Beginning skier age

Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

A bit about my son. He started walking at 9 months and is now getting
quite proficient at it. When we chase each other around the house he
can sometimes slide in his stocking feet on the laminate floor without
falling. I note that the manufacturers all make equipment for people
his size. We've been to the nearby ski hill a couple of times just to
watch and it's clear that cold will be an issue so I hope to find a nice
day in the spring for the first ski day. He certainly finds it
interesting when we watch from the car.

I searched RSA on google for this theme and found very little. If this
gets hashed over frequently, please say so and I'll sharpen up my
searching techniques.

Thanks for any input you may have.

--
Wayne

Wayne wrote:
Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

A bit about my son. He started walking at 9 months and is now getting
quite proficient at it. When we chase each other around the house he
can sometimes slide in his stocking feet on the laminate floor without
falling. I note that the manufacturers all make equipment for people
his size. We've been to the nearby ski hill a couple of times just to
watch and it's clear that cold will be an issue so I hope to find a nice
day in the spring for the first ski day. He certainly finds it
interesting when we watch from the car.

I searched RSA on google for this theme and found very little. If this
gets hashed over frequently, please say so and I'll sharpen up my
searching techniques.

Thanks for any input you may have.

I didn't start my daughter skiing until she was 4 or 5. My son never
showed any interest and he still doesn't go in for winter sports even
now. My daughter is 36 and my son is 32.

If I had to put an age on when a kid should start skiing, I'd say 4.
But, that might be too early. I've seen people here say that 1 or 2
isn't too early. The rule seems to be start when the kid is ready, or at
least expresses an interest. Don't over do, don't make it competitive,
just let things develop, don't push, have fun.

I've also read mixed reviews on the ski leashes that some parents use.
My choice would be easy slopes and held between the legs rather than
riding up the lift and then being tethered on the way down.

You will get other answers here too. Most likely good ones. Custody
battles suck. Your ex sounds like mine. Afraid of everything.

VtSkier

Wayne wrote:

Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

Our opinions are irrelevant, the only one that counts is the judge's who
makes the custody decision. Is (s)he a skier? A good one? With little
kids? Talk to your lawyer. I think you have too much to lose to even
think about taking the shrimpkin skiing this year.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ====
I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those
censorious, self-righteous people around me.

Wayne wrote:

Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

I teach kids, although not that young -- I teach mostly 4- to
6-year-olds. I also get to see a lot of 3-year-olds on skis, as well as
deal with the occasional, er, not-quite-4-year-old who gets snuck in
under the wire.

A bit about my son. He started walking at 9 months and is now getting
quite proficient at it. When we chase each other around the house he
can sometimes slide in his stocking feet on the laminate floor without
falling. I note that the manufacturers all make equipment for people
his size. We've been to the nearby ski hill a couple of times just to
watch and it's clear that cold will be an issue so I hope to find a nice
day in the spring for the first ski day. He certainly finds it
interesting when we watch from the car.

IME, skiing has more prerequisites than the ability to stand up or maybe
slide a little. It requires you to stay standing for a long time. It
requires strength and coordination, which sometimes is lacking with the
younger kids. I don't think that manufacturers really make equipment
with 19-year-olds in mind, because they just can't stay on their feet
and use the muscles long enough to do even what most people would think
of as rudimentary skiing. You're really looking at pre-skiing skills,
not skiing as you normally think of it. Very young kids can do short
periods of slopping around on skis on the flats, and as someone who
teaches kids who come from this kind of pre-skiing experience (usually
acquired at 3 years old), I think it does benefit them in more rapid
acquisition of skiing skills later on. But it wouldn't surprise me to
find that a 19-month-old simply lacks the strength and coordination to
(for example) form an effective wedge on even a very gentle grade.

There are also ways to develop pre-skiing skills off the hill, too.
When we've got first-timers, we spend some time just moving around in
the boots, to get them used to the added support and diminished
mobility. And we spend plenty of our time on skis just getting around
on the flats, too, which is important with kids. Kids will tend to try
to move on skis as they would in shoes, which is a tremendous advantage
in one sense, but it's also a drawback because they'll try to do things
on skis (for example, a crossover step) that an adult would instantly
know is not going to work -- and then they can get frustrated trying to
sort it all out.

