Ongoing Kid Stoke [2011 and on...]

[PlayItLeo]

First "chair"

[powder4breakfast]

A little Kid stoke. Van just chills in the pack all calm; but, I know he loves it because if I ask him to raise the roof ...he raises his hands and says "woot woot".

Seems like Yesterday Anna was in this pack raising the roof. Now she's 8!

[klauss]

Wow. some young ripperz out there. Here is a short vid of my 4 year olds first day where the turning clicked last month. have a 1 year old in study too. always good when dad leads into traffic...

[::: :::]

Klauss, way to teach him to brush off crappy snowboarders and keep rolling!

[klauss]

I was impressed he shook him even though I led him into the lil knuckle dragger.

The whole experience with young kids on hill has me pitching the wife on a mountain capable haul trailer for naps in parking lot. Could probably finance a airstream over 50 years...

[uglymoney]

I was impressed he shook him even though I led him into the lil knuckle dragger.

The whole experience with young kids on hill has me pitching the wife on a mountain capable haul trailer for naps in parking lot. Could probably finance a airstream over 50 years...

I know what you mean! We had a nice place to hang usually inside the lodge except on race weekends when the racers would claim the entire area for the day and then...no place to go...we'd poach the hotel's couches sometimes. It would have been killer to have a little heated Scamp or pickup camper to go chill in. Luckily my girl is four now and seems to be out of the meltdown phase during afternoons at the hill.

Rocking poles this year on her insistence. I was surprised when she wanted to work on her pole plants last weekend for a couple laps and she does okay when we go slow on steep runs but flails with them otherwise - which I think is normal. Makes it a lot easier for us on the flats since she can push herself around. Still using the Lucky Bums harness because the handle is awesome for pulling her onto the fixed grip lifts at Chestnut. We went from 76 cm K2 Luv Bug to the 88 cm Luv Bug. Best ski ever except it is definitely a little unstable once they start shredding at high speeds - but the 88 cm ski seems better than the 76 just because of length. The longer skis set her back for the first few weeks this year but she seems to be up to speed on them now.

[skier666]

Decided to ditch the leash and edgie-wedgie to teaching my 3 year old...and so far has worked really well. My role has been basically yelling to her 'PIZZA' loudly for her to control her speed while I'm next to her so I grab her if need be. When she gets going too fast and in the backseat I tell her to 'clap her hands' and that seems to put her forward again. The 6 year old is skiing all over the mountain and after a lesson recently in Telluride, we may move him into skis a bit longer. His only issue right now is on really steep runs where he tends to default to a snow plow...I'm trying to get him to traverse steeper slopes with hands forward and skis parallel all the way across the slope to slow him down and for control.

3 year old is on 70cm but may go to 88cm - the 6 year old is on 100cm but may go to 115cm. Both kids are in 95% - 100% in height and weight for their age

3 year old getting ready for MLK weekend in Telluride...



She's actually using her edges quite well...



The 6 year old improving slowly but surely...not going to push him too hard though as I want him to have a blast skiing.

[::: :::]

my just turned 10yo showing off his form for the camera
(x-posted from the hood/bachelor thread)

[photo credit: grant myrdal]

[uglymoney]

Nice pic acinpdx looks like a brave little ripper and (as always)great pictures and trip report 666.

Sage (4) takes on Warpath for her first time on the longer skis this year. She did it at the end of last year as a three year old and it took her a while to get the courage up this year, especially with her insistence on using poles.

[skiballs]

my just turned 10yo showing off his form for the camera
(x-posted from the hood/bachelor thread)

[photo credit: grant myrdal]

I showed this to my 9 yr old. He said he'd do it. As long as I promised to help him clean up the yard sale.

[::: :::]

Sage (4) takes on Warpath for her first time on the longer skis this year. She did it at the end of last year as a three year old and it took her a while to get the courage up this year, especially with her insistence on using poles.

She's doing great!! AcinpdxJR didn't want to slide on snow at 4 or 5 ...big fits when we tried 😛😱

[TBS]

Cross post from Little Ripper thread.
I am stoked today. My ski buddy Jason is putting together linked parallel turns!

Attachment 163007
He's 15 but functions at about half that age. He came to our adaptive ski program 8 weeks from one of the high schools on a 10 week ski/board session. Never been on snow before. When I first met him he was afraid of everything and had the attention span of a flashbulb. On our second day he decided to go up a beginner (green/blue) chair. The view looked like this
Attachment 163006
He looked around and yelled "I've never been this high up before. GET ME DOWN NOW!!! GET ME DOWN!" and melted down. After a little deep breathing and strategic terrain management, he made it down without incident. Took two hours for him to decide to try it again.

