Children And Good Skiing

As these videos demonstrate, even very young children can ski exceptionally well. We hope you'll be entertained and even inspired by the young skiers in these videos. If you would like to learn how to help your own kids ski as well (and joyfully), continue to the articles on preparation, child development, the role of talent, fundamentals of kids' technique, ski lessons, ski racing and other competitive skiing, safety, ski boots and skis, and recommended products and suggested reading for parents.

All skiing parents will have questions about raising their child in skiing:

How much does talent have to do with this process? How advantageous are lessons to future development--and how important is the quality of the instruction? What about ski racing or other competitive skiing--when is a child ready for that? If you know the answers to these and the other questions please add them to the articles.

Table of Contents

1. Videos of Children Skiing
2. Preparation
3. Child Development and Skiing
4. What Does Talent Have to Do With It?
5. Fundamentals of Children's Ski Technique
6. Ski Lessons
7. When to Start Competitive Skiing
8. Safety
9. Recommended Products For Children
10. Recommended Reading For Parents

Videos of Children Skiing

Our model in the first four videos is Dax, son of Dustyfog:

• April 08: Catamount, NY & Sunshine Village, Alberta:

• April 09: Lech-Zurs, Austria

• Dax the ski instructor, teaching his very nervous mom, an accomplished rollerblader/skater.

• First downhill race, no cakewalk, it was steep, course littered with kids wiping out:

Here are some more examples of kids who rock on skis.

• A little girl in Canada:

• An older child:

• Kids jump-launch training at Whistler, pretty amusing, thrills and impact:

More kids and their dynamism - kids skiing with skill and aplomb!

• A six-year-old at Jackson Hole shredding it:

• A six-year-old cruising the narrow track skiercross at Les Arcs -- beautiful!

• Another six-year-old, this one from Quebec. (Is it that Quebec kids get a lot of mileage, or are they just natural born skiers like Austrians?)

• A six-year-old freestyling at Aspen: real skill and just such coolness in style and execution:

• Here's a clip of a young skier from Finland: isn't it great to see the international nature of this wonderful sport?

Preparation (from the months before to the morning of)

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Child Development and Skiing

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What Does Talent Have to Do With It?

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Fundamentals of Children's Ski Technique

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Ski Lessons

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When to Start Competitive Skiing (Ski Racing, Park and Pipe, Freestyle)?

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Safety

Helmets are mission-critical for kids:

Skis and ski boots for kids

Meet dalman's daughter, approximately 50 lbs., 42", a strong skier who skied 45 days last season. In this photo she is skiing on a pair of 100 cm. house brand "girl" skis, probably from the Elan factory in Slovenia, and one-buckle rear-entry boots. The equipment that appears adequate in the above photo soon will be outgrown and she needs a new set-up that will keep up with the abilities and skills that she developed in the Nancy Greene program at her local ski area (which range from clocking 40 MPH in a downhill course, to carving up her competition in the slalom, to shredding the moguls). Even though she's on her way to becoming a great skier, her equipment selection should be based on what ske wants to buy.

As SkiDude72 says,

Recommended Products for Children

Edgie Wedgie ($10-$15)

These help hold the ski tips together so the kid can easily make a wedge. However, they allow independent movement of the skis so the feet and hips don't get "locked up." They can also pop off if anything happens. Some other types of devices don't allow the independent leg action and that can hinder movement and learning.

Slingshot Helmet by Giro ($50)

The Giro Slingshot kids helmet features In-Form universal sizing system, so at the turn of a dial, the inner liner can become larger so the helmet grows as your child grows.

Recommended reading for parents:

1. For parents who are on the more anxious end of the spectrum, this is a succinct piece with good cut-and-dried counsel on how to begin, simple ideas, common sense stuff: 

http://www.momsteam.com/sports/skiing-freestyle/teaching-your-child-to-ski

2. This ancient New York Times article is about kids' youth league ski racing: 

www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/sports/backtalk-in-a-children-s-ski-race-only-competing-counts.html

3. When should one introduce a kid to ski racing? This article is by a mother whose husband and entire hubby's side seems to have racing running through their capillaries:

www.kidznsnow.com/3639

Do you have knowledge about children and skiing that would enrich this article? Please add it!