Help your children become life long skiers
If you are a parent who skis, you probably hope that your child will grow up to love the sport as much as you do. However, sometimes from a child’s perspective, skiing can be a tough sell. Between the cold weather, long lines for lifts and for food, and often, long car rides, skiing is not always a child’s first choice of winter activity.
With the right formula for a good day on the slopes, skiing can be a fantastic way to bond as a family no matter how old your child is! And someday, your child may end up teaching their kid how to ski too.
Here are 5 ways to help your kid enjoy skiing, and grow up to be a lifelong skier.
Take lots of breaks
Young kids often feel the cold a lot more than adults. They also tend to eat in smaller portions, requiring them to snack more often, and get tired faster too! Nobody is going to enjoy skiing if they spend most of their day cold, hungry and overtired.
On a really cold day, I’d recommend taking your child inside after every 2 runs, or 1 if it is a larger mountain with longer runs. For warmer days, maybe every 2-3 runs.
This also will allow more opportunities for bathroom breaks as well, helping to prevent any snow-pant soaking accidents.
Get your kid some ski friends
A weekend skiing program is ideal for this, as your child will have a group of 4-6 children their age and level to ski with, and look forward to seeing on the slopes each week. And, they will be able to improve their skiing rapidly with the help of a trained ski instructor.
For more advanced skiers, a school or mountain race league will also allow your child to make lifelong friends in the sport, become an amazing skier, and have an opportunity to be a serious athlete in the sport.
However, these programs can be very expensive, and only logistically possible if you live within an hour of the mountains or have a slope-side condo to escape to on the weekends. You can still help your kids make friends at the mountain without enrolling them in a program.
If your child has siblings, they can be your child’s first ski friends, and this is great for making skiing a family affair. However, if they are further away in age, the older child will likely get bored or frustrated always skiing with the younger one, and the younger sibling may feel left behind on tougher terrain.
I recommend networking with other parents at the mountain you frequent– take names and numbers, and try to arrange meet ups. You can also try to get in touch with other families who ski at your childrens’ school(s), and try to arrange mountain meet-ups. After school ski programs for older children are also a great option!
When your child has friends their age and level to ski with, this encourages camaraderie, some healthy competition, and will give your child another reason to look forward to that long car ride to the mountain.
Invest in the right gear
As I mentioned, kids, especially young kids, feel the cold a lot more than adults. Keeping your kids warm will keep them happier for longer on the mountain. Some childrens’ outdoor wear can be subpar, so do your research to make sure their coat and snow pants are warm and waterproof enough for skiing.
They also should have an age-appropriate helmet, neckie, mittens (not gloves!), ski socks and goggles. The ski socks are important not only to keep their feet warm, but to help their ski boots fit better and avoid painful pinching that can come from improper socks sliding down or bunching up. Most ski sock brands offer children sizing. I recommend Smartwool or Darn Tough Socks.
I also recommend that their mittens have designated pockets for hand warmers. This will allow your child to use hand-warmers without risking burns from having them directly on their skin inside the glove.
For boots, aim for comfort above all else. Especially for younger children, their ski boots should be lightweight and not too tight, and ideally fitted at a ski shop if possible.
Drills and Games
Learning to ski is supposed to be fun! Age appropriate drills and games can help keep your child engaged, and help them learn faster too! Check out some of my lists of ski drills you can try with your kids!
Simpler drills can help improve your child’s technique, and for more advanced skiers, challenges or games can help make a day on the slopes more fun, especially if you are at a smaller mountain with limited terrain. Give your child a challenge for a run: see how many turns you can make before that sign, see how long you can ski on one foot, see how many whirly-birds/360s you can do before that sign, etc.
Games can also help make the chairlift ride more fun, and distract your child from the cold. Some suggestions include the alphabet game, 20 questions, I-spy, or any other simple games your child enjoys.
Get your kid into a ski lesson
Even if you can’t afford or logistically manage a weekend ski program for your child, a one day, half day or even one hour lesson can make a big difference in your child’s skiing. An experienced ski instructor will be able to help your child improve their technique, tackle harder terrain in a safe way, and gain a new perspective on skiing.
If you are an expert skier, you may not be an expert in helping your child transition from pizza turns on the bunny hill to carving on black diamonds. A ski instructor can also help determine what terrain is most appropriate for your child.
Rushing them to advanced terrain before they are ready can hurt their technique long term and be unsafe, but keeping them relegated to green circles out of caution can make them bored and prevent them from advancing. A ski instructor can help you determine where to ski with your child, and what to look for in their technique to help them improve.
There are plenty of other ways to help your kid or kids enjoy a day on the slopes, but this is a good short list of ways to start.
I hope you and your family have a great season (or next season!) and that your children grow to love the sport of skiing as much as you do!
