How old were your children when you first took them skiing?

[Tolalola]

DS is nearly 3 and we're thinking of taking him this winter. DP is worried that he might be a bit young and is wondering if we should wait a year or two.

Anyone got good/bad things to say about taking little ones?

[NickOfTime]

around 3 - but tbh skiing with littlies is only a good idea if there is also brilliant childcare available.

they take a good few seasons before they have the stamina/ ability to withstand prolonged cold etc.

short bursts and then back inside to play is the way to go. some resorts offer a mums/tots type lesson as part of the childcare package which can be a fun way to start. others just offer tinies lessons as part of the childcare package.

it can go really well, or it can go very badly, depending on the child/ adult

fwiw, even if they don't start until they are 6/7/8, they catch up really quickly and you wouldn't be able to tell. infrequent skiing as a tot doesn't have any real bearing on ability a few year's later. it can affect their confidence in a good or bad way though, depending on early experiences!

generally they quite like apres-ski... cake and hot chocolate... though, sledging, playing in the snow, generally having fun. hot tubs. swimming. it depends what you want out of a ski holiday.

[JeMeSouviens]

DS1 was 2.5yo, first time last season. I took a mum and tot class but he refused the lesson so the guy showed Me how to get him going, and then brushed up my skiing, sweet. DS got the hang of it, but I'd have to carry him up the hill, he absolutely loves it. I can't wait for the snow to start falling this year so I can take him, although I'll have DS2 in tow too now. Hopefully he'll want his lessons this year.

So really it depends on your child, their confidence.

[CaurnieBred]

We took DD at 3.5 but she didn't ski - she was in creche and they took her out to sledge and have trips on the "lobster pot" ski lifts - however DD is on the small side; I would be very much led by your own child.

The following year we booked her into ESF Piou Piou and she enjoyed that. It wasn't until this year that she really got the hang of it though and she has already asked when she will have her next set of skiing lessons (but not going until March so will have a bit of a wait).

[orienteerer]

Wait a couple of years and you'll all enjoy it much more. Alternatively why not go for more of a winter/snowy holiday rather than hardcore skiing.

[Nettee]

We have been with ours from the ages of 6 months to just 5 and if you want them to learn to ski then I would say 5 is the earliest but to enjoy sledging and rides on the lifts then 18 months is fine

[Bonsoir]

DD did her first ski-ing lessons when she was just 5 and loved it.

We could have taken her any time previously - DP and the DSSs ski regularly - but DP felt that he had pushed the DSSs into ski-ing too young and wanted to go more gently with DD.

[youknowmeasharimo]

I took DS from 7Mo onwards. He loved it. (Didn't ski obviously!) he loved the sledging and also came skiing in a back pack (which I personally found super stressful and would not recommend)

He will ski this year, he will be 2.5YO when we go. DD will be 1.5YO and will probably have a go... not sure how that will go though.

[natation]

Our youngest started at 3 1/2 with ESF. I deliberately chose a resort where accommodation was ski-in and -out, where the ski school, child-care and lifts were all together and a 5 minute walk or 60 second ski from the apartment. We stayed in Val Cenis. Our 3 year old really loved it, but she is bilingual French/English and also quite bossy and outgoing and quite sporty so was in her element helping the English speaking children and always wanted to be first up the magic carpet and first back to the bottom. We used the child-care a few times after her ski school, it was really a great set-up.

This year she was 4 1/2 and in her class were a few English speaking children who did not get on quite so well with the culture shock of French language and French mentality. I think you just need to consider your child's personality if they are quite young, a bad start to skiing could make it difficult to return the following year.

Make sure you choose a resort with plenty alternatives to skiing, such as a luge run, indoor pool, husky rides etc.

Ouf backpack with baby and skiing, not sure if I could really do that. I'm a level 4 ESF skier, equivalent of a child nearing competition level so not quite advanced level, I like to take risks, but I think I could only manage a magic carpet green slope with a backpack and toddler.

Hope you have a great time, I absolutely adore skiing and wish I could live closer to the Chamonix valley which is our second home.

[youknowmeasharimo]

Slightly off topic of the OP but I would like to say: I DO NOT recommend taking a child / baby in a backpack skiing.

I did it for ONE DAY and found it super stressful (and I am a good skier, and stuck to easy slopes). Not the place for a baby.

Stick to the magic carpet and rubber rings!

I just wanted to make that clear, as i have said that I took my baby (then 7MO) skiing. It was, I am prepared to admit, a stupid idea.

[NickOfTime]

ds1 was in the resort daycare at 10 weeks

at 11 weeks he was being nebulised 5 x day with double pneumonia caused by rsv.

my finest hour.

had preciously only mentioned skiing experiences with kids lol, mine have been around ski hills since very tiny. just not skiing... (and never (eek) ever in a backpack - not on skis anyway)

[PatriciaHolm]

DS has been on skis since 2, but clearly not skiing properly! He would go up the magic carpet and down between someone's legs (tiring for the someone, fortunately we have lovely friends who took turns with DH!) He adores this. However, we bought him a private lesson on his 4th birthday but he flatly refused to play ball

OTOH, DD started private lessons at 4.25 and over a couple of seasons (going 2-3 times a season) can ski down gentle blues on her own and loves it.

Your DS could go to childcare which includes some early skiing/sledging etc whilst you ski too.

[Tolalola]

Thanks everyone - the idea of taking a baby skiing in a backpack sounds TERRIFYING!!!

It'd be quite a big trip for us as we live in the Caribbean, so would probs go up to Vermont or somewhere. DS is physically a complete daredevil confident and generally quite good with strangers, so ski-school may be really good for him.

