What age to get them started.

A snowHead

I know this can depend on the child and also which country you are visiting but whats a good time to start the 'bin lids' skiing?

I have a 3 year old (was 3 in Sept) and a 5 (year old) will be 6 in May.

Is this winter too soon for the youngest? He is tall for his age at 104cms and very outgoing,he says he wants to ski where as eldest daughter dosnt seem too keen but she also mixes well and goes to various clubs etc.

Any advice / experiences appreciated

A snowHead

First skier in this video is was 3.5yo when taken, so your youngest can certainly start - assuming you can find a ski-school which will take them at that age.

http://youtube.com/v/I4pPlIh72Rs

We've found Austria is usually flexible about minimum ages. As long as they are fully toilet-trained they don't seem to have an issue with age.

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

Renry, yes, depends entirely on the child. If yours is keen to ski, that's a big part of the picture. My 4.5 year old grand son doesn't, though his big sister made a good start last year at 6. Depends a bit on weather, and the family environment too - decent weather and competent, relaxed, family members help - you often see rather incompetent parents faffing around trying to help kids and getting it wrong.

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Our youngest started at 3 years and 3 months - but for an hour twice a day as part of a day care facility. The oldest started at 4 3/4 . Both loved it from the start. Depends on the kid, their motivation and coordination.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Renry, depends on each kid. My youngest started at 4 but probably not strong enough at that point. Big difference when he went the following year. My eldest only started at 8 but sure he would have been better aged 4 than my youngest as he was stronger at that age

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Both my girls started at 3 1/2, eldest moved to snowboarding age 5, youngest just turned 5 and had her first go on a board on Sunday (and loved it, in her words much better than skiing Wink

)

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8 save a fortune plus kids under say 5/6 often hate it anyway.

After all it is free

At that age, don't expect a lot of skiing to get done. Key is to make it fun which can include snowman making, etc. Will depend a lot with the kid, but just getting a feel for the equipment and walking on snow with skis is probably a good start. I have seen some programs that are basically day care/camp with an hour or so of skiing for kids that age. Pretty good thread over on Epic that discussed this recently http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/97398/best-strategy-to-teach-3-5-year-old-to-ski/

take em to a snow dome for a few lessons to see how they get on before investing in an expensive family ski holiday... or take em to a dry slope to see just how keen they really are... wink

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My youngest child started skiing on her 3rd birthday and loved it but was just skiing straight down nursery slope (not turning). The older child was nearly 6 and did proper ski school. He was the more nervous of the two that holiday (nearly chewed his glove to pieces the first day) but by the end of the week had progressed a lot more and was skiing down the mountain on blues. Two holidays later he was on his first black. I therefore think this year would be a good year for you to think about taking your children on a family ski holiday.

When our children were 3 and 5 (holiday described above) we went to puy st vincent with snow bizz and I would recommend giving this company a try. They have a special ski class for 3/4 yr olds followed by creche. The lessons are very good.

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heres my two pence....

Both the ski schools that i've worked for the minium age is 3 (but parents like to lie....and i've taught 2yr olds before -very unsuccessfully) You have already won half the battle if your child is keen to ski!!! there are ways to cheat even if your child doesn't have the muscle strength to do his own snowplow (using edgie wedgies)

It always depends on the child. the best thing to do is put him in for a half day lesson and see if he likes it rather than chuck him in for the whole day! At that age the instructor should give him plenty of breaks and emphasis on having a fun day rather than just the skiing and then i'm sure he'll love it! Even if he just gets used to the skiing environment this year then he'll feel much more comfortable if you plan on going next year and should improve quicker. Just get him sliding!!!

if you can i would definatley recommmend getting a private lesson though for the young one! group lessons for 3 year olds i have taught are normally restricted to 3 in a lesson but i still think its too much. i've always found that the young ones need a LOT of one-on-one encouragement to keep them going. and it only takes one of the other children to start crying to make them all start crying!

i'm sure you'll have an awesome time! good luck! Very Happy

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Renry, Yes you can start with a 3 years old kid,, the age is no problem,, but take care,, I have seen parents,, more antusiastic than the kid,, if they want to ski,,, age is never a problem,,, Good Luck with to let your kid start i ski,,, he is proberly happy for that,,,

Son first trip on ski's was when he was a month shy of 4 in 2009. We taught him ourselves 2-3 hours a day on free diddy slope. Then similar on long blues for last couple of days, with a bit of diddy slope to finish. Last year we did 2 trips, one at Xmas, one at Easter. At Xmas we also put the younger daughter who was 2 years and 5 months. She only did skied between the legs or with mummy/daddy skiing backwards holding her hands. The Easter trip she did a bit more, skiing on the pole.

