Forcing your kids to ski

[eclaire]

There were definitely a number of days when my daughter's whining about skiing was louder than the laughing. But it all worked out in the end -- she's marketing manager at a ski resort in NH now!

 

[echo_VT]

no kidding.

my LO loves skiing so far so it hasn't been forcing her to ski. it's mostly fun for her, hanging out with friends and her coach and feeling good while challenging herself every now and then.

 

[SuperSkiMom]

Skiing was not an option in our household. It was like going to school or brushing teeth. We.Go.Skiing.
Of course, kids at a certain age (3) present interesting problems, such as the mid-aft Nuclear Meltdown. This one was particularly funny (thus the pic, decades old).

I thought this post was particularly funny. As any parent knows, we have all been there.

 

[marzNC]

I bet there are some parents forcing their kids to ski during this holiday period. Check out the funny videos in Posts #1 and #3 by grandmothers who are clearly looking forward to skiing with their grandchildren soon.

One of the classic threads in the Family Skiing section.

 

[geargrrl]

Anyone else notice the "star" of the videos has tele gear with cable bindings?

 

[MI-skier]

My very reluctant daughter whom I always had to bribe/cajole/humor/threaten is now on the high school varsity ski team (by her own choice). So parents don't give up. Just because this is funny, here is a picture of same daughter whom we "forced" to bike ride the 8 mile perimeter of Mackinaw Island. Below she is on the slalom ski simulator.

 

[TeleChica]

Anyone else notice the "star" of the videos has tele gear with cable bindings?

You bet I did!

 

[SquidWeaselYay]

My parents started putting me in ski school at age 6. I would beg and plead to get out of ski school and just wanted to stay with them on the hill. I had a really weird instructor once who thought it would be funny to pretend to lose me whole I panicked at the bottom of the run.... And another time where the ski school changed my group and didn't tell the proper people. When my parents came to pick me up, nobody could find me and they SHUT DOWN THE RESORT EXITS and put an alert out to ski patrol and security. Then I skied in with the more advanced group saying "mom, I went down a blue!!!" while she was bawling in the security office while the instructor looked horrified.

It's a wonder I still love the sport haha!

But seriously, so glad they forced me into ski school all those years. I can get down anything now (except cliffs and chutes), and I probably wouldn't have stuck with it if not for all those forced lessons. Kudos to parents willing to battle for it.

 

[Gidget415]

I am guilty of forcing my kids to do ski school for years. I was just getting back to it and didn’t feel confident enough to teach anyone, let alone the kids! My daughter always had post school meltdowns where she would lose her ski in the middle of the same run and trying to talk her through getting her boot back in the binding was a nightmare. She was young, I was stressed. I couldn’t do that all day.

Because of this ski school reluctance, they sometimes dragged feet at first. We went anyway and I found the Wolf Creek hotshots program last year that they loved because it was small group format that was tuned to their levels.

Last year, we stopped the forced ski school experience and I started skiing with them all day. They were 9 and 13 and have a solid base. We love skiing together. I will send my 14 year old back to lessons next week because he’s not turning enough to be safe for his level. It’s always something. I’d rather them hear this stuff from an instructor than just another mom lecture.

 

[marzNC]

Last year, we stopped the forced ski school experience and I started skiing with them all day. They were 9 and 13 and have a solid base. We love skiing together. I will send my 14 year old back to lessons next week because he’s not turning enough to be safe for his level. It’s always something. I’d rather them hear this stuff from an instructor than just another mom lecture.

I always made my daughter do at least a 90-min clinic during the first ski trip of the season at our home mountain (Massanutten in northern VA) after she was old enough. She was a solid intermediate even for Alta blues as a young tween (ages 7-9). By the time she was 10, she was not only less interested in skiing with me because I'm her mother, she was getting better than I was at the time so wanted to ski terrain that I wasn't quite ready for yet. So she prefer'd ski school at times if she didn't have a ski buddy her age around.

Did the same for my friend's kids as young tweens too. They only got to ski on the two holiday weekends at Massanutten, but started doing a spring break ski vacation at Alta. At Alta, the first 2-3 days include at least one full day of ski school plus another full or half-day depending on conditions and what they prefer. Advantage of half-day at Level 6+ is that they are in the afternoons, so no rush in the mornings and could ski with them before lunch. Also meant their mom could do the afternoon adult group lesson. Getting mom good enough to enjoy Alta blues was key to them returning to Alta. Her son was Level 7 (out of 9) skiing ungroomed Alta blacks by the time he was 10. Don't need much terrain to learn fundamentals when working with good instructors.

