hikerbeth

EMT

When did your DD ski for the first time? We are going this weekend and we definitely want DD to go (she's 4) but I'm wondering if DS can go as well (he's 2 yrs 1 month).

Any tips on skiing with the youngens? I think we'll just put them in a private lesson so we can have a little fun ourselves and then we can ride with them a bit afterwards.

hikerbeth

She was 2.5.

The ski schools around here generally don't take kids 'til around 3, and she was still in diapers at 2.5 so they definitely wouldn't have taken her.  She was also gross motor delayed, so it was better for us to gauge when she was ready to be with a lesson.  When she was ready for a lesson, we went with the group lesson which really rocketed her ahead in terms of ability (due to the peer pressure, I think).

Tips: 

Start early (which you're doing).  They are closer to the ground and have fewer preconceived fears.

Keep your expectations low.  Our goal was one run with no tears. . . and she really blew our expectations away and skied for hours her first time out.  Definitely let them guide the day, but not be totally in charge (ie: they don't have the option to NOT ski, but they can choose to do one run before a break or whatever).  Take plenty of breaks and feed them a ton of snacks. . . it really keeps the fire burning.  If it's cold/windy/snowing definitely take lots of breaks to warm up.  Invest in good mittens!!  I swear I've spent more on mittens than any other article of clothing.

Let them shuffle around the house in their boots and skis if possible (without snowsuits/slippery snow/etc.)  That way they can learn to stand up/sit down and move a bit with skis on.

We taught Gretchen with a ski harness because of her gross motor stuff.  She just really needed the security until she could figure out the body mechanics.  However, she was required to stand on her own (ie: she couldn't just dangle herself between our legs, she had to use her own muscles).

If you can get your hands on the November 2010 Ski Magazine, it has a lot of great stuff about skiing with kids.

veloelle

**butting in** We just got back from skiing in Utah w/ DD for the first time over Presidents Day. DD loved it. We opted for ski school. I am SO GLAD we did it! We did the morning session, 10 - 12:30 am. I spied on her once w/out her noticing. She had to stop about 30 min before school was over because she had a melt down. We think she was super dehydrated, so make sure your DD gets lots of fluids. She was fine after hot chocolate and cheetos, lol. We were over 9,000 ft, and I think her poor little body just wasn't used to that amount of activity at alititude, even though I thought I'd properly hydrated her.

When we rented the skis, we let her walk around the store for about 10 min in them. She thought she was the coolest kid on the block, and when we got on snow she was fine.

We bought her REI mittens and they did really well, didn't get too wet, etc. Check out rei-outlet.com and sierratradingpost.com for clearance deals on ski gear. I bought DD black Columbia (so they can be passed down to DS) ski pants for $17.  She used her full-head bike helmet, and it worked well. Also, remember goggles! If you use a bike helmet w/ goggles, bring tape because the goggles will not stay on the helmet. Lesson learned on that.

Like Beth, our DD blew us away. Based on her recs to me a few weeks ago, I figured if we got one run in, it was a success. We skied w/ her all afternoon and probably did about 8 runs, 6 on the bunny hill and 2 on the green run next to it. I went in front of her and she followed, then I started doing really gradual turns and she followed perfectly. It was seriously one of the best times I've had w/ her, just so neat to see her skiing!

have fun!! Are you going local? If so, keep in mind that Hwy 330 is closed all winter, the main road to Big Bear. Give yourself an extra 2-3 hours to get off the mountain. For serious! I see the line of cars every Sunday. And PM me if you need recs for easier ways to get on the freeway. ; )

EMT

Thanks ladies for the tip. Yes, v, we are going to Big Bear. My parents have a cabin but it's up the back way anyhow. I'm still undecided about Owen. He's just 2 and NOT potty trained. My friends suggested a private lesson. That's what they did. It's only an hour...maybe they wouldn't have to be potty trained.

I can't decide what to do because DH and I want to ski but we don't have anyone going with us that could watch the kids. I'm thinking maybe we just try half day and we ski while they are in their lesson and then do the bunny slope with them a couple times and call it a day?? Probably expecting WAAAY too much hiker, right?

It's just we don't get up often and the snow is not usually great where we are going but they are supposed to get snow this weekend.

hikerbeth

Eh, I expect a lot of my kids, too.  Most of the time, they really rise to the challenge   Burns them out completely, but it's good for them.

We generally take turns watching Leif while the other skis with Gretchen and then we take some time for runs by ourselves.  Not ideal (I'd rather be skiing with my husband), but after seeing Gretchen really take off the last time we went skiing, I can definitely see what the future holds (us all skiing together).

We have splurged a few times and put Leif in ski daycare and just skied with Gretchen.  I didn't realize how much she'd miss skiing with both of us now that he's here.

We also plan an annual trip and get ski school/daycare for both kids so we can ski together and try to do one day out when we're visiting my parents in Montana so they can watch kids.

I second sierratradingpost.com for gear.  My favorite mittens for Gretchen are "Hestra" brand and they were 50% off last time I bought them there.