instructors spent most of their time smoking weed rather than teaching !! Shocked

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My brother started with his 4.5 years old youngest son with two attached straps to his waist to help him to turn as he could not understand the instructions. The fitment is available in some ski shop.

He put him in front of his own ski in the button lift to get up the slope.

Since then he progressed to one colour each year, that is blue, red black in the 2nd, 3rd & 4th year.

By the year he did black runs he was able to come down in a straight line virtually in everyone.

He never met a skiing instructor or had any lesson other than being told what to do by his dad who is another self taught skier.

The lad and his bigger brother joined a skiing club and took part in competitive skiing later.

The two brothers are able to ski always together and live in Norway. In a year they might have been able to ski 2 to 3 times, like every Easter and Christmas, as they always ski as one family.

I come to know short skis can't travel fast and falls by a small body does hurt much because when they were young these two lads would deliberately charge down the slope and fell in front of me just to get their kicks.

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Lizzard, I tend to agree, I wonder how much respect the kids had for other skiers and if they could actually control their descents when they needed to. The child could clearly straight line a black, but wouldn't someone that could ski well be able to control linked turns on a black if they needed to?

You know it makes sense.

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

While skiing I have seen loads of little kids snowploughing down black slopes with their parents. Small kids generally find the short skis they have restrict their speed and are not the same thing as those on the adults who have the weight to drive up the speed.

My brother 's kid grew up and were good enough to do competitions which the ski club encouraged them to do and they won medals of various sort. Saying they are unguided missile loose on the piste is only a speculation.

I could be wrong but other people in the European countries having ready access to the slope do not religiously take lessons formally.

While I was in Colorado resorts this year it appeared to me many American skiers dumped their kids for formal lessons mainly for them to be free to do their own things (confirmed by a fellow American skier). In Europe parents like to be with their own children. I still have a video shot in a scary black run where a child was having difficulty and his dad simply put him over his shoulder and skied down the slope in double quick time. Our jaw dropped as we were take great pain to go down the steep gradient slowly.

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DaveC, Agreed. A slightly odd statement.

What I see from putting my kids into ski schools in the US & Canada is parents taking an active interest in their kids, speaking to the instructor at the end of every day, getting written report cards etc etc. I think the Americans and Canadians expect more from ski school for their kids, and probably therefore get it. I would say that any parent who leaves their kids in a ski school group of greater than 5 (ie the size you frequently see in Europe) is really just arranging custodial daycare... Wink

What I definitely see now is that my kids - through having really good lessons in the US and Canada now have excellent fundamentals which I would love to have, but it is too late. The 8 year old is doing blacks in pretty decent control, and the 14 year old will ski pretty well anything you throw at him.

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DaveC, Agreed

Actually I always find UK skiers far more willing to sign their kids up for a whole week of lessons on the snow. Our experience in both US and canada is that parents sign up for a few sessions, but expect and should get progression.

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I am offering my brother's case as an example and not as a rule.

People do things differently. I thought there are SH who like to know other cases. Both my family (with two children) and my brother family learn skiing ourselves without any formal lessons. We are not against lessons but in our circumstances we ended up bypassing them. To us practice is more important. Don't have ambition to ski fast but just be able to go anywhere on the skis. We treat skiing no different than other sports like swimming or squash.

As regarding to young age for skiing I have seen a lot of kids younger than 4.5 years on the European slopes, mostly with their parents. UK skiers may treat skiing as a holiday to be done one or twice a year but it can be one of the week end activities for many Europeans living close to the Alps.

