Ongoing Kid Stoke [2011 and on...]

[TacocaT]

I have enjoyed following some of these rippers get bigger. Daughter is 2.5 but she has always been in the lower percentile size wise. We really try not to push too hard and be patient. First couple winters were more about being in the snow working on putting on and keeping on snow gear. We have some great neighbors who have passed on their gear. She had the strap on skis last year spent maybe 30 minutes on them total in short burst. This year we got real skis and boots. They are a bit big for her but we leave the boots with her toys for now and she puts them on by herself when she wants too. Scoot on the rug in skis a few laps round the yard etc.

Spring is on us now and the other day while i got ready one morning she asked if she could come skiing. So I think she is ready to give it a try. Just got a hand me down harness with a handle, she just had a big growth spurt and I gotta a stash of Easter candy so I think it might be time.

Moms helmet

Hangin with the boys

[oftpiste]

I'm far from naturally awesome but I like to say that the skiing thing was the one thing I'm the most confident I did right as a dad. Not to say there weren't some difficult moments. I could tell some funny stories of my own assholishness and I have mag friends who saw some of it, but most of the time I did it pretty well. Raising three boys skiing since they were 3 was sometimes a motherfucker of a job. Sometimes it took so much out of me just getting them onto the hill that I wouldn't ski myself.

I can't even imagine how tough step-parenting must be. I suspect "always around" will pay off eventually even though sometimes it must feel like you're banging your head against the wall.

My point is really that I believe bonding comes from time together. Lots of it. Not "quality" time. Fuck that. Just spend time with them. Juts be in the same place at the same time. As much as you can. Sometimes you're not doing anything or even talking. Other times the time spent will be so unexpectedly high-quality you can't believe it.

My boys still talk about riding home from skiing. They were all passed out but the time we were 10 minutes down the road. There was no conversation. I drove. They remember it as good times. There ya go.

All this business about manufacturing activities in order to have "quality" time is bullshit. The quality moments happen out of the blue and can be extraordinary.

And sometimes it's just the right decision to hand off some job to someone else. Like a ski instructor who is experienced and well-trained in getting little kids started without the baggage a parent/child relationship brings to the equation. It isn't some form of abandonment. You're doing something good for them!

Probably. Parenting your own child is hard. Step parenting is even harder. I am not a naturally awesome dad but I am always around and always trying to get better at it with limited success. I am at my best as a parent when I do things I love together with my kids like skiing.

It could be that naturally awesome parents should do the lesson thing for best results. Depends on the people and situation. No one size fits all answer imo.




Agree completely. Most lessons are going to teach your kid to snowplow anyway though. If you don't want that do it yourself...which is what we did.

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[Lloyd Braun]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]231773[/ATTACH

my 10 year old....Freestyle nationals Rail Jam Bronze.

[Dantheman]

Sick, Lloyd!

[BeardMech]

I feel like the first time or two with each of my boys would help before putting them in lessons. Id need to take a lesson myself to correct mistakes/bad habits for me to feel more comfortable in teaching them the basics, but rather just hand it over to people whose job it is, after they get a bit comfortable with the environment.

[2ski2fish4ever]

a good instructor will teach a wedge turn, not a snowplow.a snow plow is a defensive movement used to slow oneself down,rather than using the shape of the turn and the terrain to slow oneself down.

[wickstad]

These are from last season. Point is that at this age and even still skiing for my boy isn’t necessarily the funnest thing to do at a ski resort. Sliding down a road cut and jumping in to puddles are higher on the priority list at times. The photo with the cars in it shows the evidence of Dada throwing the boy up the road cut about forty five times.


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[getoutside]

my 10 year old....Freestyle nationals Rail Jam Bronze.

^^ killer

[FLS]

This thread delivers! Could be compiled in to a never ending book.

[oftpiste]

Remember, there is no real 'teaching' for a while. The first season (ish) isn't about 'learning to ski' especially at 3 yrs. old.

I feel like the first time or two with each of my boys would help before putting them in lessons. Id need to take a lesson myself to correct mistakes/bad habits for me to feel more comfortable in teaching them the basics, but rather just hand it over to people whose job it is, after they get a bit comfortable with the environment.

[Ottime]

I’ll play.

Snow Play. Pre age 1. Get good bunting. And eye protection. Strap on sun glasses. Get out side even before they can walk. They can crawl and belly slide on the snow. Hell, we still do this.

Tandem. I climbed with him in a Bjorne a few times. And in a back pack. Low angled groomed terrain. Once we (I) watched some comp in the Cirque with him. It was fun, but not sure if it taught him anything than Wind in the face.

Strap On Skis (Lucky Bums). Good for chilling at base or in yard. You can’t ski them. I did take my son up a green lift and ski down with him between my legs. You need to actually just touch the skis to snow. Any weight on them, and they fold. Use harness to provide lift. Doing this gets them a sense of glide. And fun. That is it. We would usually do only one run in a day. We would stop halfway down and make camp and watch others ski.