Thanks for you reassurance - I'm definitely going to look into it more.

[NickOfTime]

quite common in north america for ski school to start at 5 or even 6 - you would probably only be looking at tiny tots type ski school for an hour with a 3yo. you need to pick your resort really carefully unless you intend to fork out for individual lessons...

definitely check the resort - it would be very unusual.

[fedupwithdeployment]

My DSs have been on skis since 2, and skiing since 3. Earliest ski school was at 3.4 - worked brilliantly, but was only for 2 hours a day (they took them for longer, but I didn't want to put him off).

The boys love it (chip off the old blocks , but my niece (aged 6.5) HATED it and it was a waste of time taking her. Mind you sounds like your DS has the right attitude!

[exexpat]

Started taking DS when he was 4 and DD was three months old - to start with she stayed in the creche for a couple of hours at a time between BF; I didn't get much skiing done that year. Once she was toddling DD spent a lot of time outside with sledges and in the snow play area, and she had her first ski lesson at 3. But we were living somewhere within daytrip/weekending distance of ski areas so never did more than a day or two at a time - if it's for a longer stay, really good ski-schools and kids clubs would be essential to give them a break from the snow. Some friends of mine have been going back to Club Med in Switzerland for years and always highly recommend it (not sure which resort, but I think they are all a similar set-up) and others have also raved about the Club Med in Hokkaido, Japan - do they have US operations as well?

[PowderMum]

DD1 was 7 and took to it well had annual lessons until 10. Is now at 13 a confident skier who can ski well.
DD2 was 4 and did not retain what she learnt from 1st year to second year eventually started to progress when she was 6. Now at 11 she is not as competent skier as her sister.

IMO 6 years old for proper ski school and then about 4 years of lessons, with some odd refreshers after

[jicky]

If you are looking at Vermont, the would really recommend Smugglers Notch. The skiing isn't great for adults, but the set up for teaching kids was brilliant. Also lots of great non skiing activities. Ours where 18 months, 4 and 6 when we went and loved it there.

The younger two started lessons at 3, in Big White, Canada. Started with an hour a day and built up gradually. They did retain the stuff from year to year with a few dry slope lessons over the summer. Ds3 will be 6 this winter & is pretty competent, coping with simpler blacks.

[Tolalola]

Ah jicky - Smuggler's Notch (dodgy name!) is exactly the place I was looking at - had a scope around bearing NickOfTime's comments in mind and found that ski lessons start at 2.5 there. Also there seems to be loads of other stuff for little ones to do.

[greygirl]

i'm with the 'make it a snowplay holiday with a bit of skiing' brigade. lots of hot chocolate/muffins and fun will let them enjoy the snow and want to go back.
nothing worse (IMO) than a 3 yr old in tears because they are fed up of skiing and their parents pushed them too far.
actually i have seen quite a few adults like that, and they too need a hot chocolate and a bit of sledging!

[Haliborange]

I took DD1 when she was 3 and 6 months. She was the youngest child skiing in our chalet and she loved it but then her father has skiied his whole life and I think it is in her blood. She's quite a physical child otherwise I don't think it would have gone so smoothly. She had been talking about going for well over a year by the time we went.

One day it was very cold (-18) and she cried. After that I bought her thermals and it was all good.

She went to ski school for 2 hours a day every afternoon with a group of english-speaking girls up to age 5 (we were in Austria). In the mornings on 3 days I sent her to the nursery (she asked to go). The other girls were there and they had great fun playing in the snow.

Oh, and you need to put some small chocolates in their pockets for snacks. Keeps them warm to keep on eating!

[jicky]

Definitely lots to do at Smugglers Notch ("Smuggs") but you will come back singing a really awful song by some strange pirate character - think he even did the snow reports!

Ours tried snow boarding there (at 4 and 6) and when they got cold and wet the instructors put their jackets and trousers in a drier and took them to soft play to warm up. Kids still talk about this, has been a ski holiday best ever for them.

They don't make them ski if they are cold or bored. There are regular breaks for hot chocolate/warm apple juice and our kids instructors seemed to have pockets full of jelly beans and chocolate.

[Tolalola]

Yes I, too am big on the 'only do it if it's fun' idea - I would never force DS to do somthing he wasn't enjoying (dreading school homework already!).

But...I would be quite shocked if he didn't love something snowy, either tubing, sledging, skiing, boarding or whatever, cos he's v. sporty in general and has scarily good balance. Besides, if all else fails, any playpark with tall things for him to climb or pool for him to swim in will keep him extremely happy indefinitely.

I'm going to look into flights and see what accomodation I can find...

[Kiwinyc]

My oldest started one week before her 6th birthday. We thought she'd fall over the first day, cry and never want to do it again. She did wipe out spectacularly but got right back up again and was fantastic. (She did one taster session at the Snowdome in MK beforehand to get her used to the feel of all the gear and the snow etc). She retained everything she learnt and on our second trip a year later was skiing icy reds behind her father with aplomb. (She still did ski school in the mornings)

Her younger sister was 2.5 then but she stayed in the Creche and just got taken out to play and to ride around on a sled. This season we're going at at Easter to give her the best chance for her first time - she'll be 4yrs 11mths.

[VivaLeBeaver]

11 months old, but she didn't actually ski till a couple of months before her 4th birthday. I think some/most ski schools won't do lessons until they're 3.

[onimolap]

One afternoon mucking around on the nursery slope at 3, ski kindergarten at 4 and 5, main lesson groups at 6.

Also learnt to skate from 5.

In Switzerland it is illegal to ski with an infant in a back pack, or carrying an infant at all, unless you are a member of a ski rescue team or a licensed ski instructor dealing with an emergency.