RuMR Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 toddlers?? Any recommendations? I'm in the redmond area... Quote
RuMR Posted November 3, 2003 Author Posted November 3, 2003 B U M P! Someone out there...give me some beta!!!!!!!! Sheesh...are all of you single w/ no kids!?!? Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 no kids? yes, and I'm loving every minute of it Quote
Bug Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 I'm in Redmond. How old are your kids? Mine are 5 and 7 and just starting to hit intermediate slopes. But if we got them all together on the first day, yours would probably pick it up fast. The biggest problem for the real littleones is getting on and off the lift. Also, I still have a pair of kid's size 11 alpine ski boots to give away. Quote
RuMR Posted November 3, 2003 Author Posted November 3, 2003 Hey bug! Got two kids, but the youngest is only 18 months so this is about the older one... I'm on English Hill...right next door...He just turned 4 in august...has his boots and clomps around in the house alot in them...He's been sliding around a bit on the carpet...for xmas, he'll be getting some skis... Lift shouldn't be an issue...I'll just pick him up and plunk him down...he's tiny...w/ everything on, I doubt he'll weigh much over 45 lbs or so... Quote
RuMR Posted November 3, 2003 Author Posted November 3, 2003 Ursa_Eagle said: no kids? yes, and I'm loving every minute of it U don't know what you r missin'! Quote
Bug Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Just so you get your perspective straight. At that age, it is about hot chocolate. There will be some skiing but the overall event has to have a solid basis in spoilage. Keeps em coming back. About the third time my youngest went skiing (at age 3) she took off and has never slowed down. But it was touch and go for the second time out. Hand warmers, reeses minatures and hot chocolate were what she remembered about that day. Anyway, the offer still stands. We will have to get em all out together so there is some kid sized incentive. As far as hills go, Stevens has a magic carpet but it is a little too low angle. Their bunny hills are OK. Snoqualmie has lots of beginner and intermediate terraine but there a lot of wild kids. Meredith has been knocked over three or four times. Gee, I wonder why they never hit me? I am going to start extracting a price for hitting my daughter. Like walk down or at least crawl away in fear. Quote
RuMR Posted November 4, 2003 Author Posted November 4, 2003 Bug said: Just so you get your perspective straight. At that age, it is about hot chocolate. There will be some skiing but the overall event has to have a solid basis in spoilage. Keeps em coming back. About the third time my youngest went skiing (at age 3) she took off and has never slowed down. But it was touch and go for the second time out. Hand warmers, reeses minatures and hot chocolate were what she remembered about that day. Anyway, the offer still stands. We will have to get em all out together so there is some kid sized incentive. As far as hills go, Stevens has a magic carpet but it is a little too low angle. Their bunny hills are OK. Snoqualmie has lots of beginner and intermediate terraine but there a lot of wild kids. Meredith has been knocked over three or four times. Gee, I wonder why they never hit me? I am going to start extracting a price for hitting my daughter. Like walk down or at least crawl away in fear. excellent post...couldn't agree more... Quote
Norman_Clyde Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Hey Bug, I may take those boots off your hands, if my daughter's feet are the right size. I'll take a look at her shoes when I get home tonight. She's fired up to begin snow sports. Quote
David_Parker Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 I taught my kid to ski myself. YOU are the best teacher even if you don't ski well. I did NOT ski with him between my legs ever. I felt it was important for him to find his own sense of balance.I also did not push the age thing. We started at 4 and really got into at 5. He is very athletic but as bug said, if they are really young it's not really about skiing so don't have any other expectation than to make sure they are having fun even if that means hanging out in the lodge with hot chocolate and french fries. I started with him at Alpenthal on the easy lift. I would grab his tips (I'm skiing backwards) and just steer him down while he learned the fore/aft balance point. I had him put his hands on his knees. No poles. After a few runs he wanted to try it him self. But he wouldn't turn, just went straight. It was so funny to see him get going too fast. He had some great crashes, there were tears but I never pushed it. Eventualy he learned to turn. All I kept telling him was to keep his hands on his knees and turn....left,right,left right........... We tried Whistler kids ski school once but he hated it. I think part of that was because we never dropped him off at any regular day care before either so it was more seperation anxiety. I absolutely swear by this: Get edgy-wedgies. They are little c-clamps with a short piece of surgical tubing. You clamp them on each tip and they keep the skis from going off to one side while allowing some shuffling and movement. Do not get anything ridgid like a nylon strap with velcro. Waste of money. Whistler or Blackcomb kids instructors will tell you these are bad, but they are stupid.He used the edgie-wedgie for only one year and then "lost" them. He did not get dependant on it. He's 8 and goes down black diamonds now. My kid just started with poles last year. Until he gets them, be willing to drag him anywhere he wants. I pulled him on cat tracks and in lift lines by having him grab the end of my pole. He's still one of my favorite ski buds now! Quote
