What age can baby start skiing?

[Nedgirl]

I’m an instructor at Winter Park - eight seasons. Taught kids exclusively the first six seasons. It depends on whether you want them to be able to truly ski on their own or just get used to ski boots. I would say for really having the muscle strength and coordination, they shouldn’t start skiing until four.

We used to have a 3-4 year old group lesson and most of the time we just played in the snow with about 40-45 minutes for the whole six hours. Yes there was the rare gifted 3-year old who was able to get it. But they were usually big for their age and few and far between.

Btw, Winter Park no longer offers group ski school for 3-year olds. The scrapped it during the pandemic and decided not to bring it back.

just my two cents.

 

[WaterGirl]

I appreciate every parent has their own thoughts and opinions, and certainly those who are in any sport / industry would be possibly introducing their child to that sport at an earlier age. We were not back into the mountain scene until DD was 6 so I have no experience with skiing at an earlier age. But it seems from the posts of those who teach that 3-4 would be the very earliest. These parents admittedly abhor being in the lodge and would rather push their one year old to be outside which seems selfish imho.

FWIW I would, however, be curious to know the thoughts and opinions of a pediatric orthopedic with regard to a "1 year old" skiing and wearing a helmet that weighs almost 1 pound.

 

[floatingyardsale]

My youngest, now 6, started at two and a half with plastic skis on the magic carpet. It was pretty funny. She was so excited to be in snow pants and boots and with her best friend, and then I put these slippery things on her feet and she fixed me with a glare and howled "get me off this ice.". First year was a lot of mom squats.

But we stuck with it and the following year at 3 she could "ski by herself" i.e. without holding my poles. The year after that we could do greens and easy blues; last year a few groomed blacks on easy spring days. This year she is balking a lot - less time skiing with her friends due to schedules has taken some of the fun out of it for her.

 

[SarahXC]

A friend was a race coach for youth programs in Alaska for over a decade before moving here. His daughter is now 2.5 and in her first year skiing at the local hill. Last year he did some sliding on snow with her sitting in a sled to get her introduced to the idea of what sliding on snow felt like. At the hill this year they will ride the carpet a few times and go together on the chair to the 400’ long green a few times. Maybe spend 35-45 minutes total after booting up and go home when she is tired. He is super focused on her having fun and stopping while it’s still fun. I think this is a great kid centered experience.

For the helmets part really little kids wear helmets all the time now on their trikes/balance bikes etc so I think light helmets appropriate to their neck strength are out there for purchase. A decade ago when my kids were little I think the recommendations for kids starting to ride in a bike towed carrier was wait until 6 months so they could wear the helmet safely although that could have changed by now.

 

[marzNC]

The year after that we could do greens and easy blues; last year a few groomed blacks on easy spring days. This year she is balking a lot - less time skiing with her friends due to schedules has taken some of the fun out of it for her.

I spent a fair amount of effort trying to find a ski buddy for my daughter after we clearly had a home mountain. At least for the holidays weekends. Made a bigger difference when she was a tween (ages 7-12) and no longer interested in full-day ski school since most of the kids were younger. Even though she was usually a better skier, she would spend hours as a social skier with a friend. If there wasn't a friend around, she'd be ready to do something else after an hour skiing with me. The season she skied the most, we had made friends with a family who lived an hour from the mountain. Unfortunately for us, they moved away after that season.

Had we lived closer to Massanutten (under 1.5 hours one-way), I might have put her in the Developmental program for a season just to make a few friends.

 

[floatingyardsale]

We still get a lot of ski playdates - it's just not last year (half day kindergarten, ski dates before school) plus a couple falls early this season. She doesn't need only her friends -- any non-brother child will do -- but she goes from "let's ski through all the powder (what she calls all off piste) and trees" to "I'm too tired" instantly. We talked - skiing is about the sociality for her right now.

I'm debating the dev program for next year.

 

[brooksnow]

I taught in a dev program for kids 3-6 for 8 years, until my kids hit middle/high school and I couldn't commit to the schedule. I loved having the same group of kids for the season. At Sugarloaf it's Bubblecuffers for the older kids and Minicuffers for the littler ones. I highly recommend the season long programs for families who will be there every weekend. Now I'm based in the children's programs but teach adults nearly as often as kids.

Sugarloaf trails are mostly named for logging terms. Bubblecuffer refers to the bubbles that bubble up around the cuffs of the rivermans pants. Think log rolling.

