February 25, 2010
A primer for children's ski lessons
by Tony Chamberlain/
By the end of Ian's first ski trip he was ready for more time on the slopes. (photo: Tony Chamberlain)
So you’re going to take your child on his/her first ski trip. How to do it?
Last time, we were talking about Ian, my own nearly 6-year-old grandson who was about to go skiing with his dad – my kid – and me.
I mentioned some of the tips I had acquired along the way and said I’d get back after that momentous day.
We went to Wachussett, whose claim to stunning success in the business is, as marketing director Tom Meyers says: “We’re just an hour drive away from seven million people.”
So, it was crowded on school vacation week, but this medium-sized metro area was handling the crowds as well as any area could (comment for another day).
So here are revised tips for taking your kidlets skiing for the first time:
– Show up earlier than you think necessary. This is not only for the obvious reason – that it takes time renting stuff and getting it to fit, filling out the forms, etc. This also lets the child get comfortable in this strange new environment.
– We came at lunchtime for a 1:30 p.m. group – “Polar Kids.” While Ian was getting used to the feel of ski boots on his feet, he munched chicken nuggets and watched skiers descend the slopes to the lodge.
– Midday beats early morning, which was my first instinct. But his dad’s wisdom was that children don’t like to be yanked out of sleep and stuck out in the cold that early any more than we do. So, to minimize the impact of a new environment, please, don’t pull the hearty Milk Run scene. When we got there the sun was high, warm, and pleasant.
– Make sure the lesson is long enough – at least a couple of hours. Quit before your child develops some feel for the soaring aspect of skiing, he might not want to come back.
– ’Rents – get lost! Well, you know that’s not really going to happen. But when your child goes off with the group, makes his waves (if he does), get scarce. Blend into the background where you can see him but he’s not constantly looking at you for approval.
– Boots are very important things. They’re clumsy, hard to walk in, and, if kept too tight they can hurt and make the child feel trapped. Show the child how to unbuckle and depressurize the boot – between every run if need be. And let him slip them off if he wants hot chocolate breaks.
– Lay on just a minimum amount of instructions – enough so they know the principles of stopping with the edges. Because at this stage, a stop is just an exaggerated turn, and they will feel, increasingly, how to use that edge.
– Do a couple of short drills – Red Light/Green Light, for example – which encourages them to gain control, especially of emergency stops, without knowing they’re receiving instruction.
– After the lesson we asked Ian if he wanted to go back out for some runs. At first, the answer was no. Reason? Sick of wearing those boots. So, with boots off he drank some juice and after about 15 minutes decided he wanted to go out and take some more runs. He closed the place down.
– Be amazed, but don’t over praise the kid. No, he’s not Bode or Lindsey, though they started at this point once. Still, watching a child go from a teetering ball of awkwardness and indecision to a confident novice who can stop, make turns, and who loves that soaring sensation in a matter of about 10 runs is amazing. And it will bring him back.
