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Tips for adults skiing with little kids

leisure skier

Certified Ski Diva
I also love the Darren Turner videos on YouTube. I ski with my 4 and 6 year olds and am always looking for tips to make it the most enjoyable/ safe for all of us. All of these tips above ring true and familiar with us as well. If possible, it works best to have them both in a morning lesson with the pros while we ski for a couple of hours (leaving them with a little snack and hot cocoa money in pockets), then we all have lunch and everyone is happy to ski together after lunch until they tucker out (which is generally pretty early with the little one). Having a little time to work on my own skiing makes the time with the kids more enjoyable to ski, especially since with the 4 year old I end up in a snowplow with her much of the time.

When we are skiing down as a family, we try to keep my husband or myself infront, then the 2 kids following, with one of us behind to be there to help whomever has just fallen down if they need it. I also like to shadow the little one when the mountain is crowded to guard her and keep fast grown up skiers off her tail. Although I have thought about this when it is just her and I, which is best to do, have her follow my line? Or should I be behind her to keep fast skiers off her tail since sometimes her turns are unpredictable (regardless of if she is following us, she normally veers from the line - something we are working on)? Also, I've noticed that here in Europe most of the shops now carry the back protectors for kids to wear under their jackets, and I've noticed a bunch of kids with them in the restaurants once their jackets are off. We haven't done this yet, just the helmets so far.
 

SkiMoose

Certified Ski Diva
I find it useful to have at least 2 adults per child. We ski with my niece (2 1/2) and nephew (4 1/2) almost every weekend. It's my nephew's 3rd season and niece's first. My nephew loves skiing with my husband and me. He always wants one of us to be the "leader" and we are willing to take him to new trails. The other one will follow him to help pick him up after any falls. We even took him to a terrain park to help him with balance (just don't tell his mom and dad)! Only do this if you're within an hour of when the lifts open, because most of the teenage snowboarders will still be asleep and they can't run over small children. We've found that this has helped him a lot in rougher terrain.. ungroomed, slushy, skied off, gouged out, etc.

We also find that bribing works well too... french fries for french fries. :eyebrows: And there is always a giant snack bag (packed by grandma and grandpa) filled with junk food, so that skiing will always be a good experience!
 

newskimama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Leisure Skier - I contemplated the same issue when skiing solo with the little ones. Do I go in front or behind? I have settled on behind because, let's face it, usually little kids want some help getting back up if they fall and it's easier to get to them that way than to have to hike back up. I have instilled the importance of stopping to wait for me if they have a trail choice and both will stop when I command them to do so! All that red light/green light game stuff pays off :smile:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Leisure Skier - I contemplated the same issue when skiing solo with the little ones. Do I go in front or behind? I have settled on behind because, let's face it, usually little kids want some help getting back up if they fall and it's easier to get to them that way than to have to hike back up. I have instilled the importance of stopping to wait for me if they have a trail choice and both will stop when I command them to do so! All that red light/green light game stuff pays off :smile:

+1 on Red/Yellow/Green light. Remembered that game when skiing with my son's 6yo this winter. Since it was only me, I tended to ski in front of him so he could follow my turns. The slope wasn't very busy his first weekend. We only skied after his full day at ski school (ends at 2pm). By the third weekend, he'd learned enough to make turns consistently so we would switch off. I let him choose who went in front. Often he preferred to follow me.
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
+1 on the trail choice plan. If there is a choice, even if we have discussed which trails and lifts beforehand, in our family the skier in the lead always stops at the point where trails diverge, pointing with poles and making sure all are in agreement and paying attention to the direction before proceding down. This is after skiing with friends a few years back, the youngest (6) in the group took the wrong fork and went to a different lift. Her mother was in the rear, and followed her, but we were waiting a good half hour for them to meet back up (turns out the same wrong turn was made a second time). And when we ski with friends, we always pay extra attention to where they are and which way they turn, so if they forget to wait we will all be in the same wrong place together, especially since not everyone has a phone.
 

leisure skier

Certified Ski Diva
Good idea with the red light green light game. I think I will also start applying that to the slopes. So far my kids aren't speed demons (esp the little one), but I don't think I have too much longer before my 6 year old starts racing ahead. (we have had a couple of runs where I have had to pick up some speed to keep on her).
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I found that Red/Yellow/Green light was really useful for my friend's 4yo daughter, more than than her son. Especially when skiing with the mom because she's a cautious beginner. So her daughter and I had to stop every so often to wait up for mom. At 6, her son is good about looking back to see where everyone else is or just stopping to wait.