So, in summary, I think the kid could have some fun on skis and develop
some worthwhile pre-skiing skills, but I'd advise not getting too
heavily invested in the idea of him "skiing" anytime too soon.
Remember, too, that he doesn't want to "ski". He wants to be with Dad,
and he wants to play. For young kids, their parents are the whole world
to them -- they want to be with you, doing what you're doing, but adult
activities aren't appropriate to them. That's why you get them a
Fisher-Price toy workbench and toolset, you don't hand them a hammer and
skil-saw -- so that they can participate on some level, even though
they're not up to the full-on activity. Perhaps, if you agree with that
POV and can express it that way to your son's mother, this is something
on which the two of you can agree and support each other, rather than
contending.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.

one main criteria is whether he would be scared to death or is eager and
willing. another is to make it a rewarding experience by a lot of patience
(a good ski instructor has the experience to accomplish this; fathers
usually do not).
good luck.

"Wayne" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

A bit about my son. He started walking at 9 months and is now getting
quite proficient at it. When we chase each other around the house he
can sometimes slide in his stocking feet on the laminate floor without
falling. I note that the manufacturers all make equipment for people
his size. We've been to the nearby ski hill a couple of times just to
watch and it's clear that cold will be an issue so I hope to find a nice
day in the spring for the first ski day. He certainly finds it
interesting when we watch from the car.

I searched RSA on google for this theme and found very little. If this
gets hashed over frequently, please say so and I'll sharpen up my
searching techniques.

Thanks for any input you may have.

--
Wayne

I used to teach and had some kids as young as 4. 19 months seems young
but I guess it really depends on how mobile he is. I think for the
first year or so, you probably don't need to have him ski. Doing
things like sleding or walking on ice will teach some of the skills
that he can use for skiing in a year or two. Since cold is an issue, I
think I'd work on that first. Make sure you have cloths that are warm
enough for him and get him used to being outside having fun.

snoig

In article ,
Wayne writes:
So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

I started both my girls at 2.5 years and that was a bit marginal.
At that age, one run on the bunny slope and they are ready for hot chocolate.
4-5 year old is a lot more appropriate.

bruno.

"Wayne" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking
for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what experience
skiing can bring to your life.

If it would help your case by waiting until age 3 or 4 or even 5, I'd say
wait. He will not get much out of the sport at 19 mo. If it turns out to
be a scary and miserable experience at that young age, he may not want to
try it until he's old enough to be interested in snow boarding and then
you've lost him to that gig. I'd get ski videos to watch and get him
interested in the sport by watching them. Then hit the slopes later.

My $.02.

Good luck. Sorry to hear about custody battle.
--
Marty

Wayne wrote:
Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son.

My boy started as a one year old - the girl about four.

Multiple things going on. The kid (if he becomes a skier) will always be
proud that he started as a one year old. But he won't learn anything
useful. He might like the thrill of sliding; he might hate it, but he'll
be between your knees almost certainly - the ability to walk doesn't
translate to the ability to hold skis in position. But I did drag the
boy repeatedly up a rope tow and slide down with him - after the first
uphill he loved it and didn't want to stop. But we live in the mountains
- If the family goes skiing daily I think it makes a difference in when
to begin.

If you're a ski country dweller, then skiing early makes more sense than
if you're a visiter; for a visiter about 4-5 in the snow-school makes
sense IMO. I think you have time. If you think the judge believes skiing
is unimportant or possibly dangerous I wouldn't even bring it up.

Wayne wrote:
Hello all,

I'm a 43 year old guy who has been skiing since I was about 5. I am
in
the middle of a custody fight for my 19 month old son. One point of
contention is my desire to take him skiing this year. So I'm looking

for opinions about starting skiing very young and also what
experience
skiing can bring to your life.

I started my boy when he just turned 4. I waited until April (didn't
want cold to big a real problem) and only had him on the slope two
hours a day for three days. Each year I increased his time and days.
His third year (one trip per year) he was on blues and some blacks and
by the time he was 7 he was everywhere.

I think it is important that he has fun from the beginning. He is now
12 and an excellent skier dispite getting only one trip per year. Good
luck.

Fred