Erik J Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 So I took my soon-to-be 3 year old daughter up the lift for the first time this week. It was by far one of the coolest experiences I have ever had on mountain. My daughter seems to have no fear. She giggled and squealed with delight up the chair and down the mountain. She on skis, I on carving gear. I used a ski leash to keep her close. I rode one-footed behind her on my board. I am staying away from lessons for this year. My goal was to show her how to have fun on the mountain. If she wants to stop and make a snowman, so be it. If she wants to ski, great. What advice would a parent give to someone in my shoes regarding gear, lessons, general experiences etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjvircks Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 My goal was to show her how to have fun on the mountain. If she wants to stop and make a snowman, so be it. If she wants to ski, great. Absolutely super perspective. Maybe snow won't be her thing. That's OK too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bora20 Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 If she wants to stop and make a snowman, so be it. If she wants to ski, great. Don't stop and make a snowman on the run ;) At my local mountain, Sun Peaks, they have a lesson and daycare package available. My friends have their kids in it and once mine is old enough, that is where she will be going. You have to buy a lift pass, but kids under 6 are free. Then it is $75 for 10 lessons and daycare. Lessons are usually 2.5 hours in the morning, then they get fed and daycare the rest of the day. My buddy usually skis in the morning, then takes the older kid (6) with him on the hill. His younger one (4) stays at daycare until they leave. Lessons are one-on-one and the instructors are professional and patient. The kids have a blast and get taught by someone that does this for a living. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 My goal was to show her how to have fun on the mountain. If she wants to stop and make a snowman, so be it. If she wants to ski, great. That's super cool - If I were a kid learning to ski, this is the sort of attitude that would probably make me think "I want to keep doing this". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 And welcome to the club of snow-dads! Those are precious moments! Don't get me wrong, but take it for what it's worth, from long time ski kids instructor and experienced ski-dad. - Get of the board and onto skis. Kids learn by looking and copying. Safer too. - Throw away the leash. It's for the dogs. You'll get her into bad habbits - relying onto you to slow her down and wanting to bomb the hill. Also, it would get her into back seat, which kids tend to do anyways (so no further reinforcement is desirable). If absolutelly must use it, attach to the boots, so you can steer her and not pull into back seat. - Get her into the lessons as soon as possible. At 3 year of age they are completelly capable of learning in organised environment. I'll ellaborate below. - Stay away from expensive private and get her into group lessons with kids of similar age, in a "Kids Camp" scenario. They enjoy the company of the peers and a bit of competition. They learn from each other too. - Get into the school that has Magic Carpet. If none at your hill, change the hill. It gives the kid so much milage, quickly, that would take you a month. - School will get her to stop and turn in 2 to 6 hours. After that you can go to the hill and actually ski with her. - When skiing with her, focus on turning and finishing the turns across. It's "look where you want to go" principle, like with us. Hard to get the kids out of the fall line fixation. Best way is to ski backwards, rigth in front and talk/draw their attention all the time. Tey follow and do the completed turns without even knowing. If she's on the skis with lots of side cut, as you increase the speed, she'll start sort of carving, without even knowing it. Yes, stop whenever she wants to. Throw few snowballs. Play the games while on skis. - More riding abillity you get into her now, the better. The no-fear phase would be gone by the next year. Now is still no "brain-no pain". Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teach Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 I started taking my daughter when she was 5 and wish we'd started earlier. We did just like you are, and I think it's the right way to go: no pressure, make it a positive environment (even if you're frustrated because of traffic, crowds, etc, don't let that influence her) and let kids' natural love of snow and play take them. Buy the equipment. Kids stuff is a good deal. The first boots we got had a shim inside to allow volume to adjust over a range of sizes. Just sold them after maybe 4-5 seasons of use. Great deal. Besides cutting your rental costs, having her own equipment reduces the time you spend getting ready and reduces frustration with unfamiliar equipment. And kids can learn to care for it. Get stuff you might never need, like a neoprene face mask, vaseline for wind burn prevention, lip stuff and sunscreen, hand and foot warmers, and plenty of extra clothing. Get bib snowpants; kids get snow everywhere and then are surprised when it melts and they're wet. My daughter loves her "neck-up". It was much easier to get her ready with that than a scarf. Good mittens, and spares. We used to keep all this stuff in a duffle and use it only for skiing, so we didn't forget something. We still wound up buying snowpants, mittens, neck-ups etc at the hill several times when we forgot something. Definitely get her a helmet and goggles. She'll love them. My daughter's Giro helmet + goggles combo was a great deal. She's still wearing