 

[Moonrocket]

I’m an instructor at Winter Park - eight seasons. Taught kids exclusively the first six seasons. It depends on whether you want them to be able to truly ski on their own or just get used to ski boots. I would say for really having the muscle strength and coordination, they shouldn’t start skiing until four.

We used to have a 3-4 year old group lesson and most of the time we just played in the snow with about 40-45 minutes for the whole six hours. Yes there was the rare gifted 3-year old who was able to get it. But they were usually big for their age and few and far between.

Btw, Winter Park no longer offers group ski school for 3-year olds. The scrapped it during the pandemic and decided not to bring it back.

just my two cents.

Ah that’s sad. My daughter loved just because I’m three lessons at Winter Park. She would have been just before you - but got her blue button and was even taught to “jump” which she did at every opportunity- she would often be still out skiing at pickup time.
That said she was nordic skiing tiny distances at 2 (we’d drag a sled anround the loop behind the rec center and when she got tired she’d ride in the sled.) And her dad’s 6’5” so she was big for her age. Group lessons were pretty sketchy after that because she was distractible on chairlifts- we kept her in the backpack that comes with the leashes for a few seasons just to hold the handle on the lifts- especially the ones without bars. (Only used the leashes twice- but the backpack with handle was amazing!)

she’s still tearing it up at WP and got lucky being at the rope drop at the Chutes yesterday.

 

[Moonrocket]

Thanks great advice! Do you have a link to the skis?

I’m pretty sure they were Karhu brand- but it doesn’t look like they make them anymore. You can see them here with mini popping into a tuck on her 2nd birthday.

looks like Lucky Bums makes something similar now though.

 

[sashak]

We started them around 3 yo. We would set up a spot near the magic carpet, with a beach mat, snacks, dry mittens, etc., and stay outside all day. They would ski to me on the blanket, give me a hug, and do another "run." We'd never have to go inside except to use the bathroom.

 

[geargrrl]

View attachment 19895
I’m pretty sure they were Karhu brand- but it doesn’t look like they make them anymore. You can see them here with mini popping into a tuck on her 2nd birthday.

looks like Lucky Bums makes something similar now though.

We had some of those 35 years ago.

As for the opinion that it selfish to push kids.....opinions just that. It all depends on the parents, enviroment, attitude, the individual kids and motives. Our kids has a blast and we knew when it was time to go it and tag team parent instead.

 

[MsWax]

In our house it was "if you can walk, you can ski." When then kids were 1, we used the plastic skis shown above that just strap to regular boots and took them down the magic carpet between our legs. The older 2 enjoyed it, but my youngest HATED those skis so we bailed.

The older 2 used that method until 4, when they started real lessons. My youngest started on "real" (hand-me-down) equipment at age 2. He would a few runs (still between my legs) before we'd drop him off at daycare.

My youngest was 3 when we went all in with season passes and a seasonal rental. Unfortunately, the mountain didn't start ski school until 4, so he went to the school of mom. I'd ski with him until lunch and then take him home for a nap. After spending the month of December on the bunny slope, he graduated to real trails, and by the end of the season he was skiing almost everything on the (admittedly easy) mountain.

All the kids can now ski circles around me!

 

[Iwannaski]

My friends are great skiers and both good teachers raising kids in CO. They had all theirs zipping before 4. BUT - as has been said so often - it’s dependent on individual dynamics in the family and interpersonal relationships.

I have heard and witnessed HORROR stories about different situations. Ultimately, if it’s in the interest of the child and not destroying the parent-child relationship - starting with TRUST - I think it’s great. At 8, my daughter tried skiing and hated it. ONLY with trust was I able to get her back out. ONLY because I knew what SHE needed, was I able to get her to where she is now. Not what I needed, not what my son needed, etc. what she needed. She loves it now. But it took meeting her where she was to get us all there.

As someone who learned as an adult, I wanted my kids to learn when they could use their youth and lack of prefrontal cortex to learn faster. ;)

 

[floatingyardsale]

Further thought: it's definitely OK to wait till they're a bit bigger. We started young -- with me a novice skier -- because of an active, skiing friend group and it turned into our main social activity during COVID. But there was basically no meaningful difference in what my son picked up starting at 5 (with one lesson because someone who wasn't me needed to teach him to put on boots) and my daughter at 5, who started at 2.5, because the first two years for her were really about playing with friends and having fun on the magic carpet/bunny hill. Son's friends who are learning at 8 and 9 aren't as advanced as he is at 9, but they're still learning quickly and in a couple of years I can't imagine it will be noticeable.