pope Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 My daughter (3 yrs) went out with us last winter. I put her on my shoulders and hiked her up a bunny slope, then skiied down with her. She loved catching snowflakes in her mouth more than skiing, but by the end of the night, she just wanted to ski more and more. I'm really looking forward to skiing with her this year. I think we're going to put her in a private lesson where her mother and I can ski with her while she gets one-on-one instruction for about an hour. I absolutely agree that the only goal should be that at the end of the day, when it is time to depart, your child wants to return. Quote
adventuregal Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 David, all I can say is that is totally great you taught your son yourself. I don't have any kids so maybe I have no business posting this, but... I would recommend a class/lesson over teaching you child yourself. I guess it may depend on the sport and the parent, but during my summers of teaching windsurfing, I have witnessed SO MANY battles between kids and parents of all ages if the parent tries to teach the kid. So just be forewarned... rather than pushing your kid, it might be best to let someone else do the work. They may listen better and not feel pressured to please you. Just another opinion! And like pretty much everyone has said... fun comes first, skills come second. Good luck! Quote
Bug Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 I taught my girls myself too. It really does depend on your relationship and the mood. Everything else DP said is right on. I wanted my girls to get good instruction. I am not the best instructor in the world but I have been trained on how to instruct. Too many ski hills put their least experienced instructors with the kids. When Drew was 8, I took him out and had him doing good carved parallel turns. Then we put him in the Alpental ski school. At the end of the year, I went out and followed them. Drew and the other slower kids got no attention and he was skiing worse than when he started at the beginning of the year. Not all kids' instructors are bad. But if you have the skills and patience and a pocket full of chocolate, it will probably work out better if you teach them yourself. Quote
David_Parker Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 adventuregal said: David, all I can say is that is totally great you taught your son yourself. I don't have any kids so maybe I have no business posting this, but... I would recommend a class/lesson over teaching you child yourself. I guess it may depend on the sport and the parent, but during my summers of teaching windsurfing, I have witnessed SO MANY battles between kids and parents of all ages if the parent tries to teach the kid. So just be forewarned... rather than pushing your kid, it might be best to let someone else do the work. They may listen better and not feel pressured to please you. Just another opinion! And like pretty much everyone has said... fun comes first, skills come second. Good luck! AG, I do agree with you and what you say applies even more to teaching a spouse! In my case my son wanted me to be his teacher (lucky me) and so I didn't object. I would also agree that I see parents pushing their kids too hard all the time and I think it backfires big time. I'm sure I have crossed that fine line at one point or another. At kid's rope up we decided that dads shouldn't be able to belay their own kids. Too much direction on what to do. With guys and boys, it's inherently more competitive. That's not sexist, just the way males are hardwired. Kids do a lot better when their are other kids around. Maybe we need a kids ski day. I wouldn't hesitate to yank my kid out of school for that! Quote
fredrogers Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Rudy- Try Powder Pigs. They're based out of Snoqualmie, so it's close and pretty convenient. They have their own lift and chalet. And your kid will be easy to spot in his bright red jacket. And no, I don't have kids, but I used to instruct for them. Quote
Mtguide Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 adventuregal said: David, all I can say is that is totally great you taught your son yourself. I don't have any kids so maybe I have no business posting this, but... I would recommend a class/lesson over teaching you child yourself. I guess it may depend on the sport and the parent, but during my summers of teaching windsurfing, I have witnessed SO MANY battles between kids and parents of all ages if the parent tries to teach the kid. So just be forewarned... rather than pushing your kid, it might be best to let someone else do the work. They may listen better and not feel pressured to please you. Just another opinion! And like pretty much everyone has said... fun comes first, skills come second. Good luck! I think adventuregal's right on target.If you do decide to have your kids take lessons at a ski area,check to be sure that the instructors are PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America)trained and certified(at most areas they have to be);they have excellent programs for kids based on many years of solid experience and success;some PSIA instructors who give kids' classes specialize in that exclusively.Ask to meet the instructor beforehand,maybe even watch a class just to see how they are with the youngsters.There are some great people out there.Best of luck. Quote
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