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My littlest one started in the ESF snow garden at 3 (6 days of mornings) and by the end of that could snow plough and do little skid stops, he's just done another week in Piou Piou, by the 3rd day the older ones were out and about on the magic carpet and then 5th and 6th day doing drag lifts and blue runs etc. We skied with him all afternoon and he just kept getting better and better, by the end of the week he was skiing easy reds with the rest of us and was much more controlled than his crazy 7yr old brother who I have to bribe to do turns!! From my limited experience of children learning to ski I think it completely depends on the child. I will put money on my 4 year old will turn out to be technically good, my 7 year old just crazy and fast (unguided missile as mentioned above)! Both of my boys have been in ESF lessons and we have found them to be excellent. This year my 7 year old had the same instructor in Les Gets he had 2 years ago which was brilliant. Definitely not custodial daycare, they are both going to be better than me in a couple of years, made some new friends and most importantly of all - really enjoyed it!!!

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has been great to read through this, i just spent the last season getting qualified and teaching in Canada, from an instructors side we alwasy think the kids have more fun in a group, and need to be outside not just playing in the day care. The more time they get on snow the better, and some kids learn to carve earlier , other children never figure out how to carve and like Jo ..maybe they are fearless. Lucky kids to be able to get to go on a ski trip, and even luckier if they get to go every year! oh and it is never too late for lessons, i wish i had more growing up, it was hard to correct th emistakes and stance later when I was going for my instructors. 5 more months til i am back on snow, can't wait.

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Hmm, I started 38 years ago, when I was 5, did several seasons, average 60 days a years and I'm still learning to ski... Twisted Evil

"How long does it normally take to teach 5 year old to ski?"
under a new name, 25 days per year and no seasons, but I was about to say the same Very Happy

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snowball, hee hee snowHead

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My 5 year old had about 5 or 6 45min sessions at the Tamworth fridge before our hols, on holiday she went straight into the intermediate group on holiday, happily skiing blues (once she got the hang of the button lift!) early in the week, reds middle of the week and complaining the instructor wouldn't take them down the black (well more like a steep red really) by the end of the week. As has been said it very much depends on the kid, in the case of my five year old there was the strong motivation of wanting to out ski her older sisters!

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Wow you've all got budding ski genius in England.

For comparison my son first stood on skis at 2 and we have done about 20 days/yr for the last 3 seasons, he did his first baby poma's at 3y3m. He was 5y6m at the end of this season. Our normal program is 90 minutes before lunch and 90 minutes after... 2-3 hours. That's enough at his age I think.

He passed his ESF etoile in March and skis blues competently but I wouldn't take him down anything steeper. At least not on the slopes around here.

It obviously depends on the resort but many poma lifts are not suitable for very young children.

My mate's parents strapped skis to his feet as he learnt to walk. He does walk a bit funny now, but he's an awesome skier!

You know it makes sense.

Most 5 year olds that I have taught can link turns down most of our green runs after 2 or 3 lessons (2 hour privates). In group lessons they do not generally progress as fast. I won't take wedge turners on blac runs, since they then have a tendancy to sit back too far - black runs are for those who make almost parallel turns.

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

Judging by my little sister about 9 days saying she hated it and that she couldn't do it (with little bits of her really enjoying it and skiing really well) and on day 10 skiing very well indeed and infact scaring me and my dad with the pace she wanted to ski at, whilst mucking about! As we thought she could barely ski, turns out she is just an awkward little sod!

A snowHead

You've got at most one season. After that you're teaching a six year old to ski...

A snowHead

JimW,

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

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The most important thing is for the children to have a good time. This isn't achieved by pushing them!!!! If the children enjoy the skiing and are encouraged loads and have good tuition they will get there and want to go skiing every year. If you push them to hard and take them places they are scared of they will not want to go.........which makes life very difficult for the parents!!!

Generally children love skiing if they are introduced to it with good tuition, family loving skiing, no pressure to do anything but have fun (and stay safe)!!! There is plenty of time for a 5 year old to become very good in future years!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

IME all kids can actually turn, so long as you don't tell them how to do it. Many can't plough though, so the reins idea mentioned above is great. You can do this with ski stick too (short skis help). Tie the wrist straps together and put them round the kid's middle. You ski behind and control their speed. If they don't know left and right then tug on one side or the other. Blacks should deffo not be attempted in plough though, and not until some sort of edge control is achieved either.

