Downhill skiing-- what age?

[atouchofklasse]

Any input?

Can toddlers learn to snowboard? Which is easier?

Any experiences with Colorado resorts?

I'm not sure if he'd need official lessons or if his uncles would just teach him.

[dottyblue]

My dad is a ski instructor and specializes in young kids (under 9 years old) They respond really well to him for some reason! He has some students who are as young as 3. He swears that if they can walk steadily, they can ski. I plan to let him teach my DS to ski as soon as we feel he's ready.

Definitely get your DS lessons and ask the resort if they have instructors who specialize in young children. They probably do. Don't just let the uncles teach him unless if they have ski instruction experience. I had a family member "teach" me to ski when I was 7 and it ruined the experience for me; I still don't ski.

Skiing is easier, so go that route. I would not let him snowboard until he was comfortable on skis. I believe there is a bigger risk of broken bones on snowboards.

Have fun!

[mollybrown]

I've seen 2 year olds skiing better than me. I've never seen a toddler snowboarding. Young children are always on some sort of a harness while they are learning on runs other than the bunny hill. I would definitely pay for lessons.

My favorite is Winter Park, but that's mainly because it's the best resort closest to Denver. I'm not a great skier, so I like that there are tons of blue runs. We usually ski Winter Park, Keystone, an Breckenridge. There are probably better resorts if you're planning to stay at the resort and not drive in.

[CloudBee]

Most mountains have toddler programs. Basically once they are walking, they can start to ski. I would enroll in at least one lesson, and watch from the sidelines. They just use a hill off to the side to start.

[Deleted]

In Utah where my brother live I think it was 2 for skiing. They dont teach them to snowboard until 4. I would get lessons only because it seems like the kids listen better during the lessons. My friends who have taught their kids to ski say there is a problem with kids not wanting to listen to them.

[schrodinger]

I disagree with the "once they can walk they can ski" idea. At age 3 SD2 was skiing with her mom and ended up with a torsional fracture of her femur. She was doing okay until her skis went one way and her body went the other. She was in a full-leg cast for 8 weeks. This was her 5-6th time skiing.

Even though she could walk just fine, she didn't understand that there's a skill to falling and you can't just panic. I think she just wasn't at a place cognitively where she could handle all that goes on with skiing. There's a lot to keep track of (other skiers, speed, turning, etc.) and I think some kids just aren't there at ~3 or even 4. We've got her on green and shallow blues now at age 5 and she's doing great.

[pugz]

I am a total creeper and could sit and watch the toddler ski school all day, lol. They are so cute in their little ski suits on their barely inclined hill!

[ijack]

Most of my friends start their kids around 3. Yours has an early summer bday if I remember right? So I would start the winter he's 2.5. You might want to throw some skis on him and take him up the magic carpet yourself the first time and see how he likes it and then make the decision on lessons. If he hates it I wouldn't force lessons that young. And I'm pretty sure they learn on skis, but I could be wrong.
Copper is my favorite ski school, but I'm pretty sure they all have them starting around that age.

[CloudBee]

Aug 13, 2012 13:12:29 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

I disagree with the "once they can walk they can ski" idea. At age 3 SD2 was skiing with her mom and ended up with a torsional fracture of her femur. She was doing okay until her skis went one way and her body went the other. She was in a full-leg cast for 8 weeks. This was her 5-6th time skiing.

Even though she could walk just fine, she didn't understand that there's a skill to falling and you can't just panic. I think she just wasn't at a place cognitively where she could handle all that goes on with skiing. There's a lot to keep track of (other skiers, speed, turning, etc.) and I think some kids just aren't there at ~3 or even 4. We've got her on green and shallow blues now at age 5 and she's doing great.

Most toddlers don't go down traditional slopes, though. They often spend a goood year or two on a non-public slope if they're in lessons. It's hardly even a hill, and is merely practice for turning, etc.

[CloudBee]

Aug 13, 2012 13:19:56 GMT -5 pugz said:

I am a total creeper and could sit and watch the toddler ski school all day, lol. They are so cute in their little ski suits on their barely inclined hill!

Reminds me of my favorite J&K+8 episode. I loved seeing them on tiny skis!

[dottyblue]

Aug 13, 2012 13:24:18 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Aug 13, 2012 13:12:29 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

I disagree with the "once they can walk they can ski" idea. At age 3 SD2 was skiing with her mom and ended up with a torsional fracture of her femur. She was doing okay until her skis went one way and her body went the other. She was in a full-leg cast for 8 weeks. This was her 5-6th time skiing.

Even though she could walk just fine, she didn't understand that there's a skill to falling and you can't just panic. I think she just wasn't at a place cognitively where she could handle all that goes on with skiing. There's a lot to keep track of (other skiers, speed, turning, etc.) and I think some kids just aren't there at ~3 or even 4. We've got her on green and shallow blues now at age 5 and she's doing great.

Most toddlers don't go down traditional slopes, though. They often spend a goood year or two on a non-public slope if they're in lessons. It's hardly even a hill, and is merely practice for turning, etc.

This. Which is why it is so important to find an instructor/ski resort that specializes in young children. They start young skiers on "hills" that you and I would consider all but flat.

[schrodinger]

Aug 13, 2012 13:24:18 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Aug 13, 2012 13:12:29 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

I disagree with the "once they can walk they can ski" idea. At age 3 SD2 was skiing with her mom and ended up with a torsional fracture of her femur. She was doing okay until her skis went one way and her body went the other. She was in a full-leg cast for 8 weeks. This was her 5-6th time skiing.

Even though she could walk just fine, she didn't understand that there's a skill to falling and you can't just panic. I think she just wasn't at a place cognitively where she could handle all that goes on with skiing. There's a lot to keep track of (other skiers, speed, turning, etc.) and I think some kids just aren't there at ~3 or even 4. We've got her on green and shallow blues now at age 5 and she's doing great.

Most toddlers don't go down traditional slopes, though. They often spend a goood year or two on a non-public slope if they're in lessons. It's hardly even a hill, and is merely practice for turning, etc.

She was on the "toddler slope." It had the whole carpeted area for kids to wait on, no real hill, etc. I realize that it was a freak accident, I just don't think that all kids are cognitively ready to do all that skiing requires at age 3 -- she definitely wasn't. When she started to fall, she twisted around to grab someone. She was doing what was instinctual to her, not what she had been taught. I'm all for teaching kids at the first winter that they are ready, I just don't think that walking should be the only milestone they reach before they are ready.

[Deleted]

Accidents happen, that is why they are called accidents in the first place. I am all about teaching kids young.

I would definitely enroll in a toddler ski school when you can. We actually plan to put DS on the ice by year end. We're so excited!

[atouchofklasse]

Thanks everyone.

[drloretta]

All the ski areas I've lived near didn't start until around 3. That's the earliest I'd try it with DD.

[kangaroo11]

I think my brother and I started about 3-4 with ski lessons by experienced instructors.

[iheartbanjos]

We bought DD the strap in beginner skis last winter. She went on them for the first time around 17 months. We basically just wanted to get her comfortable with the idea. She LOVED it. We'll probably do the same thing this coming winter (she'll be 2.5) and then she'll start ski school the following winter. We're in CO, and none of the major resorts start ski school before age 3.

[definitelyO]

DS started a few weeks after he turned 3 (winter baby). We took him to Copper Mountain and he was on skis on the free magic carpet and we just wore our snow boots.
the next year age 4 we took him to the galloping goose lift at Copper (also FREE) - it's a real lift with a short run - he wore the harness for a few runs with me and then we would let him ski down to meet DH at the bottom.
age 5 - he did some 1/2 day lessons at Eldora (great experience) and was skiing blues.
age 6 - put him in lessons at Copper every Saturday for a month and skied with him on off days. also did a lesson at Winter Park - HATED IT.

DS has had lessons at Steamboat, Winter Park and Copper and we love Copper the best - we love that union creek is all set up and that you don't have blue/black skiers running over the kids and they have a great new chair lift over there as well. we've been really happy with it and DS will be in lessons this winter (and probably every winter until he's a solid black skier).

[definitelyO]

oh - and as far as snowboarding goes I think they need to have a lot more leg strength aned coordination than a 3 yr old does to be able to pull along the board with one foot strapped in and the other pushing along. I've seen 5yr olds on boards but DS won't be allowed to board until he's a black skier.

[h]

DS1 did a private ski lesson at almost 3.5 and hated it. He complained about walking in the boots, being cold, etc. and was tearful the whole time. We tried again a year later at almost 4.5, and he loved it. That time we put him in ski school with a couple friends (we were traveling with friends from college who have boys the same age), and I think that worked better than a private lesson. But mostly I think the additional year of maturity and the additional leg strength helped. He did 2 full days of lessons and never made it off the kiddie slope, but ended up doing really well.

If we go skiing this season he will be 5.5, and I think he will do really well. We will likely start DS2 next season when he is almost 4.

ETA -- The first time DS1 skiied was in Vail. I believe they can start ski school there once they are 3 and potty trained. The second time he skiied was in Breckenridge. Breck will let kids start before 3. We had good experiences both places.

[atouchofklasse]

Excellent information, thanks!

[h]

Aug 13, 2012 18:10:39 GMT -5 iheartbanjos said:

We bought DD the strap in beginner skis last winter. She went on them for the first time around 17 months. We basically just wanted to get her comfortable with the idea. She LOVED it. We'll probably do the same thing this coming winter (she'll be 2.5) and then she'll start ski school the following winter. We're in CO, and none of the major resorts start ski school before age 3.

Are you sure? My friend's son went to ski school when we were in Breckenridge with them last year, and he was not yet 3 (he was about 33 months at the time). He had been to ski school in Aspen a couple times prior to that when he would have been between 2.5 and 3. I suppose it's possible that they just lied about his age, but I was under the impression that both Aspen and Breck take 2 year olds. In fact, our friends rejected the idea of going to Vail because their ski school doesn't start until 3.

[ijack]

I think it might also have to do with being potty trained. I would assume the schools won't take kids in diapers.

[h]

Aug 14, 2012 12:14:48 GMT -5 ijack said:

I think it might also have to do with being potty trained. I would assume the schools won't take kids in diapers.

Yes, as far as I am aware, every place requires that kids be potty trained for ski school. My friend's kid that went at 2.5 was potty trained. I think some resorts have day care programs that involve a tiny bit of skiing, though, so maybe the rules are different for that.

[slug*bug]

Aug 14, 2012 12:16:59 GMT -5 h said:

Aug 14, 2012 12:14:48 GMT -5 ijack said:

I think it might also have to do with being potty trained. I would assume the schools won't take kids in diapers.

Yes, as far as I am aware, every place requires that kids be potty trained for ski school. My friend's kid that went at 2.5 was potty trained. I think some resorts have day care programs that involve a tiny bit of skiing, though, so maybe the rules are different for that.

I'm not sure about CO specifically, but we did a part day creche (basically what Hens said: day care + some introductory skiing, no potty training requirement) for a few days last winter when DS was 2.5. After creche, we were able to take him out for a little while by ourselves, but no formal lessons. (Even full day creche, which was offered at our resort, would've been too much, though, b/c he was still napping in the afternoons.)

He LOVED it! The worst part of the day was trying to get him to take his helmet and boots off when we would come off the mountain. He is apparently immune to cold and couldn't understand why we ever needed to go inside. :-| We had debated waiting a year and to be fair, it was just barely an introduction to skiing, but he really had a great time and it's a good memory, for sure. I'm glad we took the plunge.

[iheartbanjos]

Aug 14, 2012 11:39:27 GMT -5 h said:

Aug 13, 2012 18:10:39 GMT -5 iheartbanjos said:

We bought DD the strap in beginner skis last winter. She went on them for the first time around 17 months. We basically just wanted to get her comfortable with the idea. She LOVED it. We'll probably do the same thing this coming winter (she'll be 2.5) and then she'll start ski school the following winter. We're in CO, and none of the major resorts start ski school before age 3.

Are you sure? My friend's son went to ski school when we were in Breckenridge with them last year, and he was not yet 3 (he was about 33 months at the time). He had been to ski school in Aspen a couple times prior to that when he would have been between 2.5 and 3. I suppose it's possible that they just lied about his age, but I was under the impression that both Aspen and Breck take 2 year olds. In fact, our friends rejected the idea of going to Vail because their ski school doesn't start until 3.

Okay, so I Googled. Actual ski school starts at age 3 for any of the Vail-affiliated resorts. If you click on ski school, you can get more info. If you click on the daycare link, there is a micro mice 30 min ski experience for ages 20 months and up. We looked into this last New Year's because we thought about getting child care at the resort for 1 day. It was a lot-maybe $250-ish/day.