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Original poster

You know those skiing harnesses for using with a little one skiing?

17 replies

Wallace · 03/03/2013 17:20

Could you get away with using a back pack thing with a lead?

OP posts:
LIZS · 03/03/2013 17:23

Guess it depends how competent a skier the lo is but I think a proper harness is two handed so you can adjust balance and more steerable. you wouldn't really be able to give cues , to turn for example, through a backpack.

trixymalixy · 03/03/2013 17:40

We took a little life backpack thinking it would help us with DS, but it didn't work well. It was too short.

Original poster
Wallace · 03/03/2013 18:15

Thanks. Ds3 is only just 2 and hasn't been skiing yet, but I saw one on ebay and was wondering.

Good point about the cues to turn (like reins on a horse I guess!) and ISWYM about the length.

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Original poster
Wallace · 03/03/2013 19:04

Just had another look at the ones on ebay and they only have a long lead, not reins.

I shouldn't even be looking because we are not planning to start him skiing til next season anyway (but happened to be looking at a teeny tiny pair of 67cm skis - trying to convince myself that if I get them I will put them away til next season...)

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bigTillyMint · 03/03/2013 19:29

Wallace, I would just wait until next year and see how he is then. It would also be much more sensible to just hire the skis as they have to be the right size for his height and you don't know how tall he will be, plus they might only last for one year.

I personally do not like the idea of skiing with a child on reins - sounds like a recipe for disaster. I have never seen anyone using them in 15+ years of skiing (but admitedly we go to a small French resort)

trixymalixy · 03/03/2013 19:34

My ski instructor recommended skiing with kids in between your legs at such young ages when I asked him about taking my 3 year old on the nursery slopes.

Original poster
Wallace · 03/03/2013 20:07

The skis on ebay are already more than I want to pay, so I will wait til next season. His birthday is November so the plan is to get him some for his birthday. We will just get cheap second-hand ones and sell them on when they are outgrown (when he out grows them in the shed we have a pair of 92cm, a couple of pairs of 100, then 104, 120, 137, and 150s - the benefit of being the youngest of 4 childrenGrin)

We buy second-hand rather than hire because we are lucky enough to live near one of the Scottish ski resorts. He is desperate to get skiing like his big brothers and sister, and loves to shuffle around on his plastic skis.

Dh started ds2 skiing by skiing with him between his legs (ds1 ands dd were a bit older when they started), so I'm sure he will do the same again. I thought reins sounded quite handy for when he gets the hang of it - in fact I wish I had some for 6 year old ds2 so I could keep up with him Grin

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DaisyFitz · 04/03/2013 11:01

www.nippergrip.com/

Our friends have one for their 4 year-old. I'm about to buy one! :)

Piffpaffpoff · 04/03/2013 15:05

I have a nippergrip, excellent, and because there are proper handles on it, it is dead easy to haul them up when they fall over and also to keep a tight hold when on a poma or t-bar tow.

(I too have a wide range of eBay skis and boots in the garage waiting to be grown into!)

MusieB · 04/03/2013 16:07

Our DD started skiing when she was 3.2. To begin with we skied with her between our legs (held up with ski poles across her chest and under her arms). This is great for getting them started but they tend to lean on the ski poles and not really take their own weight. Once she had got the hang of it we moved onto using a harness with reins, which enabled her to develop a proper stance and also begin to learn to steer .... but gave us the reassurance of being able to stop her or slow her down when necessary (she was a total speed freak even then).

We found the edgy wedgies (a clip to hold the ski tips together) quite useful at that stage.

Original poster
Wallace · 04/03/2013 16:38

Thanks, I htink we have an edgy wedgie type thing somewhere. The nippergrip looks excellent, I will speak to dh about whether he would like a harness (for ds, not himself Wink) But I think it would be good for me as I'm not as strong as dh.

I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but are there any good websites to buy small skis, helmets etc?

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Grumpla · 04/03/2013 17:34

Aw! The little kids in that video are so cute!

My DH is a non-skier sadly, maybe I will persuade Nanna to come with me and DS1 one year Smile

MusieB · 05/03/2013 10:17

Muddy Puddles is good for ski kit for tinies and I think they have a sale on at the moment.

Original poster
Wallace · 05/03/2013 15:56

Thanks - I already ordered a Didriksons jacket for £20 from Muddy Puddles. In fact I ordered two because I ordered black by mistake instead of blue Blush I alos got a pair of Spotty Otter down mittens for a fiver from littletrekkers!

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Piffpaffpoff · 05/03/2013 18:05

(....dashes off to Muddy Puddles.....)

LemonEmmaP · 05/03/2013 18:49

We've got one of those Nippergrips - we used it when DS2 was 4 and again when he was 5 with reasonable success. I have a couple of videos but have no idea how I could share those with you. This year I took the NG but DS had finally grasped skiing and so we didn't need it, although it could have been useful for getting on and off chairlifts I guess. I will probably look to sell ours if you were interested.

As for websites, we bought several things from Raindrops a couple of years ago and found them to be good.

Original poster
Wallace · 06/03/2013 09:13

Ooh I am certainly tempted!

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