And even a reasonably skilled 9yo like my son (good parallel turns, pops off every darned lip in the snow, very good judgment) is still going to be a little kid: gets tired, needs cheesy fries on occasion, gets scared after a crash, finds foot-high powder to be bewildering because it's basically knee deep, needs to know mom is watching in case he wipes out. It's fun skiing with him, but it's not like skiing with a similarly-skilled adult yet.

 

[CTskigrrl]

I'm an instructor and started both my kids as soon as they could walk just because I could. I kept expectations SUPER LOW. When they were very little, we just played. I would pull them around on a sled or carry them while I skated. It should be a joyful experience where they get used to being outside in the cold, the feel of snow, and the culture of skiing. Around 18 months, they started walking around with the cheap plastic strap-on skis, which in retrospect, I wish I skipped. By 2.5 they were big enough for real boots and skis. The hook-ease system was THE BEST for teaching them to balance and properly move their skis. If I didn't work at a hill I wouldn't have started them until they were old enough for lessons (4yrs) and even then, my son wasn't socially or emotionally ready for those until he was almost 6. Those early days on snow often lasted a matter of minutes before they were done and whining for snacks so it would have been a complete waste of time and money if I was paying for equipment, passes, or lessons. Now at 6 and 7 they can solidly ski all of my tiny home mountain. But it really depends on the kid. I've taught in the children's program for 20 years and when parents sneak 3 year olds into the 4yo class there's about a 90% chance that the kid lasts less than an hour, if they make it through the gate at all. As far as skill goes, I think of it like walking...first time parents get competitive about how early kids achieve this milestone but by preschool can you tell the difference between a kid who started walking at 8 months and one who started at 18? If your kid enjoys it and it's not burdensome for you, start as early as you like. Otherwise, there's no harm in waiting until they're older and ready. I started at 7 and can ski just as well as my friend who started at 3

 

[artistinsuburbia]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it depends on the kid. When my oldest two were 5 & 3 we put them on skis. (our mountain gave season passes for the under 5 set for $25 at the time!) The five year old loved it and the 3 year old did not. We didn't push but wanted them both to have the option should they choose, and my middle child chose no as her big sister smiled the whole way down the hill. We tried again with her at age 5 and she was still hesitant. But she persevered and did end up liking it that season. Her younger brother had just turned 3 that same season and wailed that he wanted to go too. He took to it like a fish to water. I had to keep a harness on him not to lose him as he could stop on his own and turn just fine. Oh, and to pick him up to put him on the lift, lol. He's now 22 and ripping down the double blacks through the trees at lighting speeds making his mama nervous. So be careful what you wish for...

 

[Moonrocket]

One thing that just popped in my head that really helped- was when my daughter would fall down (from learning to walk or ski) I would ask - are you more scared or more hurt if she was crying. Which taught her to separate the two feelings. Until the time she said more hurt and I was immediately more scared.

 

[brooksnow]

13 months. This kid is in her 20s now. Note: before helmets were common.

 

[NWSkiGirl]

I’m an instructor at Winter Park - eight seasons. Taught kids exclusively the first six seasons. It depends on whether you want them to be able to truly ski on their own or just get used to ski boots. I would say for really having the muscle strength and coordination, they shouldn’t start skiing until four.

We used to have a 3-4 year old group lesson and most of the time we just played in the snow with about 40-45 minutes for the whole six hours. Yes there was the rare gifted 3-year old who was able to get it. But they were usually big for their age and few and far between.

Btw, Winter Park no longer offers group ski school for 3-year olds. The scrapped it during the pandemic and decided not to bring it back.

just my two cents.

Yes, the mountain I instructed at teaches 4 and above!

 

[NWSkiGirl]

I appreciate every parent has their own thoughts and opinions, and certainly those who are in any sport / industry would be possibly introducing their child to that sport at an earlier age. We were not back into the mountain scene until DD was 6 so I have no experience with skiing at an earlier age. But it seems from the posts of those who teach that 3-4 would be the very earliest. These parents admittedly abhor being in the lodge and would rather push their one year old to be outside which seems selfish imho.

FWIW I would, however, be curious to know the thoughts and opinions of a pediatric orthopedic with regard to a "1 year old" skiing and wearing a helmet that weighs almost 1 pound.

From my understanding the kids are able to ski for such a short time that it's actually a hindrance to an adult skiers day!