10 Tips for Skiing with toddlers

I’ve been skiing from a very early age. I remember wooshing down the slopes at Cooper Mountain in Colorado. Getting blown off the trails at Breckenridge in a storm. Spending an hour in a storm on a chairlift in Buffalo huddled with my dad when I was 6. We skied Winter Park, Copper, Keystone, Arapaho, Aspen, Vail and Loveland in Colorado. Heavenly, Alpine, Squaw, Rose and Northstar in Tahoe. When I look back on the best days of skiing I’ve had in my life my dad was there with me. Whether I was 3 or 30.

This year I’m super excited to be getting my son up on skis for the first time. My friend Kevin Day who lives in Incline Village, NV with two boys, 5 and 3, who shred like pros has been an inspiration. He started his boys early and often and now they spend every winter weekend on the hill. Can’t wait! Here are our top 10 tips for getting your kid on the snow for the first time.

1) Start them Early

18-24 months seems to be a good time to introduce the concept, preferably on a magic carpet.  If outings are frequent, a child around 2 can ride a beginner chairlift with parents. -Kevin

Below is video of my son’s first outing to Mt. Rose Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe. They have a great magic carpet

2) Dry Land Training

Skiing on snow is a lot of new things all at once, and it can be kind of overwhelming. You’ve got the snow suit, the mittens, sun glasses, boots that they want to rip off constantly. Then the new place and all the people are super distracting. Add to that the things you strap to their feet that make it hard to walk and you’re looking at a meltdown.

Before we took our boy up we strapped the skis on him and let him walk around the yard and get used to the mechanics and feel of having them on and having to do things differently to get around. Then when we got to the snow the only new thing was the slipperiness of the snow.

3) You don’t need much of a hill

Ski resorts, like Mt. Rose where we took our son, usually have nice bunny hills with magic carpet conveyors to get you to the top. All you really need though is a slight downhill and preferably a dead flat patch of groomer. Rose has all of this, though when Ski School is in full swing it can be kind of a mess. Just walk along with them to get them familiar with the idea of sliding and gliding, then give them a ride between your legs while holding them up to give them a taste of the thrill of skiing. The goal is not to get them skiing on their own, just to get the feel for the basic mechanics of skiing, and learn how much fun it is.

4) Be patient

When they get overwhelmed they get scared and just want to go inside. That’s ok. Better to get no experience than a bad one. The more positive vibe thy get from you and the whole experience the better. If it doen’t work out, jut let it go. It’s easy living in south Reno and Skiing at Mt. Rose since it’s only a 20 minute drive. If you live farther, just don’t expect much and be prepared to bail.

5) Quit Early

It’e better to pry them away from the snow than max them out. If you leave before they’re ready, then you’ll condition them to want more. The alternative is to let them get too tired then they’re unhappy and have a negative association with skiing.

6) Excitement is Contageous

You can hear in the video above my dad hooting and laughing and making a big deal of it all. Part of that is because that’s just the way my dad is. Part of it is because he knows that kids take cues from us to make sense of what’s going on. If you as a parent exaggerate the fun and excitement of the experience, they won’t be able to help themselves.

7) Toddler Ski Gear

Toy skis and snow boots offer no ankle support, so a toddler will not be able to effectively ski on their own with this setup.  The toy skis are useful for getting the child accustomed to the idea, but in order to progress they will need a regular ski, boot and binding setup. -Kevin

For skis we used the Lucky Bums Kids Beginner Snow Skis. Kids want poles as soon as they see you using them, but they don’t need them at all for a few years. So either don’t get them, or just set them aside before they are seen. The skis are simple plastic boards with some fish scale on the bottom. The bindings are plastic with nylon straps that are fairly easy to get on. They hinge in the front like a snowshoe binding. They’re not performance skis and aren’t intended to be really skiable. At most, I expect we’ll ba able to hike in them like snowshoes, and, like in the video, take a few runs with me.

8) Hard Gear

Once the child is comfortable with the idea and using “hard” gear, either buy a harness or make one using webbing.  We made harnesses using about 15 feet of webbing tied in a loop.  Small loops were used for the child’s arms, then connected across the chest with a caribener.  The harness is key until the child can stop his or herself, and begins to recognize the fact that there are other skiers and boarders moving around quickly and that they need to avoid obstacles. -Kevin

9) Safety and Awareness

When the child begins skiing on their own, it’s important to constantly remind them to look uphill, not move erratically and don’t dart out from jumps, etc without looking to make sure they won’t wind up in another skier’s path. -Kevin

10) Endurance

Take breaks for snacks, hot chocolate, etc. and don’t expect to be on the slopes all day in the very beginning.  Surprisingly, a 3 year old can actually ski all day and have fun with a few breaks.  -Kevin

The video below is Kevin’s boys shredding at Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico.

More info about skiing with toddlers

Toddler Snow Pants

For warmth we had him in his Patagonia Snow jacket and pants. But since you’re always picking them up you octen expose a bare tummy so somthing like the Patagonia Snow-Daze Bib Pant or a one piece snow suit would be better.

Baby Sun Glasses

You’ve got to make them wear sun glasses. The glasses he’s wearing are Julbo Looping 3 Sunglasses – Spectron 4 Baby – Toddler. It’s hard to get him to not pull them off. He has to be distracted. So we stick them on him right before the fun starts and make sure he knows we’re wearing sunglasses too, so it’s cool. The snow reflects a lot of light back up into your eyes, so you can’t let them spend too much time without eye protection.

Toddler Snow Boots

The boots the boy in the first video is wearing are the Kamik Snowbug 2 Cold Weather Boot. These are good because they have a well insulated upper that is really easy to slip onto his foot. The velcro strap is not super secure, but is easy to close and comfortable for him. The rubber lower is sturdy and protects his toes when I strap the skis on. If he falls forward, he comes out of the boot. But it isn’t a struggle to get them back on.

I hope these tips are helpful in getting out and enjoying skiing with your kids. Please post a comment if you have great tips for teaching kids to ski that I missed.

-Mike