https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 05 May 2026 13:50:49 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797558 Tue, 16 Jan 2018 21:03:24 +0000 808love 2797558@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We chose to put DD in lessons because we wanted her to LOVE this sport. Whistler BC is known for their awesome kid lessons. Though she wasn't particularly athletic at the time, we knew she took to lessons well/learned quickly. We decided to send her to a short indoor 1:1 dry skiing lesson shortly before her first time on the slopes. We took it slow the first year as she was under 5 and didn't want her to get tired and hate it. She looked so beat at the end of the day but she had fun. There was no way she could have done a second day in a row. Then she did a 3 day camp, at barely 6, and it was just right. She was zooming down the super long bunny slope way ahead of us and couldn't wait to check off all of her skills.</p> <p>For our upcoming ski trip, we booked a 5 day camp for DD because she is so thrilled with skiing. I am a very experienced skiier while DH is a high novice. DH and I are doing 3 day lessons (I don't want to ski alone and am waiting for them to catch up) then we will be snowmobiling and trekking in the village for some fun for 2 days while LO is in lessons! If all goes well, we will all be skiing together next year with no lessons. :)</p> <p>My tip is - consider their physical endurance level, the schedule or program reviews of the ski resort and then let the pros handle it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797413 Tue, 16 Jan 2018 12:04:40 +0000 Adira 2797413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We took our kids last year for a half day. They were 2 and 4. It went really well! We just did the beginner bunny slope that just has a rope to pull you up and then it's just straight down. It's very short and sweet. Hubs is a very skilled skier (been skiing since he was 3), so he'd take one kid up at a time and just have them in front of him between his legs holding onto his ski poles and ski them down the hill. And the other kid and I watched (I actually had an issue with my skis, otherwise I would've taken the other kid). They both had a BLAST. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797405 Tue, 16 Jan 2018 11:33:24 +0000 cnidaria 2797405@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: Are you a strong skiier yourself? I actually used to teach downhill skiing to 3-5 year olds and the biggest hurdle we found with the younger ones was that they just didn't have the muscle control to hold a snowplow position. What we did was to ski backwards in a reverse snowplow in front of them while holding their ski tips together, way better for teaching them than just sticking them between your legs or putting them on a leash while you ski down! Once they started to gain the muscle control, we used hula hoops... the instructor would ski backwards on one side and the child would ski forwards holding the other side. By age 5, they were fearless pros who would happily fly down over moguls laughing maniacally... :grin: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797297 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:36:29 +0000 lamariniere 2797297@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: I think that if I knew how to ski already (my DH skis decently) we could have done it all ourselves. We skied in Slovakia and the beginner/kids area was really only accessible to people taking lessons. But if you have access to that kind of setting and had the confidence to do it, you could probably teach the basics yourself, especially if this is just a quick weekend trip. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797279 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:43:29 +0000 Dahlia 2797279@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes! We just took our (very unathletic) 2.5 year old this weekend and it was a blast and a total success. She went from very scared the first morning to giddy with excitement and going up the beginner chairlift by the afternoon. The second day she was skiing a bit by herself!</p> <p>We got one of these harnesses: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQUAFNY/ref=twister_B01LQX8BA0?_encoding=UTF8&#038;th=1" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQUAFNY/ref=twister_B01LQX8BA0?_encoding=UTF8&#038;th=1</a> That way we could easily hold her as we skied with her between our legs, and it helped to pick her up when she fell. We used the handle the first day, and the second we gave her about 3-4 feet of leash so she was just out by the tips of our skis. We also got her an edgie wedgie (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ski-Teaching-Products-LLC-Wedgie/dp/B0071NOLCC/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1516073692&#038;sr=1-1&#038;keywords=edge+wedgie" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Ski-Teaching-Products-LLC-Wedgie/dp/B0071NOLCC/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1516073692&#038;sr=1-1&#038;keywords=edge+wedgie</a>) to keep her tips from separating too much. </p> <p>Other than that, good weather, lots of snacks, and low expectations were key. We stayed out for about an hour at a time and then went in to warm up and eat. I also kept M&amp;Ms in my pocket and offered her one at the end of every run. </p> <p>One last bit of advice is to ask if the mountain has special discounted tickets for adults who will only use the carpet/beginner lift (if you think you won't ski by yourselves on the rest of the mountain). We actually got to ski for free today by doing that.</p> <p>Let me know if you have questions! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797277 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:36:23 +0000 woodentulip 2797277@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have gone for week long trips for the last 3 years and done smaller hill weekly lessons for each of those years as well. My kids are 8 and almost 6 now, so they were 3 and 5 (we went after our younger's birthday) our first year!