development of a little ripper

[undertow2]

He sits either like an adult or with his legs straight.

When he's sitting like an adult we put ski poles in front of him wedged against the support for the safety bar. And I never let go of the harness.

But he's 3. At 21 months I'd probably have it so his feet stick straight out.

^^^^^^This... The woman I am dating has a 5 yr old and I forgot how quickly they can move, lunge forward and get away from you if you are not paying 100% attention... When we allowed him to sit like an adult we would wedge the ski poles against the support bar just for added protection... However, one day when the kid was completely amped from all the skiing he took a quick lunge forward while on the chair (I grabbed him) and than sitting like an adult was all done... If little man is riding the chair with me he is now sitting back all the time... No doubt not as comfortable, but this is what he has to do if he wants to ski...

[skier666]

So, after all the back breaking hard work from ages 2 & 3 and with a solid start to this season, my 4 1/2 year old has turned the corner. With a pair of 165cm Slaloms on my feet, we can officially ski blue & green runs together. Woot! As far as the lifts are concerned, he can get on and off without any help on most of them now. I'm just trying to figure the best ski length for him. He's on 88cm skis now and they are below his chin but I figure he'll learn better on shorter skis, so I may just keep him on those until later this year or next Fall. Just need to work on our 20month old...God my wife HATES me, heh.

[~mikey b]

Awesome!

[~mikey b]

Speed Racer

[~mikey b]

..............

Scrawny little 45 pounder. Carving hard. I clocked him on a couple different gps apps going 45mph last weekend.

[flyman683]

Speaking I which, how did y'all get your little ones to sit in the chair? All the way back with legs straight? Or knees bent and on the edge of the seat? .

Started at 2 with my little guy and always went with knees bent, but also holding onto harness handle. Now he's got it down (well enough that he was "the best" in his group and he got sent up alone per prior post) but we went adult style because it was the only way to get cooperation... Tried the legs straight deal one time and he wanted to be like everyone else. I'm a softie and gave in...

Keep on getting yours out there, it's awesome once they're chasing you down (or even better, the other way around)...

[oftpiste]

Good comp weekend for my not-as-little-anymore little rippers - 2nd (18 yrs), 6th (15 yrs) and 8th (12 yrs) place finishes. w00t!

Just keeps getting more fun as they get older, and I'm so glad I kept on dragging them to the hill when they were little (er)!

[~mikey b]

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Angle Parking]

Inspiring stuff! My daughter is 17 months. She is super advanced physically so I feel pretty good on the developmental front. I'm going to wait until spring when it's nice and warm out and give it go then.

[whyturn]

This thread is full of win

[~mikey b]

Attachment 131389

Screaming Eagle!

same jump 2 years ago...



and a video I'd forgotten about..







race weekend coming up!

[~mikey b]

Young Owen killed it at the race last weekend. 1st place both days in the under 8's.





He's been bugging me to take him out touring, but school and racing have been getting in the way. He's also getting bored waiting in line doing race training. But he's been working real hard at it, so I figured he deserved a reward.



I'm going to slam his AT bindings on these bad boys. He'll be stoked!

[hutash]

Little Ripper back in action.

First day on telemark gear.

Attachment 130885

.

Shouldn't that be considered child abuse? Next thing you know you will have him on a snowboard.

Very cool thread. I seemed to have missed it earlier. My little rippers are no longer little, close to 23 and 19, but it was fun when they were that age.

[~mikey b]

Owen's been doing well lately. Over his illness. Skiing and racing hard. A couple of 1st place finishes at DR a couple weeks ago. A 3rd and 5th at CP this weekend.

remounted the Gotama Jrs with Marker bindings - the Silvrettas are tough for him to get into, so I'm going to put them on a different pair he won't be on every day - need to make it easy for him and for coaches

Here he is working hard as a photoslut.


he smiles like his dad

[oftpiste]

12 yr old Coop finished 9th overall in the 12-14 boys it the IFSA Jr's at Squaw last weekend. 60 started in that division, 26 made the cut (he in 15th) to ski on day 2 where he moved up 8 spots to 7th on day 2 to finish 9th overall.

I know it ain't a podium, but it was his first national comp, many of the qualifiers were 2-3 years older (and way bigger - his nickname is mini to his brothers), and the conditions were nasty in the venue. If you watched the WFT yesterday you know how scoured it is inbounds around Tahoe right now, except the kids venue had no open meadows of softer snow. He killed it.