Ski Pass. Ours was free with an adult pass for 5 and under. He had his first pass at 17 months. That was with strap on skis.

Got real skis at 2. Smallest boot and 60cm. Lots of side cut. Once his entire ski and boot fell off while we were on the lift. They were way too big, but with two pairs of thick socks, and cranking them down, they usually stayed on. Skied with harness between legs. Then out on slack leash. Only skied low angled green terrain.

Age 3+. First lessons. Mostly a day care, but got him out on the magic carpet. I think he took 4 or 5 lessons. Would ski with me on slack leashes, on green and low blue terrain. Could turn no problem. Kept hands on leashes because it took him a long time to stop. Moved up to 80cm ski.

Age 4+. Took a lot (12?) of full day lessons this season. Stopped using the leashes first day of season. Stepped up to blue terrain. Groomer and gullies. Occasionally groomed black pitches by spring. He liked the steeps, but skied much better in mellower terrain. Skied 100cm and a 108cm Twin tip for powder.

Age 5+. Has two full day lessons and one “All Stars” where they just ski for 3 hours, no break. Got into more steep terrain and off piste. Still spent a lot of time on groomers and blues. Skiing bumps and lots of gullies. On 110cm ski and 118cm Gotama for powder. We had a lot of powder.

Age 6+. This season. Skiing occasional double blacks. Skiing 1000’ very of steep bumps w/o stopping. Hitting jumps hard. Blazing fall line in low angle frozen snow trees. Basically blowing my mind. On same skis as last season. Partly because I never found 120cm skis, we had little snow and his 110cm is a really solid hard snow ski. He took one All Stars lesson this year.

We take a lot of breaks. We make our skis into a bench. Pull out lunch. And snacks. And hot chocolate. We only go into the lodge when it is really really cold or tough weather. We lunch mid run usually or at an outside grill at base of backside. We are on the snow.

We throw snow balls. Pee on trees. Make forts when the skiing is sub par. Rage when it is above par.

He is a lot of fun to ski with. Best part of my Sunday was when I heard, “follow me Moma” and took her to a short mogul lined chute she can ski perfectly fine but would other wise avoid.by the end of next season, he will be taking her places she really does not want to go.

Make it fun. Don’t try to do too much too soon. When they are tired, let them quite, but also bribe them with jelly beans for one more run.

Now a days, we just set goals for the day (either vertical, or runs) and try to achieve them. He likes to have a Gold, Silver and Bronze level to aim for.

We are headed out Saturday, and he has set the goal of hitting 18k for the day. It would be his biggest day ever. I keep on thinking - how cool is that.

All the work and hours and short days over the past few years have really paid off. I’ve got another skiing buddy for life.

[Cdubmpdx]

Remember, there is no real 'teaching' for a while. The first season (ish) isn't about 'learning to ski' especially at 3 yrs. old.

This seems to make a lot sense to me. Great advice

[Cdubmpdx]

I’ll play.

Snow Play. Pre age 1. Get good bunting. And eye protection. Strap on sun glasses. Get out side even before they can walk. They can crawl and belly slide on the snow. Hell, we still do this.

Tandem. I climbed with him in a Bjorne a few times. And in a back pack. Low angled groomed terrain. Once we (I) watched some comp in the Cirque with him. It was fun, but not sure if it taught him anything than Wind in the face.

Strap On Skis (Lucky Bums). Good for chilling at base or in yard. You can’t ski them. I did take my son up a green lift and ski down with him between my legs. You need to actually just touch the skis to snow. Any weight on them, and they fold. Use harness to provide lift. Doing this gets them a sense of glide. And fun. That is it. We would usually do only one run in a day. We would stop halfway down and make camp and watch others ski.

Ski Pass. Ours was free with an adult pass for 5 and under. He had his first pass at 17 months. That was with strap on skis.

Got real skis at 2. Smallest boot and 60cm. Lots of side cut. Once his entire ski and boot fell off while we were on the lift. They were way too big, but with two pairs of thick socks, and cranking them down, they usually stayed on. Skied with harness between legs. Then out on slack leash. Only skied low angled green terrain.

Age 3+. First lessons. Mostly a day care, but got him out on the magic carpet. I think he took 4 or 5 lessons. Would ski with me on slack leashes, on green and low blue terrain. Could turn no problem. Kept hands on leashes because it took him a long time to stop. Moved up to 80cm ski.

Age 4+. Took a lot (12?) of full day lessons this season. Stopped using the leashes first day of season. Stepped up to blue terrain. Groomer and gullies. Occasionally groomed black pitches by spring. He liked the steeps, but skied much better in mellower terrain. Skied 100cm and a 108cm Twin tip for powder.

