Snowblades for Toddlers??

[Avid Old Fart]

Has anyone had experience putting a 3 to 4 y/o, on snowlblades as a first-time ski?
Pros and cons?
AOF

[mntlion]

bindings dont release..

[dumpy]

Cons: Bindings don't release, raising your kid a snowlerblader, might be too wide vs. long for a kid's ski

Pros: Might be cheaper than a kid's ski in similar length+binding

[mntlion]

bindings also might not go small enough?

[DropCliffsNotBombs]

Don't do it dude... don't do it.

[PhiberAwptik]

Do you really want your kid getting JONG'ed that early in life. Snowblades are snowblades no matter how you slice it. I would heckle the fuck out of your kid from the lift.

[Avid Old Fart]

^^^^^ Why would you heckle a 3 foot tall kid, wearing FAT skis and getting face shots under the lift ???

[Crusty]

Has anyone had experience putting a 3 to 4 y/o, on snowlblades as a first-time ski?
Pros and cons?

I've done exactly that and I don't recommend it. The width and stiffness of snowblades really made it difficult for my 4 year old. We switched to light, soft 65mm youth skis and he did so much better. This kid is pretty big and strong for his age and he really had a hard time.

As noted above, if you do go with snowblades use releasable bindings.

[PhiberAwptik]

^^^^^ Why would you heckle a 3 foot tall kid, wearing FAT skis and getting face shots under the lift ???

I wouldn't heckle a 3 foot kid on ski's. I would heckle anyone and everyone on snowblades.

[Avid Old Fart]

It's obvious the majority are on the don't do it side and I appreciate the feedback.
There is an opportunity to get some nice snowblades cheap and I agree they would need to have release bindings on them, but I wasn't aware of the width being a serious concern 'till now.
I'll just look for a clean pair of short girly colored skis and forget about the blade idea.
AOF

[54-46]

Skis can last kids ~2 years. Go to rei.com and get a pair of kid skis for $65 and bindings for $40, and the bindings will be reusable on the next pair of $65 skis.

In two years, flip the first pair of $65 skis to a friend with a younger kid.

[whyturn]

Armada jj's are snowblades, but I still say reg skis only

[Beyond]

Skis can last kids ~2 years. Go to rei.com and get a pair of kid skis for $65 and bindings for $40, and the bindings will be reusable on the next pair of $65 skis.

In two years, flip the first pair of $65 skis to a friend with a younger kid.

Or go to fleabay and get slightly used kid's skis for $30-$50, including bindings, and do ^^^^^. Works for us.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Adult equipment is designed for adults. Toddler equipment is designed for toddlers.
Too stiff, too wide, bindings don't release.
A 3 or 4 year old needs something they can fall over in on the bunny hill for 2 runs then put on the rack while they drink hot cocoa for the rest of the day in day care while daddy shreds.

[weasel1]

On the binding issue, you can remove the blade binding and mount regualr alpine jr bindings. However, generally, snowblades are stiffer than a GOOD jr. ski, and therefore not as good for the little tyke, as they can't bend the ski. For the daily driver, avoid this.

BUT, for face-shot conditions, there are some options. I stripped the blade bindings from a pair of Dynastar Twins snowblades, mounted jr alpine bindings and VIOLA, powder skis for my tiny (99cm long, 99mm wide). These are dope. See pics.

[Avid Old Fart]

^^^^^ A real "SNOW BUNNY"

[nickwm21]

hellbents... get hellbents

[cooltsi]

I'm probably the bad dad but I let me oldest son do just this. When he was 3ish we picked up a set of Kneissl bigfoot juniors. They worked just fine for having him hang out between your legs until he got his legs under him and his sister passed down her skis to him. Later in life I picked up a set of Blizzard Yahoo ski in a 120 or 130cm length. They were just under 100mm underfoot by my memory and I put kids bindings on those. Kids thought it was a hoot to have fat skis. Alot of people will tell you kids don't need fat skis but I disagree. My son and I modified some Atomic 150cm pow plus skis with rocker tip and tail with some minor amount of camber left underfoot. It was a night a day difference for him coming from a set of 85mm underfoot K2 Fugatives. By accounts of the experts a kid his size (4'7" 65Ibs) should float just fine on an 85mm width ski, but those 108mm (the 150cm version is a bit narrower) waisted skis float much better and in the fluffy stuff he was still sinking the tips occassionally.

[mntlion]

new PM gear mini maggot pro ski - Teton Gravity Research Forums

PM gear pro model skis...

[telemike]

funny

I had a crazy conversation with a toothless, neck-tattooed tweaker at the junk store a couple of weeks ago. We're both looking at the barrels full of skis, and I spies something worthy - modern, 80cm skis w/ DIN 4.5 rental binders that I can give to my buddy's daughter. Unfortunately, they are in the tweakers hand. He wants to set them up for his 13 year old son. He had such a great time renting blades at Mammoth a few years ago, that he's convinced that a 150# kid can ski these. He's after something BIG - 90-100cm long. He asks me if I know anything about skiing.

Hilarity ensues....

Somehow I manged to get the skis out of his hand, and I think he's going to come up to (GULP!) the ski area I work at to rent some proper gear for him and his kid next winter.

so TC