 

[Gidget415]

I think next weekend will be a good time for them to do small group lessons again. They did great yesterday but a lesson is never a bad thing to work on next steps.

 

[Kimmyt]

I taught my son to do the basics, wedge, make semi-parallel turns, ride lifts (with help) and carpets, safety etc, but I'm putting him in ski lessons this winter to get better instruction from professionals. Some mornings it feels like 'forcing' but tbh I also have to sometimes 'force' him to wipe his butt and eat food, so its not like 'forcing' something on him is bad at this age (5). He does enjoy skiing, its just sometimes hard to get the little ones moving because they don't understand why it will be more fun in the longrun to go skiing as opposed to playing with legos in the basement.

 

[SquidWeaselYay]

I certainly didn't get it when I was young. And I would NOT have listened to my mother try to teach me, I was such a blockhead! I think the last year was in ski school I was 12 or 13. My mom asked my instructor where we went during the lesson and where she could take me, and he started listing off runs that my parents didn't even attempt, so I guess that meant I was "ready."

She would still tease me by doing whirlibirds all the time, something I didn't figure out till my 20s. "Can't do this yet, can you? Then you are still the student grasshopper." Lol. My mom had a weird sense of humor, guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that regard.

 

[CarverJill]

I forced my kids to take 2 days of lessons at Mammoth this past week. We skied a total of 4 days this trip so they got to ski with me as well. Both of them did great and learned a lot in the lessons. We don;t usually do lessons because they are so ridiculously expensive but I think a few a year are worth it. I think it's pretty amazing that they live in snow-less San Diego but at 4.5 and 6 they can get down a blue trail and ski totally independently on greens including terrain parks and woods. #mommybrag

 

[Sheena]

Mostly, I make my kids ski when we go, BUT they are still young ( 6/6 and 8 now). That being said, I don't force them on extra cold and windy days, and this morning when it was foggy and gray, I waited to take them until the fog rolled out. There are days when they say they are "cold", and we ski for a little more, and go in for a quick break. But if the weather is something I would ski in, but the kids would have a harder time, I don't force there.

 

[Littlesonique]

I forced my oldest son the first time, which was 6 years ago. He was freaked out and self conscious. I told him it was private lessons so he agreed to come out of the locker room and freaked out when there were other people on the mountain. I’m like you don’t get the mountain to yourself, just the instructor. 6 years later, same instructor and now our friend and he skis blacks. I bribe him to do better in school with ski trips. (Which is especially nice for me... double win. Good grades from him... ski trip for me too)

My youngest was easy because he wants to be like his big brother. So no bribing needed.

 

[catherinajoe]

This is a parody, but it may strike a chord with some of you. Do you force your kids to ski?

Lol...kinda reasonates with us. I forced my son to Ski last month but he brutally refused and instead ran away.

 

[Peaheartsmama]

Last season I had to bribe my 4 year old with little shopkin blind bag toys to do ski school every week. Her “prize” for being brave. The lady at the little toys R us nearby knew us by the end of the season. Worked like a charm though. This year she is getting into her first blues and is the one who complains when it’s time to call it a day.

 

[alr]

When my son was 4, we would drop him in random lessons and day care when we wanted to go skiing with friends at local ski hills. He was ok with it, but not loving it. When my son was 5, I enrolled him in more rigorous lessons, without consulting him much ahead of time. He had a 4 week series of saturday lessons (giving up my ability to go skiing in doing so!). He started out not loving it, but by the end was getting the hang of things. Then we did a 4 week series of Saturday lessons this year when he was 6. He was getting his turns figured out right off the bat. And as my kid is not all the coordinated or very athletically inclined, this made me extremely proud and happy. Same 6 year old after his 4 weeks of lessons goes skiing with mom and dad for a day, and does amazing and rides little table tops in the mini terrain park (though doesn't listen to mom about doing turns more). Next day we put him in an all day lesson where they take him all over the mountain. After we pick him up, we go for a few more runs. He shows us how he can ski a (groomed) black diamond. I chased after him with a big grin on my face (he's fast on his 90cm skis!). I think I have made this kid a skier. i am still going to put him in lessons periodically so he can progress, because he doesn't listen to me for advice and I don't know how to teach kids to ski.

 

[alr]

I will also add, related to the video of the kid who fell asleep while skiing. my child after his last epic day of lessons and was skiing with us after, fell asleep on the lift which we discovered once we were preparing to get off. He was DONE, but luckily woke up enough to make it down to the car.