I think your 3 years old will be OK to start. Of course it is limited to what can be attained. But I think it gives them a real headstart and they will benefit later. I have no scientific reasoning for this claim in relation to skiing but I know that is the few as regards education these days.

You know it makes sense.

Renry, my eldest was 4 in the August and then I took him the following Easter, which for us worked out absolutely perfect. He is fairly small for his age, but wiry and strong - with good legs from lots of cycling wink

. Don't underestimate how physically demanding it is for them, so after lessons and lunch, literally one or two runs is plenty, and will probably take until 15.30 anyway !! This season ( March ), I'm taking my youngest who was 4 in Sept who hopefully will take to it as well the elsdest.

Good luck, and remember your ski trips will be different for a while, but in 3 or 4 years, you'll be struggling to catch up wink

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

Renry, depends on you, the Mrs and the kids.

I posted this previously and it still stands.(it was about a family with a 2, 3 and 6year old)

A snowHead

Hi Renry,

At Crystal, children can begin skiing from 3yrs. In France - (Flaine & La Plagne 1800) - we offer our whizz kids inclusive package (6 x morning ski lessons, Crystal staff take kids to & from ski school, provide lunch & then the afternoon is time spent in the whizz kids club). In this instance both of your children could be together.

You can see more details here: http://goo.gl/n7kbm but yes it's possible for a 3yr old to begin on the snow.

Jon (Crystal Ski)

A snowHead

Jon Paget, all this is fine in principle- but ski instructors don't change wet pants!

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

my now 6yr old started on plastic skis at 2yrs 7mths and was just about able to ski down a nursery slope in control at the end of that holiday. he then followed that up the following season with some small turns but after that we didnt ski again after his sister was born due to her ill health. We've just come back from his second session of lessons on a dry slope and he's really enjoying it. You cannot believe the joy it brings watching you child enjoy something like skiing - even more so when diagnosed with ASD, i have to confess i had a tear in my eye this afternoon after he beautifully skied down following his instructor. Happy

Roll on 20th Jan so we can go hit the snow snowHead

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We started our littlest grand-daughter on the long road to skiing this week. She's 10 months old but we are delighted that she absolutely loves toboganning! Just gentle runs with no nasty rough big kids around. Though her grandmother did push her a bit too enthusiastically one time Embarassed

and she ended up with a face full of snow. Still, once we'd dug all the snow out of her mouth and eyes she soon stopped screaming. wink

Her older cousin absolutely loathed toboganning at about 20 months old - really disliked that "out of control" sensation and only started ski lessons (very cautiously, but ultimately successfully) last year at the age of 6. Kids vary so much.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

LOL Pam, what are you like. The little slope just below the piste basher garages nr Lac is great for the kids to sledge too (L'aiglon?)

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Attitude; maturity and full toilet trained are the critical ones.

We (at Welwyn) will take kids (officially from 3) when they are ready to take some sort of "guidance" within kindergarden environment; Toilet trained and want to ski; little ones will not do it if they do not want to!

We also expect a certain standard of behaviour in terms of being in a group and interacting with others; we run a ratio of 4:1 in kinder on a saturday morning and Richard and David do a fantastic job.

We also need to have parents that are well trained (so wil bug off for a coffee when they are not helping) wink

Once they are READY for instruction we will, in dicussion with parents, introduce them into our Junior Ski club development stream (officially at 5). We;ve had fantastic sucess over the years; we have kids who started in kinder now qualifed as instructors and / or racing in the summer.

We have some who stay in kinder for a year or more; and progress slowly having fun and some who "get it" and move onto the main slope and are now skiing from the top with some style.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Renry, I have an end of September birthday and started skiing when I was 3 so it's entirely possible, good ski schools will have nursery slopes near toilets etc. However it is important to emphasise that not only do the kids need to be properly toilet trained but they must let the teacher know in plenty of time that they need the toilet else accidents will ensue.

A good ski school will place the emphasis on fun for the youngest children rather than being all out instruction

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What age to get them started.

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