My mini Drew or maybe mini Lars....


Thank you to Flylow (they don't hate kids!) and Giro Helmets and Goggles for your help and support.

[skier666]

Our oldest is skiing rather well...the money for lessons are really 'paying' off. He's been in group lessons lately with kids as old as 10, but he just chugged along and listened to the instructor.

Question...when is the time for poles? I've seen a couple tiny kids using them but its definitely not the common theme for kids.

Northstar...



Heavenly Nevada side...



Ditch of Doom at Kirkwood...



Even the 21 month is starting to get the itch...

[Mofro261]

Question...when is the time for poles? I've seen a couple tiny kids using them but its definitely not the common theme for kids.

Answer: when they are confidently skiing parallel.

[~mikey b]

12 yr old Coop finished 9th overall in the 12-14 boys it the IFSA Jr's at Squaw last weekend. 60 started in that division, 26 made the cut (he in 15th) to ski on day 2 where he moved up 8 spots to 7th on day 2 to finish 9th overall.

I know it ain't a podium, but it was his first national comp, many of the qualifiers were 2-3 years older (and way bigger - his nickname is mini to his brothers), and the conditions were nasty in the venue. If you watched the WFT yesterday you know how scoured it is inbounds around Tahoe right now, except the kids venue had no open meadows of softer snow. He killed it.

My mini Drew or maybe mini Lars....


Thank you to Flylow (they don't hate kids!) and Giro Helmets and Goggles for your help and support.

that is fantastic!

[~mikey b]

yep

thinking of a trip up your way in April May June

[~mikey b]

another great weekend for the little ripper in the Silver Bowl Slalom at Badger Pass this weekend

there were several kids from quite a few areas outside of our usual Central Series teams, including Kirkwood, Heavenly, Sugar Bowl, Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley - of particular note were performances by ex-Dodge Ridge racers Jordan and Keely Cashman who were the second brother and sister team to win the Silver Bowl for the best combined times for a boy and girl over 4 runs over the weekend - their little brother Noah did well in the U12, too - it was cool for our kids to race against kids from out of the area, as we'll be going to Far West Championships at the end of the month

Owen skied very well - his times were good enough to bump him up an age group from U8 to U10, where he placed 9th on Saturday and 8th on Sunday - a strong performance for a 6 year old competing against 8,9,10 year olds

his coaches told us after Friday's training session that he won the big air contest - we said we didn't know there was a big air contest - they said that there wasn't until Owen went hudge off of a large jump and all the other kids tried to do better but couldn't

I owe him a day of freeskiing this week for working so hard and doing so well - he has a great time racing, but he's always itching to just go out and rage around the mountain without having to do drills or run gates

[LIP]

Have you reserved "Throwin Owen" as a screen name for him?

When we get too old to create our own stoke, we get stoked by our kids. I'm in the same boat.

Fuck that, "I'm too old to create my own stoke" bullshit. I've been skiing for 40 years. Skied 13 100+ day seasons b/t T-Ride, CB, Winter Park & Tahoe. First day I ever skied I fell about 8 ft off the chairlift right after loading and have been stoked on it ever since. As far as I know, I have a 1st descent to my name. I have definitely skied a 3 day tits-deep 60" storm at Alta, tele-wanked a 5500 foot line in the Jackson BC with a 50 degree crux, thought I might die for a moment in the middle of slogging and shoveling my way downhill to get back to the car for 7 hours through 35" of Sierra Cement that came in overnight on a hut trip. Been around the block on skis.

I'm 45, getting divorced and have created more stoke for myself in the last 4 months than in the rest of my life put together. py snow year in CO has put a bit of a damper on ski life, but have had a few good BC days, an epic three days in Silverton/Red Mt. pass & some 60 degree Jan/Feb days on the bike and I'm chasing a dream career-wise right now. I've never felt more STOKED on where I'm at and where I'm going in my life!!!!!! NEVER TOO OLD BITCHES!!!!

I forgot to tell Owen, 'Ski fast, don't be last!!!!!!

[oftpiste]

Got us some 14 year old podium (5th overall, 2nd in final run) this weekend at Crested Butte IFSA Junior National!

Lots of stoke here!



Many thanks to Flylow, Rocky Mountain Underground Skis, Giro Helmets and Goggles for your support!

[meter-man]

Hellz to the yes. Inspiration to get my 4 month old girls shredding by 4 yo.

[~mikey b]

That's awesome!

[~mikey b]

.............