kids & x-country

Dear All,
looking for some ideas on how I might give my kids some X-country
experience.

On Feb 28, 3:33 pm, "Neil Smith" wrote:
Dear All,
looking for some ideas on how I might give my kids some X-country
experience.

A variety of resort destinations North of Toronto offer cross-country
skiing. This is one sport that provides an exhilarating winter
outdoors experience and lets you burn lots of calories. Many of the
ski areas provide x-country ski rentals, including boots, skis, poles
and lessons in one package price. There are more than 20 cross country
ski packages available for your x-country ski vacation.
http://www.400eleven.com/getaways-crosscountry.html

Coach,

I appreciate your efforts to promote skiing north of Toronto (it's my
stomping ground), but think what you're doing could be construed as
spam.

Regarding kids, I'm certified instructor and the parent of a two year
old. For kids starting out, I recommend games and activities that
they would enjoy even if they weren't on skis. For older kids this
might be frisbee football, for younger kids it could be Simon says.
Once they're comfortable and depending on their personalities, races
and scavenger hunts can be fun. Try giving older kids a digital
camera and series of things to photograph. BTW, these things work
well with adults too.

For younger ones, like my two year old. He likes it when we sing
action songs that involve jumping, running and falling down. We try to
give him fun experiences that improve his balance, as well as time to
ski like mommy and daddy as well as rest time in the pulk. It's a
challenge at this age, but way more fun that staying home.

Thanks for the suggestions and I will be in the Toronto area next year. My
kids are 6+ 9. Can you hire smaller ski's - is there caoching for kids that
age -what about paulks?
"SkiFit" wrote in message
...
Coach,

I appreciate your efforts to promote skiing north of Toronto (it's my
stomping ground), but think what you're doing could be construed as
spam.

Regarding kids, I'm certified instructor and the parent of a two year
old. For kids starting out, I recommend games and activities that
they would enjoy even if they weren't on skis. For older kids this
might be frisbee football, for younger kids it could be Simon says.
Once they're comfortable and depending on their personalities, races
and scavenger hunts can be fun. Try giving older kids a digital
camera and series of things to photograph. BTW, these things work
well with adults too.

For younger ones, like my two year old. He likes it when we sing
action songs that involve jumping, running and falling down. We try to
give him fun experiences that improve his balance, as well as time to
ski like mommy and daddy as well as rest time in the pulk. It's a
challenge at this age, but way more fun that staying home.

SkiFit wrote:
Coach,

I appreciate your efforts to promote skiing north of Toronto (it's my
stomping ground), but think what you're doing could be construed as
spam.

Well I for one didn't read it that way, at first. Then I saw his other post.

When we retired we spent some weeks staying in Toronto and making 2-3 day excursions
amongst the biting insects in the summer heat.
I think my wife must have guessed that I was looking at potential xc ski locations.
We had a road map and general tourist leaflets, but I'd have been delighted with this
web page if I'd known about it at the time.
Mike

Can you get smaller skis - for hire - classes?
"Neil Smith" wrote in message
...
Dear All,
looking for some ideas on how I might give my kids some X-country
experience.

Sorry not respond earlier, I've been on the road. There a number of
great places to ski for both kids and adults north of Toronto. In
particular, Hardwood Hills and Highlands Nordic offer Jackrabbit
programs and lessons for kids and adults. My personal preference is
for Highlands, but it is somewhat more challenging for kids and pulk
pullers as the bulk of the trail system is at the top of a large
hill. Both places also rent kids skis and pulks. Highland also
maintains a toboggan hill. Mansfield Outdoor Centre and is another
option closer to the city, it also rents skis. It runs kids programs
for schools but I don't think they do weekend lesson although I might
be wrong. Finally, Horseshoe Valley has a great trail system and has
a nice lunch area for families. They rent skis for the whole family,
but I'm not sure about pulks.

I'd personally recommend a Chariot stroller/trailer for skiings with.
You'll find much debate on this issue somewhere on this board. The
above list is not meant to be exhaustive, but merely some of my
favourite places. Feel free to email is you'd like more info.

Cheers,