4yo liked "racing" with her mother since she would always win. :becky:
 

SkiMoose

Certified Ski Diva
We've used the Kiddie Lift for our niece and nephew. I think this might be more practical for day-to-day use with your own kids.

They use the vests for kids in ski school at Killington. We even used it to save a 6 yo girl who fell getting off the lift.
 

eSki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
DS has a list of key contact numbers and the name of where we are staying in his jacket pocket, especially when we are overseas.
DS and I were at Snowshoe this weekend skiing and on the mountain there is essentially no cell service. How do others handle communication in these types of situations ? Is this normal for larger or more remote ski areas?
Should we invest in radios or something?
 

Ashleigh Lawrence

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
DS and I were at Snowshoe this weekend skiing and on the mountain there is essentially no cell service. How do others handle communication in these types of situations ? Is this normal for larger or more remote ski areas?
Should we invest in radios or something?

I am seriously considering investing in exactly this, particularly after my son took an unscheduled dismount from a very long drag lift, and he and The Huz took twenty minutes or so to reappear!
 

Mama Sue

Certified Ski Diva
I've seen radios used at my fav. area, because cell phone service is sketchy. Right now if my kids aren't in class or team stuff, they tend to ski with me, but as they get older radios sound like a good idea.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
DS and I were at Snowshoe this weekend skiing and on the mountain there is essentially no cell service. How do others handle communication in these types of situations ? Is this normal for larger or more remote ski areas?
Should we invest in radios or something?
Snowshoe has a special reason cell coverage is poor. Whether or not cell coverage is good is hard to predict. Best to ask before you go. Usually texting is better. Cell coverage used to be very poor at Alta but now I can text pretty much anywhere on the mountain. No problem at Big Sky either. Bridger had virtually no cell coverage. Was pretty weak at Blue Knob. Note that those are not "destination resorts" but instead local low-cost places.

Always good to have a back up time/place for meeting, regardless of cell phones.

The reason Snowshoe has very little cell coverage is that the place is close to a national No Cell Zone because of a Federal research station with a radio telescope.
 

Moonrocket

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I learned this weekend- Definitely check the grooming reports! A run that was easy on Saturday groomed- is not necessarily easy on Sunday with bumps.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
radios and little kids....
"zxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx momxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyou?"
" we'll meet you at zxdcccccczzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'
"WHAT" "xssssssssssssssssssssssxz'
"meet us at ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZXXXXXX"
"XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWHAT?"
All at full volume under the chair lift.
 

Moonrocket

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This is another variation of a strap that just helps pick up a little kid onto the chairlift or off the snow. Called the Grip'n Glide by Lucky Bums. Also available on Amazon.

We have the version of that which comes with the leashes and backpack. We don't use the leashes anymore (although thought about it this weekend when DD named her skis "Race Skis". The backpack is perfect for granola bars and other snacks though. I feel much better holding her on the lifts- esp the ones with no bars.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I saw the Grip'n Glide at the shop at Grand Targhee. One indication that place is a good place for families. The other is that the beginner lift is in a completely separate area where there aren't ever advanced/experts whizzing by to get to the base.
 

Mom of Redheads

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
DH and I used to use radios/walkie-talkies at Sugarbush before I really carried a cell phone. Once you find a workable channel, they're pretty easy to use and have decent coverage. We used them a lot the year I was pregnant and hanging in the condo - and I could reach him anywhere. We've taken them to the beach once - where you can't see the screen on smartphone easily anyway and who wants sand in their otterbox?...

We use cell phones now, but the colder it is the more I wish we still used the radios!

One time though, someone was using one on the channel we had ours set for - and their conversation was a bit you know, inappropriate, so I hit the button and said "This channel is NOT secure." They changed channels pretty fast, LOL...
 

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