how soon can we go skiing?

[fridayschild]

DH does not ski and I canot wait to go again, DS1 is going to be my excuse really, how old should he be before I take him? It has to be said that if the boy doesn't think it's fun there's not much point in taking him.

He will be 4 next April so I think 2007 is too soon really, but how about rising 5 for a first skiing trip?

[LIZS]

I'd say rising 5 would be a much better bet all round. However , if you are happy to just have a snowy holiday with dh looking after him and playing in the snow while you get some skiing in , then you could go this season. They develop a lot of strength and coordination between 4 and 5 and it can make a big difference. If you try him skiing this year (and many ski schools would consider him to young for lessons until 4 or 5 anyway) and he doesn't take to it , for whatever reason - tired, bored, cold, away from mummy/daddy etc -, you will not enjoy yourself and probably never hear the end of it from dh ! Your ds sounds a similar character to dd who would not ski in February at 4 1/2 but did so happily 6 weeks later ! The difference was amazing but it just had to be on her terms and we'd endured several attempts at her enjoying snow and skiing over the years.

[anteater]

We will be taking our 4.5 year old dd2 on her first ski holiday in Feb. As the youngest of 3 she is up for the challenge.. where dd1 would not have been at that age.
Only prob is where..
dd2 will need adaptive child care + ski school
DP demands a pretty resort with few surprise (ACL torn this year)
DD1 and ds1 want a progresive ski school
And I am happy anywhere..

[prettybird]

Rising 5 would be better than next year.

Our friends who are ski instructors didnt want our ds to start until he was at least 4 (birthday is September, so he was 4.5) - and even then only if he was well co-ordinated and (interestingly) not tall. If he had been, they would have said wait another year.

He enjoyed it last year and then wasn't so happy this year (a few problems with the ski school, which bumped him down to the aboslute beginners again, so he was bored. Bumped not becaseu he wasn't at the right level, but becasue one kid was "above" his lvel, but couldn't, age wise go in to the next classes, so they geared the class to him ) But it all came good, ironically via the ESF "class" (come creche) that he had been resisitng going in to in the aftenoons, and then we had a fabulous last day with him playing on the nursery slopes.

Looking forward to next year now, when he should make the transition on to most blues and maybe one or two reds. (he'll be 6.5 then)

[fridayschild]

I think this confirms my suspicions, we will wait a bit till he is rising 5

and he is TALL (eh?) but what would I know, I only do the black runs in andorra

thanks all!

[prettybird]

The tallness thing I think is to do with co-ordiantion and a higher sense of gravity. If your ds is well co-ordinated and generally good at physical things, I'm sure he'll be fine!

[kitegirl]

I'd say give it a go - you won't know if you don't try. My DS1 will be 3 this winter and we'll put him on skis when we go to Val d'Isere in March. In between his daddy's legs, if he hates it, we'll wait another year. I know people who started as soon as they walked. Not on their own obviously but sliding with their dad/mum on bunny slopes.

[mckenzie]

we took DS when he was 3 and he 'skied' between our legs. He thought it was fantastic! Loved the lifts too. You can't be on the slopes for too long when they're that age but as another poster said, if you dont mind it being a holiday in the snow with a bit of skiing rather than a skiing holiday then go now.

[LunarSea]

Rising 5 shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep your expectations reasonable. Check out what the ski schools where you're going do though - you'll find some, especially in France, where they don't do classes for under 5's.

Under 5 is definately possible by the way if they're confident and well balanced/co-ordianted. ds is only just rising 5 and has been skiing (initially in a very limited fashion obviously) for over 4 years! Well, more just a little gentle sliding being towed around to start with, but he skied down from the top at our lovely quiet Canadian resort at 2 and a half! Pics of ds skiing - first one is at 10 months, even the most recent one is younger than your ds will be.

[fridayschild]

sooo cute lunar Sea, so you have him down for the GB team I hope....

[nicoloola]

We took our ds last Feb - he was 4 last April. He went into ski school with a friend who had been 4 in Jan. His friend loved it, but he didn't - he did 2 days and enjoyed them, but that was enough. He liked ski-ing with one to one attention - mine, dads or ski-instructor. It hasn't put him off and he's dying to go with us at Christmas.

[spagbol]

Turning 4 is usually fine providing he's not of very nervous disposition. Go to a Kinder Hotel - really really brilliant for parents. They have a site (google as I don't know how to do links).