<br /> Our kids have done 4 day long ski camps and *loved* it. Ski instructors know how to keep kids challenged but not push them too far, and we found our kids loved how independent it made them feel. We have skied in Quebec only so far though.<br /> The ski camps were from 9-3 each day and included lunch, and they were on the hill even that first year the whole time! I don't know what else to say except to be sure that they have good ski suits and mitts, and grab some hand warmers just in case, we always keep them in pockets for cold fingers. Happy to answer any questions you might have! We do a family day of skiing before and after to round it out and see how much they have improved--and they always do!<br /> Our most recent ski trip was right after Christmas this year--it was -27 C outside and they were still on the slopes, taking breaks to have hot chocolate to warm up. Amazing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797275 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:31:24 +0000 Mrs Panda 2797275@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We took the kids (almost 4 and 6.5) this last christmas. We just did half day, which was all we could have handled, I think. We stayed on bunny hills and learning areas with them. We didn’t take lessons, just skiied with them between our legs (no poles, just held them up by their arms and kept our skis wide, and went down with them, if that makes sense). It worked fine, they got the feel for it. It was by no means a “proper” ski lesson, but we didn’t have any goals, other than just let them get a sense of what it was all about. They had fun, wanted us to go faster, and have enthusiasm for trying it again and learning to go on their own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797270 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:16:17 +0000 PinkElephant 2797270@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: Thanks! This kind of makes me wonder if someone we know has skis we can borrow to try pulling them around our yard first. If they can't even stand up (she couldn't on roller skates...hehe), maybe we don't even try this year :) :) I'll check around! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797269 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:13:40 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2797269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went last year when my not-athletic kid was 4. It was very cold so not slippery or fast. He needed a full face mask before he would go outside but after that it was great. He went up the little converter belt and she attached a rubber thing so she could pull him with a stick. It wasn’t “skiing” but he liked it. We go again Next mo th... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797246 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 21:20:05 +0000 PinkElephant 2797246@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: Thanks! I think if we were to do private, I'd put the two of them together. Peer pressure, haha. :) I did just find another resort that if you put the kids in their childcare all day, they'll take the 3 year olds to a 1/2 hour lesson as long as they're potty trained, and the 5 year olds to a 2-3 hour lesson. Honestly, I can't see DD1 lasting more than an hour, but maybe she'd surprise me.</p> <p>Maybe this is hard to answer, since you were new to skiing yourself, but do you think that if you hadn't needed the lessons, you and DH could have just taken the kids in the family area/"magic carpet" section yourselves? I don't think my DD would get to the point (I just don't imagine she'll be that interested) your DS did, so the end goal is more exposure than to get them actually doing runs with us this year - though DH is brave, and will take any of the kids down a blue/green run if they're interested! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797200 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:23:01 +0000 lamariniere 2797200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went skiing for the first time last year. I had never skied before, so I took adult lessons. My son was 6 at the time, and he’s not very athletic, and he was in a group class for 5 days (classes were maybe 3 hours?). We put my DD in private lessons since she was only 3. My son did fine, gained a lot of confidence, and could ski the blue slopes by the end of the week. My daughter had fun the first day but then was done with it the second day and didn’t ski anymore after that. I think part of it is because she’s super shy and she was by herself with the instructor, so she wasn’t into it at all. I think it would have been better for her if she and my son had been in a class together, but it wasn’t possible because of their age difference (unless we had done private for both). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-for-skiing-with-the-littles#post-2797153 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 16:59:54 +0000 PinkElephant 2797153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Has anyone taken their young children skiing? How did it go? Bonus points if you've been to Camelback and can speak specifically to that resort! :)</p> <p>I'm considering taking my kids on a short overnight trip to a mountain resort where they can try out skiing (but can opt to tube instead if it is not for them). They are 3.5 and 5.5, and the 5.5 year old is not particularly athletically inclined. They'll need to do a private lesson, since group lessons start at 4, or we'll just need to work with them. </p> <p>I feel like this could be a total disaster, but the nice thing about doing it this year, while they're still all under 6 (we have a 1 year old as well), is that if the skiing part is a massive fail, everyone is still young enough to go in the nursery while DH and I do a few runs! </p>