little kids skiing

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005, Mark wrote:

Mitch Collinsworth wrote:

We found out this year that keeping 4-yr-olds skiing requires bribes
of candy about every 20 meters.

They did just make the transition from strap-on skis to sns bindings
last month. Wow, can they ski now! I'm very impressed w/ the little
kid boots from Fischer. Way better than Salomon. The Fischer's are
real boots for small feet. The Salomon's are more flimsy, like they
expect you're only going to use them for 1 year anyway. And don't
look to be as well insulated either.

They're on SNS Jr bindings now and have to have an adult put their skis
on and off. I think I'm going to get them some of those SNS snow
monster bindings for next year so thry can hopefully do it themselves.

-Mitch

Had they done lots of skiing with strap-on skis and with hindsight do
you think the strap on ski stage was useful to them ? Did it help them
with coordination or does the "shuffling" come easily for kids ?

The reality of it is that we changed more than one variable at once
here, but yes, in our case the strap-on ski stage was useful. The
differences though we

90 cm skis with strap on bindings that fit regular snow boots
.vs.
100 cm skis with SNS bindings that require ski boots

When they started on the strap-on skis at age 3, they didn't have the
coordination to do much of anything with them. When skis got crossed,
uncrossing them was a challenge that often involved falling. Then they
couldn't get up without help. At that stage my thinking was to NOT
move to longer skis until they started displaying at least the beginnings
of some basic ski skills. Plus there was the added benefit of having
warm snow boots on them, which widened the acceptable temp range and
thus gave us more opportunities to go skiing with them.

Once they started shuffling along reasonably well, uncrossing their own
skis at least some of the time, and making a reasonable attempt at
getting up after a fall, we made the move to the 100 cm SNS skis and
everything went great. This was last month just as they were turning 4.


What about towing them ? Is a pulk a necessary option just in case they
feel tired ? I remember seeing a post here about a towing belt for
uphill sections for kids. Do the runners on pulks have the right
separation for groomed trails ?

We bought pulks from Gear West a couple years ago when they were 2. We
were able to get in some nice outings using them for 2 years. We always
tried to go just after lunch when they were due for a nap. That worked
well since they would usually be attentive for about 10-20 mins, then sleep
for about an hour, then wake up for 10 mins, then start complaining.
That gave us enough time to make some tracks and get back to the car
before or not much after the complaining started. When they were 3 we
would then get the strap-on skis out of the car and they would ski the
parking lot for 5-10 mins before getting bored. Then we would pack up
and go home.

We anticipated taking the pulks with us this year as a "sag wagon" option
so they could hop in when they were "done" skiing, but that actually
never happened. Most of their skiing this year has been done right out
our backdoor, so we just make sure to keep it to 30-60 mins, which at
their pace is only a couple km's.

I saw the towing belt and am quite intrigued by that idea but our kids
are definitely not big enough to handle that yet. They'd be on the faces
in no time flat and I'd be spending all my time going back to help them
up. It might be just the thing though in another year or two.

The "runners" on our pulks do not line up with groomed ski tracks. There
really isn't anything significant enough to qualify as a runner. More
like some small ridges to help the sled track straight, and probably
to keep it from sliding off the side of a track that cants to one side.
I tried to look at all the pulks I could find before we bought the ones
we did, and I didn't see any that had real runners. The best I heard of
was Brian May who apparently tried adding some to his pulk.

-Mitch

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, George Cleveland wrote:

Skip the strap on binding stage. Our first kid had strap ons to start
with and was frustrated most of the time. As soon as we got him into
real boots and bindings(75mm) he enjoyed skiing much more and when we
put him into SNS he took off. The youngest we've kept in NNN since he
was two and he is able to keep up for 5ks now at age 7. Anything
longer and we end up linking ski poles and doing a little towing.

In general I agree, but I explained why we stuck with the strap-ons
until last month, even when the better equipment was here in the
house waiting to be moved into already, in my previous reply.


System bindings are easier to get in and out of than strap ons too,
IMBO.

No, they're VERY VERY VERY much easier to get in and out of! I am,
though, interested in seeing some of those SNS snow monster bindings
I've seen advertised. Supposedly the kids can put those on and off
themselves which would be a huge plus. Despite SNS being easier than
strap-ons, we still have to do it for them, at least at this stage.
Maybe by next winter they will be strong enough to do it themselves
and the point will be moot.

-Mitch

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 wrote:

Both of our kids are kind of oblivious while they ski or bike or
whatever. The 4-yr-old will especially toodle along looking up at the
sky mostly or kicking in the snow. They're not "skiing" per se. They
proudly *call* it skiing but they don't really care if skis are on
their feet.

Ha, we've got one of each. The 4-year-old girl is very much into
knowing where everyone is, who's leading, who's following, who she's
skiing "with", etc. The 4-year-old boy is off in a dream world. He
will ski way off ahead or way off behind everyone else and not
particularly even notice much of the time. And this is not
inconsistent with their personalities in general. Obviously the boy
is going to be like me and enjoy training alone, while the girls is
going to be like my wife and prefer to train with someone else. :-)


Fun stuff.

Yep.

-Mitch

Mitch Collinsworth wrote:
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 wrote:


Both of our kids are kind of oblivious while they ski or bike or
whatever. The 4-yr-old will especially toodle along looking up at the
sky mostly or kicking in the snow. They're not "skiing" per se. They
proudly *call* it skiing but they don't really care if skis are on
their feet.


Ha, we've got one of each. The 4-year-old girl is very much into
knowing where everyone is, who's leading, who's following, who she's
skiing "with", etc. The 4-year-old boy is off in a dream world. He
will ski way off ahead or way off behind everyone else and not
particularly even notice much of the time. And this is not
inconsistent with their personalities in general. Obviously the boy
is going to be like me and enjoy training alone, while the girls is
going to be like my wife and prefer to train with someone else. :-)



Fun stuff.


Yep.

-Mitch




Wow, thanks for all that ! I'll save this thread somewhere - most
instructive...

I'll mull it over, see how much the options will cost (knowing that if
he likes it he'll end up on "bindings" skis anyway), and put it off
until next season now I think !

As for our possible Easter weekend ski, I'm thinking of abandoning it as
the 14 day forecast is predicting a world of slush all over Québec (well
the bits that interest me anyway) ! Spring will be sprunging...