them. Get hot chocolate when appropriate. Play in snow when she wants, but always emphasize that there are good places and bad places to do that and to always be on the lookout. When she gets comfortable on skis, maybe have her take one lesson from someone good with kids. My daughter still remembers her first lesson fondly. Later lessons were a waste, though, even discouraging in one or two cases (out of three? sad!). Definitely don't have her go down runs that are too steep for her. I see parents doing this all the time and see how it discourages kids and/or causes bad habits to develop. It will only be a matter of time before she's ripping down anything. However, if you have skis you can ski with her in front of you between your skis to get a taste of runs she wouldn't (shouldn't) go on herself. My daughter loved this and it gave her the idea that she could do it herself if she could turn, so it motivated her to practice turns herself. You're probably doing all this, but since you asked... Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 A few thoughts: Helmet is a must. Make sure she's warm. We have a season-rental deal -- boots/skis for $50, and I can exchange them for bigger ones whenever. It's all about fun. We do 1-2 runs, have a chocolate brownie. That brownie costs him at least another run. Always keep it fun. No leashes or hoola hoops. Use edgy-wedgies to keep ski tips together. I ski in front, backwards, so that I can catch him if/when needed (hardly ever these days). Show her how fun things are -- my son loves powder and yells for it if I take him on a groomer. We include an easy tree run every time we go out :) Now we're playing with jumping up while riding. I started riding with my son when he was 2 years 3 months, and above things worked out very well. Now he's 3, and he's having a blast riding, snow plow no problem, now we're working on losing the edgy-wedgie. A few videos from this season: http://bit.ly/foOxqj and http://bit.ly/hsegbb Hope this helps! tom. PS. Lessons: we had him in the Snowmass Bears program for two mornings, so we could enjoy the powder days. Seems like that helped him breakthrough with snow plowing -- so a lesson is a good idea, but only once they're old enough to actually learn something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Definitely what Blue said. It is so much easier on skis, but you will need to at least try to ski properly as well. So many parents, when skiing with small children adopt a huge "in the back seat" wedge with their arms hanging at their side, then wonder why their kids ski like that. I would also try to find a ski school that doesn't teach the wedge, but some form of direct to parallel/ modified wedge. This will help if you don't intend to keep up lessons for an extended period, as the wedge won't get ingrained. Going to steeper runs will also reinforce wedge skiing. Better to make good turns on shallower terrain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Tat Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Three years ago I started my two daughters on skis and a board. The youngest was three and skiing, the oldest was six and on a board. Lessons for both of them. This year has been huge. The youngest at six switched to a snowboard, and is ripping down blues, the oldest at nine will run moguls on her softies under the chairs. Life is great the runs have hit the level I can carve hard on and everyone has a great time as a family. Only problem the oldest one is starting to love riding the trees. We have to take a run for me, then a run through the trees then back to some groom. Apparently they are forcing me to be a more rounded rider again. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik J Posted March 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Great responses from all. Thank you. And please keep them coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Get some skis, man. Much easier to do the leash thing and pretty much everything else parent/tyke related on skis, and you will be serving as an example for her to follow. You can cram your Deeluxes into ski bindings, you just have to reach down and lift up the lever. I do this with my kids. It's sketchy but if anything you are in danger of releasing too soon/too much than not at all. Just don't ski aggressively and you'll be fine. Edit - yeah, at 3 years old you can ditch the leash and put her in a lesson(s). A chest harness with the handle on the back is still useful though, for helping them onto the lift and lifting them up after a fall and a lot of other uses. Search for "kiddie lift". Another idea is an Edgy-Wedgy if she is crossing her tips or letting her skis go off in different directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bora20 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Get some of these with the rental bindings. They use bails and will fit your existing boots. For $99 you really can't go wrong. http://www.curtissportconnection.com/Snow_Blades.htm You will be going slow with her and the extra mobility with these would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Get some of these with the rental bindings. They use bails and will fit your existing boots. For $99 you really can't go wrong.http://www.curtissportconnection.com/Snow_Blades.htm You will be going slow with her and the extra mobility with these would be nice. IMHO an mcl tear waiting to happen. Non release bindings with snowboards work great,on skis not so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bora20 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 IMHO an mcl tear waiting to happen. Non release bindings with snowboards work great,on skis not so good. His daughter is 3, these are 79cm (31") long, I am sure his speeds will be slow enough. The kids at my