How to introduce 7 y/o to skiing?

**paulster2626** · 02-04-2009, 07:22 PM

I'll be taking my nephew out to ski for the first time on Saturday, and was hoping to get some advice. I did a search, but could only come up with suggestions for teaching kids who are really, really young.

The kid is 7, and he's excellent at all sports. He's the star player on his soccer, lacrosse, and hockey teams, and this is no exaggeration. I have no doubts that he'll pick up skiing easily, given the proper direction. I know this is something best left to the professionals, but he asked me if I would take him skiing one day so of course I said yes.

So, for a kid's first time on ski's, what would the instructors around here recommend? Learn to ride the chair the first day, or just stick to the magic carpet? Focus on snowplowing around stuff, or go with trying to be parallel as much as possible from the start?

I know we'll have fun, I was just wondering what the typical progression would be for a sports-proficient child who is starting skiing. Who knows, if he's good and he likes it, maybe his uncle Paul will buy him some gear and I'll have a new ski-buddy!

**tylerjames** · 02-04-2009, 07:36 PM

i always like to try and get the get kids to try and skate around some flats if they can they maybe step up to some side steps climbing a incline to get them familiar with their edges. some ppl jump to the magic carpet which i think is almost worthless i prefer to get them on a rope tow or a t-bar i think it forces them to balance on their skis going uphill so going down hill should be easier after a few times up half way on the rope tow.
save the chair for last make sure they can wedge turns and are in control nothings worse than them going fast and out of control then crashing and not wanting to go back up.

kids pick up skiing much much faster than adults he should be fine.

**Yukonrider** · 02-04-2009, 07:46 PM

Start with getting used to skis, put on, take off. Then learn to get up once you fall (sounds easy you'd be suprised how many struggle here)

Then sides steps up hill. Then wedges, and turns. That should take up a lot of the day getting completely comfortable. It really all depends how fast he picks it up. Some people will spend three days on the bunny hill, others three runs.

**bradski530** · 02-04-2009, 07:50 PM

Yeah, before even having him try to skate around I would start with just boots. Walk around on the snow a little bit, walk in a circle, have him make a 'butterfly' by rotating his foot (from the center, not pivoting off the heel or toe). Then, once he's a little acclimated to moving in ski boots, he should put on one ski. Have him follow you just going in a small circle (the radius should be about the length of a ski). Do that a couple of time and then go around the cirlce again in the other direction (ski on same foot though). Then, you should have him put just the other ski on. Do the same thing. Now, both skis. Same thing.

Now that he is used to moving around in skis and boots, just tell him to follow you, and you should slowly skate around, turning in both directions. This will get him used to a change in directions.

After this, you should just head over to the bunny hill and go up a short distance (teaching him to side step up this) and then just tell him to do what you do. You'll just turn so your skis are facing down hill, put your hands out (no poles) and just glide down until you stop. Have him do that a couple of times to get used to moving on the skis.

After this, just start having him make a turn in only one direction, once he gets the general idea of that, have him do it in the other direction. If he has a hard to turning, tell him to lift all the toes in one boot and push down the toes in the other boot. (he should be in a wedge once he starts doing the turns).

That should be a good start...

**paulster2626** · 02-04-2009, 08:04 PM

Yeah, I'm going to take him to the hill to get the gear on Friday night since it's 2 seconds from my house, and then we're going to spend a while in the backyard with our skis on walking around and falling down and stuff. There's about 3 feet of snow back there, so when we get to the hill on Saturday morning moving around on the hard-packed stuff will be easy!

Great tips, thanks a lot!

**BigJay** · 02-04-2009, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by spyderracer393

Yeah, before even having him try to skate around I would start with just boots. Walk around on the snow a little bit, walk in a circle, have him make a 'butterfly' by rotating his foot (from the center, not pivoting off the heel or toe). Then, once he's a little acclimated to moving in ski boots, he should put on one ski. Have him follow you just going in a small circle (the radius should be about the length of a ski). Do that a couple of time and then go around the cirlce again in the other direction (ski on same foot though). Then, you should have him put just the other ski on. Do the same thing. Now, both skis. Same thing.

Now that he is used to moving around in skis and boots, just tell him to follow you, and you should slowly skate around, turning in both directions. This will get him used to a change in directions.

After this, you should just head over to the bunny hill and go up a short distance (teaching him to side step up this) and then just tell him to do what you do. You'll just turn so your skis are facing down hill, put your hands out (no poles) and just glide down until you stop. Have him do that a couple of times to get used to moving on the skis.

After this, just start having him make a turn in only one direction, once he gets the general idea of that, have him do it in the other direction. If he has a hard to turning, tell him to lift all the toes in one boot and push down the toes in the other boot. (he should be in a wedge once he starts doing the turns).

That should be a good start...

Follow this progression.

If you get him turning in a wedge in both directions without any problems, start teaching parallel turns but having him go wedge in the turns and french fries across the hill. Do this at first by making hudge turns all the way across the slope. Once he gets the hang of that you can get rid of the wedge in the turn by having him pick up the up hill ski and putting it next to the down hill ski at the top of the turn.

**waxman** · 02-04-2009, 08:49 PM

start him 5 years earlier?

**BigJay** · 02-04-2009, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by waxman

start him 5 years earlier?

After teaching 7 - 12 year olds for 5 years, with some 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds thrown in, IMO 7 years old is one of the best times to get a kid on the hill. They have WAY more strength and coordination than a 6 year old and they will progress quickly. Plus they probably still have no fear, which is always good.

