Skiing lessons - 3yo

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We are lucky enough to have our own ski apartment in the Pyrenees, so our daughter has been on skiing holidays since she was 3 months old. She is now 3.7. This year she started saying she wanted to ski and we put her in a Snowcubs lesson for an hour at Milton Keynes, and she loved it. We go skiing next week and she is telling everyone she is going skiing too, with big girl skis like mummy's. There are magic carpets in out resorts, but parents are not allowed to use them, only instructors. The ski classes take 3 yos, but the sessions are 3 hours long. I don't know if this would be too long for a 3yo, or if I should just put her in the classes and then come and take her out after 2 hours or so.

It is not that child-friendly a resort up on the main slopes (we would like to sell the apartment, but the market just isn't shifting. So we might as well make use of the apartment while we have it!) so the classes are the only options to get her started.

Who else has got their 3 yo skiing, and how did you do it, just to give me some ideas?

Where we go they won't let them have lessons in a class until they are 4 but they can have private lessons- would that be the way to go? That's what I'll probably do for the first couple of years because they will then def have an english speaking instructor as well. DS would be fine but I suspect DD would find a class all a bit too much. It isn't a smart resort so private lessons are not too expensive but I guess it depends where you go?

I think it's a very personal decision to put an under 5 year old into formal lessons, for some it might be too long or too much to concentrate on, or too cold for a long period.

Our 3 1/2 year old skiied for the first time and got her ourson award from Val Cenis ESF. They have an area right next to the ski school meeting point / lifs which they get exclusive use of and it has a magic carpet. They have a little hut where the children take their mid morning snack (collation) so they are not always out in the cold. They can also take the children by minibus to other areas of the resort - the more able children get bused up to a bubble lift and come down Europe's longest green run (escargot) so they really get to do some real skiing and get experience of going on and off lifts. I must admit our daughter is super confident and she is also bilingual French/English (well ok maybe her English is not perfect) and acted as interpreter all week for the English children, so there was no language barrier, as Val Cenis is not a resort with a huge amount of Brits in it (thankfully).

so if your child is outgoing and the ski school is set up nicely with somewhere indoors and variety of activity, there is no reason why a 3 year old would not enojy a 3 hour ski school session.

English speaking instructor is not a problem - the ski school is English run and award-winning, many instructors are English - the Catalan speaking instructors are in demand by the Spanish, so not available for mere English people!

tvfriend, the other option is private, but it is pricey. It may be the best way though, for this year.

natation, that's interesting to hear about your 3yo. The magic carpet is in a snow garden for exclusive use of the ski school, with cafes around it, so we would be able to watch (well, whoever is babysitting the baby will!)

They wouldn't be "skiing" solidly for 3 hours. they'll probably take a break for a snack, have a play in the snow etc and if weather is foul go indoors to warm up. tbh don't hang around too close by as if they get bored the younger ones get easily distracted and tend to play to the audience. dd refused to participate in her lesson at that age but did better with us on the carpets.

Many resorts won't take them until the local school age and be prepared for extra changes of clothes in case of toilet accidents. Remember the conditions of indoors slopes are very different to the real thing so she may find it too much despite initial enthusiasm so be prepared to miss a day and go swimming or play instead.

Classes with a teacher are imo the best way to get anyone started.

Where we usually go skiing (Piedmont), they advise to have individual lessons for beginners and then join a class. I see so many 3/4 yrs old following their teachers pretty much everywhere!

But I also have to add that I've also seen children so young having emotional meltdowns, because they were either tired or scared to be left with a teacher (who are generally incredibly nice with young children) they've never seen before.

Both my dc started to ski at 5.

My Ds started at 3yrs and by the end of the week he was skiing. He did cry at first, but DP thought we should make him go into the ski school (Snow garden) and it was good to see him gain confidence so quickly.
If you think little one might get tired and too bewildered you could collect her early, like an hour and half. Depends how independent she is.

We put our 3yo in a class in Austria - was three hours too - which was just right. By the time you get a class of tots sorted out and skiing down their little hill, you need three hours. Plus they had a break, and a play around. And they weren't at all cold - the opposite, from all the exercise. My daughter struggled a bit on the first day - but who doesn't on their first day skiing? But after that she was quite happy to go. The instructors were brilliant - we could extend the course by one day at a time, so if she didn't want to continue, we weren't throwing money away. In my experience, three is the age to get them started - the little ones coped much better than the five year olds, who had already developed fear and balance problems. Go for it!

We put our 3 year old in a class (in America) - it was all day - magic carpet interspersed with indoor play time, meals, arts and crafts etc. He enjoyed it and seven years later is a brilliant skier (was very expensive though). He certainly didn't miss us .

my twins had lessons at tamworth when they were 3 (nearly 4) and found it quite hard. they are not big physically, so found manouvering on skis difficult. they had private lessons, which suited them much better.
i would say 3hrs of solid skiing is too much, but lots of messing around confidence building would enable 3 hrs to be ok.

and if she doesn't like it you can just stop.
you should be aware that doing it every day for a week will be quite intense (it is for adult beginners too remember) so she may not manage a full week.

and you need 2 pairs of ski kit in case of unavoidable 'wetness'

FWIW that's wht we did weekly lessons at tam - i felt they could be eased into it gently. might be worth considering over the summer at MK.

My DC1 started lessons at 3. On the advice of a friend who is a ski instructor we booked some private lessons as they recommended it as the only way they would learn to ski rather than just have childcare, which group lessons would provide. However although Dc1 got on ok with this she is so sociable we could tell she was missing having lots of other kids around to talk to and play with. As we were away for 2 weeks we booked her into the ESF Piou Piou club for 3 hrs per day for the 2nd week. Half of the lesson would be spent skiing and the other half playing in the snow or indoors. She had an absolute ball and although she didn't learn any more than in the first week, she came away loving skiing, making friends with little french girls and being in the snow and thinking she could ski. All I'm trying to say is it depends on your Childs nature and personality what will work for them. We've just had a week away where age 5 she was the only english speaking kid in an ESF class and apart from a wobble on the 2nd day for 5mins at drop off had an absolutely brilliant time. We also put DC2 into ski lessons aged 3 for the first time this year and as long as your aim is for them to have fun and come away thinking ski holidays are great don't worry about what they learn or don't they've got years ahead of them