Fast forward six weeks. He's graduated from the power wedge. He only uses his poles to navigate the lift mazes and flats around the chairs, otherwise I'm carrying them. He is channeling a race car driver with his hands. His new goal is to ski down from Summit on Mt Bachelor. Using that to get him on terrain that's challenging him more and more.

And today he had "the epiphany" and started linking parallel turns on legit blue terrain! He bends at the waist not the ankle, he uses his shoulder to start the turn (channeling his driving steeze) instead of tipping, he's in the back seat and his hands drop to his waist every six turns (up from every two).

He told me last week that skiing is the only sport he has ever had fun at, and he's negotiating with his parents to get his own gear. His teachers tell me that he's up and ready to go two hours ahead of time. His self confidence is light years ahead of when we first met. He's joking around with his classmates instead of sitting in a corner by himself.

We also started working on a new skill today - how to start conversations with girls on the chair.

Will post photos from top of Bachy

[PlayItLeo]

^^^^ rad!

[~mikey b]

Hellz yeah!

[klauss]

Awesome telebob

[bern43]

Took my four year old to Pat's Peak last weekend. Small place, but they have beginner trails off of every lift. We got there around 9:30 and my little guy lasted until almost 4 pm. And that wasn't me pushing him at all. He was just excited to be out skiing. His highlight was what he called the "poop trail." He announced he had to hit the potty at the top. Made for a suspenseful run.

[uglymoney]

Greybird cold with wind here on Sunday. On her second run Sage (4) decided to take on bulletproof Warpath. A dusting of snow some places but pretty scraped off. First time she has skied it during genuine midwest sketch conditions.







She has some work to do staying out of the backseat on the steeps and polishing up her pole plants but she likes using them unless her hands get cold and she totally gets skiing so I could care less

[montanaskier]

My kid is 3, started at 17mos, skied 22 days last year and today was 15 this season. He has started ski school thru his daycare and they've got him turning and stopping. I'm stoked!

[Danno]

Holy shit, Logan rocks! Way better than Lily (who turned 4 last week), but then we don't live up there. She can go down and knows what a pizza is but can't really do it. We have her scheduled for a 3 week Sunday program next month, hoping that leads to a breakthrough.

[montanaskier]

His ski school classes have helped a ton. Best $$$ I've ever spent

[TBS]

Collective wisdom needed please

One of the kids I volunteer with is coming out of her boots on forward falls.
Big girl - 4'10 and prolly 175lb - with tiny feet. Heel DIN=3. Two-buckle Rossi kid boots
She's ejected from the binders several times as currently set - couldn't tell if toe or heel released first.
Her feet hurt if I tighten either of the buckles beyond "Mom's Settings"

Any ideas, other than her parent's spring for new 4-buckle boots? I'm a little concerned about pre-release if I lower the heel din further, and a pro-fitting seems a waste of money given the low-end boots.

Thanks

In case you were wondering, re-booting a large kid with a low fitness level while on snow = clusterfuck. I'm sure it was quite entertaining for people riding the lift overhead

[mtnbiker/boarder]

Was out with my two year yesterday for a solid hour. Each time I thought she was done she would giggle and laugh and say "again daddy" which just made me smile but this morning after sleeping in the longest she ever has , she wakes up and says "daddy I want to ski" which not to sound like a sap but about put a tear in my eye and the biggest smile on my face. Soon as we are done our pancakes and BACON we are headed out. I don't know who is more excited Dad or daughter. Enjoy the day folks

[skier666]

Just enough snow in Tahoe to keep the kids skiin'

A week ago, I took my daughter up...she's got some radical edge control for a 3 year old...



Headed to Northstar on Saturday and had some fun slush before the torrential rainstorm...



It rained but my daughter didn't care...she's also a fan of the gaper gap...I wish I was kidding.



Yesterday at Kirkwood we got some good runs in before...yep...more torrential rain!

[tpacent]

Happy two-year old when Kirkwood had sun and no snow.

Now just a little bit more than no snow.

[montanaskier]

My little guy had a great day at the Beav. He's gotten so awesome at turning and stopping and even likes going over little "jumps". Love that he's stoked on skiing!