Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, some advise please. I am taking the kids (3yrs & 6yrs) on their first ski holiday to Kuhtai, Austria in March. I really want them to enjoy & full in love with skiing but I will have tears if they get cold!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Babyruby, welcome to snowheads. Mitts are warmer and easier to get on for the little one. Have some extra pairs - they can get very wet and take a while to dry out. Worth attaching them with strings through the sleeves - it's horribly easy to drop them off a lift. 3 years is very young to start; good just to have a little slide about and lots of games, with a nice warm playroom to retreat to, if it's cold. 6 is ideal. Maybe ask here for some local advice on the best ski school to use for them.
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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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Babyruby, welcome. Mitts + Manbi Glove Glue
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My 5yo insists on gloves as he can feel through them fair better than mitts.
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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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RobW, well done if you can find gloves to fit a 5 year old well, my lad wanted gloves around that age and we tried loads and it's hard to find a good fit. We ended up with a compromise and now we have a 'claw' type glove/mitt, it has a thumb and then two 'finger compartments' works really well.
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mitts, spare mitts, gloves for snowball fights and t-bag heaters just in case.
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I would go for mitts everytime. Maybe with liner gloves underneath.
Mitss should be good quality and waterproof
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I never used to let my 5 year olds "insist" on anything.
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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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RobW wrote: |
My 5yo insists on gloves as he can feel through them fair better than mitts. |
Yeah, this. Mine gets quite grumpy if he feels like he's got constricted boxing-glove hands with non-opposable thumbs.
Mitts are warmer, but not if they take them off every 2 minutes...
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Last year was our first year proper with the kids (went when they were 1 and 5 and little skiing was done by anyone!!!) - last Christmas they were 4 and 8, and the 4 year old wasnt out on the mountain, he was in the ski garden like rows and rows of penguins on and off a very flat travelator (naughtily funny when one 'penguin' would fall over, as all of them behind would go too, until someone turned off the travelator, stood them all back up again and started it off. I would say he wasnt properly strong enough to get control of his skis or truly understand what they were asking him to do, but he had fun, and can still show you a snow plough almost a year on. We went mitts - a wooly pair inside a ski pair, incase one came off, and didnt get noticed very quickly. He also had a spare set in his backpack (along with spare pants etc!!!!!). We are really looking forward to this Christmas 5 and 9 and all out on the mountain!!!!
Enjoy - in France ski school was only the morning, and often, we would go sledging or something for an hour or so after lunch, and often be back at the chalet by 3.00pm ish - a little frustrating for adults, but the kids get tired even quicker than us oldies, especially as the week went on! Dont set your sights too high in what you will achieve, and you will have a ball!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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we go for mittens with thin glove liners - attach the mittens by string throught the sleeves, then they can easily come off without getting lost and liners will keep hands warm for the few minutes they're off ...
also, agree with having loads of extra pairs at this age - one mitten gets lost so easily and then you're basically done until you can buy replacements unless you've stuck a cheapie pair in your pocket as spare.
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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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when my kids were little I don't remember ever buying particularly "good quality" mitts, just whatever was in Go Sport or similar. It's probably better to have several pairs of basic ones than splash out on very expensive ones. Decathlon have very adequate ones - with a short zip, for the smallest ones. Kids vary a lot - some 4 year olds can manage fine, others are struggling a bit, as described by Becksy. My daughter managed OK as a fairly strong 4 year old, even in an entirely German speaking ski school class, but she'd not have coped at 3, I'm sure. She wouldn't even have been able to climb out of her ski gear to pee if necessary. She used to stomp round in her ski boots saying "ich heisse Alex. Ich kann nicht Deutsch" if anyone spoke to her, but she'd not have been able to ask for help to get her pants down!! Probably, these days, most instructors speak enough English, but hers, who was charming, spoke not one word!
We have a big family trip at Easter and one grand-daughter will be 4, and is a very strong and well-coordinated child. She'll be fine. We'll be using a private instructor, who I know well, for a group of child beginners from 4 - 8. Another little girl will be just 3 and 2 months, and I suspect she will just do tobogganing, snowballs, etc. If she's keen to try skis we'll rent some, and she can have a little slide about with me, on the barely-there gradient of the free nursery tow, but only if she's really keen.
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Quote: |
when my kids were little I don't remember ever buying particularly "good quality" mitts,
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Well here if you don't get good quality they get soaking wet. And here the kids play out at school recess until its -20 C
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You know it makes sense.
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gryphea wrote: |
Quote: |
when my kids were little I don't remember ever buying particularly "good quality" mitts,
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Well here if you don't get good quality they get soaking wet. And here the kids play out at school recess until its -20 C |
Same here (except wetter and not normally -20C!)
littleh_v1.0 has some not so good (but still good value) MEC ones for general use, and some good North Face mitts for skiing.
Since I splash out on Goretex Hestra gloves for me since I know having cold/wet hands is miserable, why would I not get decent ones for the kids when they have their hands in the snow even more. Good ones don't get wet through in the first place so far less hassle with having to rotate through a whole array of mitts in various state of dryness
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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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Babyruby, I see you're going to Austria in March. If it's anything like last year your biggest problems may be sunburn, not cold hands.
Mitts are warmer, but most kids prefer gloves.
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Poster: A snowHead
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gryphea, an Austrian resort in March is certainly likely to be warmer than your kids have to put up with!
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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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Babyruby,
The 6 year old will love it. Because they will, so will the 3 year old, especially if there are big cousins etc. there as well. Hubby's hopes of boys only trips will transmogrify into huge family holidays where you start to take over whole chalets
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Kuhtai is a great little resort, you can also visit Oetz on the same pass which opens up another 35ish km of slope. Close to the glacier and a high resort, virtually all accom ski in/out, you should have a fantastic holiday.
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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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Muddy Puddles have got a sale on and they have ski mitts etc (and also kids glove savers reduced to a fantastic 30p!!!!)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just clearing out the ski gear yesterday, and I have a pair of muddy puddles ski mitts for 2 - 3 year old (though my son wore them last year age 4) which you are very welcome to - they are mainly red, with a bit of navy and some white piping. They open up part the way up the hand for easy putting on!!! If you would like them, please PM me and I will post them to you.
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Becksy,
Ah thank you, how much would you like for them?
Cath x
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My kids (now 12 and both prefer mitts and have done since they started skiing 4 winters ago
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