hill rip on these things and don't have release bindings on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 His daughter is 3, these are 79cm (31") long, I am sure his speeds will be slow enough.The kids at my hill rip on these things and don't have release bindings on them. Inline skates are 15"long, and mcl tear is a common injury. That why most snow blade manufacturers switched to DIN release bindings, and you can't buy SB hard boots masquerading as snow blade boots any more. Just saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bora20 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Inline skates are 15"long, and mcl tear is a common injury. That why most snow blade manufacturers switched to DIN release bindings, and you can't buy SB hard boots masquerading as snow blade boots any more. Just saying. They also have release bindings too, I was just thinking he could save some money on getting ski boots as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik J Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 OK, I'll get off the board and onto skis. I'm not buying ski boots though. Jack, you've written about using your Deeluxe with ski bindings before. Will any bindings work? I haven't been on skis since the 80's. I will also get my daughter into some ski lessons. I have a group of friends with kids the same age that are beginning to ski so she has a little social circle already. She's also in gymnastics now - she's strong and bendy with good balance. Next year it's season pass, her own equipment, etc. She already has a helmet. She keeps asking to snowboard - we'll wait on that. Thanks again for your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Can releasable ski bindings be screwed onto any skiboard/snowblade? I've got some old Elan Razors that are pretty darn fun but come with non-releasable bindings. I'll be taking my daughter on the slopes next year. Definitely going to follow Erik's model of 'make a snowman if she wants'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Jack, you've written about using your Deeluxe with ski bindings before. Will any bindings work? I loiter around ski racks and cram my Deeluxes into as many ski bindings as I can and take notes on them all just for fun, but alas I have not tried all makes and models yet so I am not qualified to say. I would think a DIN binding is a DIN binding. Pretty sure Nava bindings will not work. ;) No ski shop is going to touch your boots in order to mount/size a pair of bindings. So you're going to have to go to a ski swap or otherwise find a pair of used skis with bindings mounted that are a close fit to your boots, AND which use some kind of a track sizing system so that you can change the sizing yourself. I did this with my Dad's old skis, his foot is size 9, mine is 10.5. Then set the tension on a medium-low number like 5. Getting into the binding you will need to carefully wedge the toe under the binding toe thingamabobs and then step your heel down on the brake and hope the binding heel engages the boot somewhat. You will have to reach down and lift the binding lever up the rest of the way because the beveled boot heel will not push the binding heel thingamabob all the way down. It's kind of a PITA and not worth saving $100 on used ski boots, but it is kind of worth not having to lug 2 pairs of boots to the hill. Also it is good to be ready for the off-chance of being able to go get a few runs in yourself on your board. But legally I have to tell you DO NOT USE SNOWBOARD HARDBOOTS IN SKI BINDINGS. But if you do, just ski very cautiously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilux Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Can releasable ski bindings be screwed onto any skiboard/snowblade? I've got some old Elan Razors that are pretty darn fun but come with non-releasable bindings. I would say yes...to a point...so long as they aren't indemnified and the existing holes don't interfere with the binding you're putting on there. Perhaps look for an older pair of bindings (check the indemnified list!) for simplicity that don't have all the riser/track m'jigs (although would be nice for ease of adjustment later on) with them and make sure the shop will do the job. I'm sure there are techs that wouldn't want to touch that but at the same time, I've worked with some that wouldn't give a hoot. Or do it yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilux Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Will any bindings work? I haven't been on skis since the 80's. Maybe look for an older demo pair of skis too...usually have the "newer" track type so adjustment is easy but can be picked up for dirt cheap compared to skis/binding combo's the last couple years. Good to see you're getting the little one out to enjoy the snow! Seems like they all have so much fun sliding around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 This is where the pic of my Frankellos comes into play: Watch fleabay like a hawk, or cruise the consignment stores, and you might score a pair for cheap. They work for snowboarding even without BTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy9ine Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 can you run upz rc10's w/ the din soles in td3's? i might have to entertain doing the ski thing w/ my kid next season as well, and the simpler the gear setup the better. it's only been a couple decades since i've skied... should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I'm almost sure it would actually work better! It would correct some of the biased sole position of standard UPZ. Ask Ruwi - he's got a pair of DIN soles for his UPZs, he'll be able to tell you first hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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