Jutta (who many snowheads know from her shop here) once found a 5 year old in floods of tears half way down the Valentin with dad below hurling abuse at the poor child. She picked up the kid, also mentioned above, and skied down to the bottom where she quite rightly gave the dad a serious piece of her mind! The parents here tend to keep their kids on the free nursery lifts for at least a season, before doing anything else. Kids get Weds afternoon sports in the ESF and they can join the club if they like. Therefore, they are all in lessons all the time. I see large numbers of kids skiing with their parents (badly) when they would be better in ski school. Even bad lessons are better than no lessons. They are watching a good example skiing in schools, rather than a poor example. Parents are giving their kids a chance of a skill for life - why waste it? As gorbierider, says - it's much harder to correct the problems later.

I started skiing (messing about on the nursery slopes) at 3, started ski school at 5 and can still remember how proud I was to go to my first 'proper' ski lesson. I went all day every day that we were skiing (approx 3 weeks per year) until I was 16. After that I continued to have lessons, and to this day am still learning to ski!

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easiski,

Interesting that you recommend reins! I don't like them as:

1. It doesn't teach children how to stop
2. It lets them on runs above their ability and is therefore more for the parents than the kids
3. It gives kids a false sense of security
4. It teaches them to throw their weight backwards

IMO if the kids can't ski the run safely by themselves they shouldn't be on it!!!

Both our kids have had lessons etc, but we have also skied with them when they are not in lessons. A few times we have ben stopped by people and complimented us on our family skiing and how nice it is to see people actually sking with their kids. Family time is important and shouldn't be unerrated in terms of producing happy healthy balanced children.

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easiski, I'm amazed you recommend reins. I've had nothing but horrific experiences trying to teach kids that've come to rely on them. I feel they're a total copout - skiing can be fun without going touring round random slopes under an adults control with no input from the kid besides standing up. I'd much rather have a kid straightline a small area straight to me under their own power, and ideally let them run out of steam naturally or catch them if needs be, than do the steering and breaking for them.

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DaveC, gryphea, With reins, all you should be doing is making sure kids don't rush off out of control in the falline. I don't find it makes them lean back, I don't find it's a copout as they learn to turn themselves and traverse. they learn to keep their weight on the downhill leg on their own, and through their improved confidence they learn their own control.

I find it particularly useful in the summer when the transition from the nursery slope to the rest of the glacier is quite extreme, and thus they are able to ski a fair bit of the available terrain and progress. As they get better we use the reins only on the steeper bits, and gradually they are able to cope with these as well. It also gives the kids confidence.

However, I have noticed that many parents (who appear to be competent skiers), are unable to cope with sticks/reins or help at all. Therefore, like many 'aids' it's only as good as the person using it. I have, however, found them very useful on many occasions.

DaveC, You should do/say whatever achieves the results in teaching people to ski, not slavishly follow any prescribed 'routes'. I have been looking (without success) for a photo that was posted by Brian of me with his youngest on the sticks in either 2006 or 2007.

easiski, er, alright, thanks - but I've tried holding kids back, and it makes them lean forwards too much rather than back, and I've found makes them not want to engage any edge or try and control their own speed. I feel it removes them from the experience completely. It's a lot less dignified for me, but I usually get kids to hold onto bamboo in front of them, that I hold on to skiing backwards in a reverse plow. They rarely have the upper body strength to even try to hold themselves up off me, so when it doesn't work/they don't control themselves without breaking they zoom under the bamboo. I can be face to face with them encouraging them that way too, and deal with 2 or 3 kids at a time in the same way. Plus, big red jacket guy distracts from big mountain they're on. I've taught a *lot* of kids in the last two years, and a fair few private hours with beginner kids with learning difficulties so I've had the time to go through trial and error here... I really, really hate kids being leashed/rein'ed/restrained.

brian

easiski, 2006. Only 4 years ago. The wee b is nearly as fast as me now ... Sad

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How long does it normally take to teach 5 year old to ski?

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