Good try at humor though.

**waxman** · 02-05-2009, 09:34 PM

you could be right, nothing harder than trying to "teach" a two year old to "ski" but it is/was that or stay at home...
so the ski hill wins...
and as much as teaching "professionals" frown on those RC harnesses my kid loved it because he could go on the chair with dad and "rip it up"....

**BigJay** · 02-05-2009, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by waxman

you could be right, nothing harder than trying to "teach" a two year old to "ski" but it is/was that or stay at home...
so the ski hill wins...
and as much as teaching "professionals" frown on those RC harnesses my kid loved it because he could go on the chair with dad and "rip it up"....

You're 100% right. Trust me, I'm not waiting until my kids are 7 to get them on skis.

**robgoose** · 02-05-2009, 10:01 PM

II always found that kids with a skating/rollerblading background picked up skiing much much faster than kids without it. If the kid plays ice hockey and can skate, then he should be comfortable skating on skis around the flats. Like others have said, make sure he can turn right, turn left and stop (wedge/ turn both directions to stop) and owns those skills before even thinking about taking him on a chair. Keep reminding him that the skis are like really long ice skates -- and keep him on terrain where he is comfortable enough to figure that out -- mellow, carnage-free greens. If you are super patient, he should have a blast.

**allornuthin** · 02-05-2009, 10:15 PM

Tell him to go straight, and when he gets goin a little fast, hit the brakes. Hell learn to control it from there.

**manx** · 02-05-2009, 10:19 PM

Good advice from all here.

After you get him aclimated being in skies....

I would initially try and teach him how to parallel right out of the gate.

I had a very athletic teen come out from KY who had never skied before. HIs dad put him in a full day lesson. I checked on him at noon and he was in a group of people and they were all still just snow plowing down this little bunny hill. I thought "Oh mY god!". I took him out of the class and took him strait to the top of a very long green at breck. When we got off the lift I told him I don't ever want to see you snow plow again.

I went through a complete brain dump on how to roll your ankles,body and hand position, how to drop your hip and get the skies up on edge. Then I just simply showed him how to tie all the components together with short sliding demos and continued to emphasize the basic fundamentals of a turn.

I swear to god with in about 2 runs he had it. It wasn't great form but he was going every where with the kids that had multiple trips under their belts.

My point is, if the kid is athletic and will listen, there is a chance you could fast track him to parallel and by pass a snow plow.

Athletic kids are a gas to teach how to ski.

jab

**hutash** · 02-06-2009, 11:28 AM

Take him up the tram at Snowbird, bring him the the brink of the cirque and tell him to just do what you do.

**Ottime** · 02-06-2009, 12:18 PM

Not sure where you are located, but fair weather helps a lot. If they are wet or cold, they tend to be unhappy. Until they get the 'bug' fair weather is best.

I have a friend who is 7. She loves to ski. But if she gets cold, she is done, no matter the conditions.

My 3 year old buddy prefers to sled on deep powder days. He is a groomer lover right now. Powder is too much work, and sledding is just pure fun.

**Steven S. Dallas** · 02-06-2009, 12:19 PM

The same way you introduce them to anal sex, gently and with a big cup of hot chocolate at the end.

**waxman** · 02-06-2009, 12:37 PM

Steven S. Dallas=Micahel Jackson

**paulster2626** · 02-08-2009, 05:50 PM

Well, we ended up having a great day yesterday. Lucked out with +8C temps, which eliminated any chance of getting cold, and also slowed down the snow and softened it up a little - perfect for a first day.

We started out nice and early - got to the bunny slope before the T-Bar was even running, and began with putting our skis on and skating around for a bit. After that, we learned how to walk up the hill sideways, and then to make our skis look like 'french fries' and just go down the hill a few times to get used to sliding on the snow.

Big help was the tip to tell him that it's just like having big long skates on his feet - he picked it up right away!

After about 10 minutes of walking up and sliding down, I was told that it was time to go all the way to the top. First time on the T-Bar was a success, he actually only fell down once on it all day when somehow his outside ski decided to go out of the track on its own.

By run #4, he could turn both ways, and stop. I could tell that he was starting to get bored on the bunny hill, and wanted to go faster. But I made him stick with it a few more times just to perfect the art of pizza turns with french-fries in-between.

After we had a snack (where he told me that "it was kind of funny to watch that Chinese family fall off the T-Bar" - his words, not mine), I convinced him that he could ride the chairlift. He was extremely happy when he made it down the unloading ramp in one piece, as I told him that getting off the chair is the hardest part of skiing. His favourite part of the day was the moguls - he said that falling in them was really fun.

Anyways, enough rambling, this is now a lame blog - but thanks to those who gave me some tips on how to slowly break this kid in to the sport. He had a great time, and so did I. I couldn't have asked for a better student. I know we'll definitely be back skiing together soon!

Some photos, if you're still reading:

The mghty Glen Eden - 240' of beginner heaven:

First time off the T-Bar:

Gaper? I disagree, based on the fact that his skis are straight, and his poles are not on his wrists and the tips are facing uphill:

Having a good time!:

Kind of hard to see, but there was a blue streak left on the hill by a snowboarder falling in his jeans. This was pointed out to me by my nephew, who thought it was funny:

Getting on the chair for the first time (I think he's reading the instructions):

Me and my new ski buddy!: