Tips to get kids excited about skiing
From the day that our child was born, we knew that we wanted them to be a skier. The main question though was how to do it. There are lots of “self-help” articles but most of them were either too generic and obvious or too specific and designed for people that are luck enough live in ski towns. I decided to reach out to a friend from college – Greg Pennekamp – who I had witnessed on his kids’ ski progression from an early age through his Instagram feed.
Here is his advice which so far after one season has worked wonders for us! I hope it helps you and others. Add any comments with feedback or additional ideas and recommendations if you have them.
Skiing with your kids is the best and you can never start too soon. As soon as they are walking, put them on skis.
My best advice for starting your kids young is:
- Get them real gear, buy on ebay or rent from local ski shop. Smallest skis and boots you can get. I think all my kids started out on 76 or 80cm skis.
- Get them use to the equipment right away. If you can get them comfortable inside the house wearing the gear they will be good outside. Put it on them in your home. Have them walk around in the ski boots around the house. I have some great photos of my kids in ski boots wearing only a diaper. Then when they used to the boots put the skis on, yes in the house. Have them try to move the skis around on a carpeted floor. Once they are used to the ski equipment put all the winter ski clothes on them and do it again.
- Once you are outside all you need is a patch of 20-30 feet of snow. You should be in normal winter shoe footwear when they are just starting. Have fun with them at first, get them gliding on the snow so they can feel the excitement of skiing. You are going to love the smile on their face when they glide for the first time. Since they are used to moving the skis from wearing them in the house, you just place them on the snow, tell them to scoot the skis and walk a few feet downhill from them. They scoot, start gliding and you catch them. As they continue to get it keep lengthening the distance of the glide. Also, try to have them ski with their hands on their knees. This helps them get their weight forward. The heaviest part of a kids’ body is their head. Getting their head over the middle of their skis is a good body position. Hands on their knees helps with that.
- Once the glide is down you can teach them how to stop with a “big pizza”/wedge. “Big Pizza” makes you stop, “french fries”/straight skis make you go. It really works and the kids get it.
- You need to purchase an Edgie Wedgie – I like this brand the best – https://www.ebay.com/p/Edgie-Wedgie-Ski-Tip-Connector-Neon-Green-Beginner-Child-Ski-Teaching-Product/1201942529?iid=142947284034&chn=ps and here is a good article about stopping and the edgie wedgie: http://bring-the-kids.com/ski-school-part-3-stop-why-edgie-wedgies-are-the-best/
- Continue to work with them to come to a complete stop on their own. You work down the hill going from French Fries to Pizza. Once they master that you can move onto to turning. Little Pizza makes you turn. Point your pizza where you want it to go and you will go that direction. A little trick here is to get them to move their downhill ski tip in front of the other ski tip, this helps them focus on that ski and initiate the turn.
- I recommend trying to get them to be very comfortable doing french fries (gliding), pizza (stop) and little pizza (turning) before getting them onto a chair lift or using a harness type device. https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Bums-Ski-Trainer/dp/B01LQX8BA0 I used the harness for both my younger kids and it definitely help them progress a little faster, plus ski with the rest of the family.
- Once they are making really good turns and controlling themselves you will know when it is time to take the harness off and let them ski on their own. My rule with them when they were off the harness is they can’t ski pass me. If they start to go to fast where they are going to ski pass me they have to stop. This helps with getting them to understand speed and control going down the hill.
From a age rule of thumb and what they can do:
- One year old – gliding only
- Two years old – gliding and stopping, they now have the leg strength to stop themselves
- Three years old – gliding, stopping, turning – this is the age when the harness can come off depending on how good they are doing with control
- Four year old – They start ripping!