Age 5+. Has two full day lessons and one “All Stars” where they just ski for 3 hours, no break. Got into more steep terrain and off piste. Still spent a lot of time on groomers and blues. Skiing bumps and lots of gullies. On 110cm ski and 118cm Gotama for powder. We had a lot of powder.

Age 6+. This season. Skiing occasional double blacks. Skiing 1000’ very of steep bumps w/o stopping. Hitting jumps hard. Blazing fall line in low angle frozen snow trees. Basically blowing my mind. On same skis as last season. Partly because I never found 120cm skis, we had little snow and his 110cm is a really solid hard snow ski. He took one All Stars lesson this year.

We take a lot of breaks. We make our skis into a bench. Pull out lunch. And snacks. And hot chocolate. We only go into the lodge when it is really really cold or tough weather. We lunch mid run usually or at an outside grill at base of backside. We are on the snow.

We throw snow balls. Pee on trees. Make forts when the skiing is sub par. Rage when it is above par.

He is a lot of fun to ski with. Best part of my Sunday was when I heard, “follow me Moma” and took her to a short mogul lined chute she can ski perfectly fine but would other wise avoid.by the end of next season, he will be taking her places she really does not want to go.

Make it fun. Don’t try to do too much too soon. When they are tired, let them quite, but also bribe them with jelly beans for one more run.

Now a days, we just set goals for the day (either vertical, or runs) and try to achieve them. He likes to have a Gold, Silver and Bronze level to aim for.

We are headed out Saturday, and he has set the goal of hitting 18k for the day. It would be his biggest day ever. I keep on thinking - how cool is that.

All the work and hours and short days over the past few years have really paid off. I’ve got another skiing buddy for life.

Stoke level high. Thanks for sharing

[2ski2fish4ever]

ottime,thats a recipe for success.just always remember skiing should be FUN,once that is out of the equation you are domed for failure.

[getoutside]

checked out snowgression last night. 8yr old dug it. too bad they're closing it 4.21

[wickstad]

Flamingo days at Mission


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[montanaskier]

Getting sendy On closing day behind PHQ.

[montanaskier]

Not really a kid stoke post but more of a hoping to be posting here soon. Expecting our first son sometime in the next 5 days. When did you all get your little ones started on skis? I have ambitious goals of at least getting him on snow in winter of 19/20, but when are they realistically ready? I've heard they have the muscles developed around 4 years old... And they can ski earlier but they are kind of a sack of potatoes. Thoughts? Or advice? Awesome thread by the way! Subscribed

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My kid got on skis at 17 months. Early on it’s strictly about getting used to being outside in the cold and snow and having fun. He started making great progress around 3 and now at 6 skis anything I can ski. Good luck and congrats, it’s super rad.

[Danno]

now at 6 skis anything I can ski. .

That's because you're still a gaper and your son is a mountain kid.

[montanaskier]

That's because you're still a gaper and your son is a mountain kid.

Truth...

[Ottime]

Skied Heavenly with the kid on Saturday. Pretty much only because Vail closed Kirkwood on us. Still, my son enjoys hitting different resorts and definitely enjoys a boarding a detachable over a fixed grip.

We skied mostly groomers in the morning and a mixed bag of trees, bumps and groomers in the afternoon. He turns 7 in a few weeks, so I was pretty stoked on us putting in 22k plus in vert.

On top of that, he skied, and looked good in the blue and black bumps and absolutely killed Express Line which is a basically a narrow cut lift line.

We finished the day skiing the Face and East Bowl down to the CA base. Gun Barrel is the better known run, but was closed as it literally had no snow half way down. While
My son was no bump film star on this run, he was comfortable and having a blast the entire way down. I think he enjoyed it more than me. Later he told me he was playing hide and seek in the bumps, because they were so big.

Olympic downhill laps in the morning


Monster bumps in the afternoon



Proud puppy

[Danno]

Killing it.

[Norseman]

Excellent.

That lil girl is bound for high output skidom. I'm impressed by her current abilities and courage... stoked to watch her grow up!

Food for thought... my lil bro the gymnast/skier trained for a season at the olympic aerials facility in Park City. It's not as soulful as freeride, but if your lil C enjoys the structured nature of gymnastics training and competition, she could perhaps enjoy that oft-overlooked nook of the ski world.

Got a few years to think about it.

Edit to add: we had a decent trampoline for years growing up. We learned all sorts of tricks on that thing together and developed the body awareness that translates so well to skiing fast. Trampolines work the little muscles that control/stabilize the foot, knee, hip and core... also directly applicable to balance sports like skiing, biking, surfing, etc.

[yeahman]

^^ +1 on the trampoline/gymnastics benefits. My youngest (11) is a gymnast and we have a trampoline and she's on it all the time. The other day it was 40 degrees and she went out there for four or five sessions. I was smh. But it does translate to skiing. I think she's technically a better and more balanced skier than my teenager, even though the teen is stronger and more ambitious. Interesting to watch both of them progress.

[yeahman]

Right on