Kitting out a 4 year old for skiing - your top tips please!

[fridayschild]

DS1 and I are booked to go skiing in February half term. He's never been before and it's ages since I've been. Anyone got any bright ideas on what he'll need to have and where I can get it relatively cheaply? Alternatively, is there a Thomas the Tank engine brank of ski wear

We're hiring boots in the resort, so they can be changed if they don't fit. There is a DS2 as well, so if I have to buy rather than borrow, hopefully he will wear the ski clothes in two years' time.

Is there a Trespass shop near you? There is one in my local mall and I went in there today for waterproofs, saw kids ski wear. Am in SE London.

Trespass outlet stores (like at Street) , got jacket and salopetets for £18 ! Also TK maxx woirht chekcing form time to time (dd last year's jacket was £6) and H and M/Tchibo which usually comes out in October. for ds 1 get a jacket and salopettes or ski suit if it is likely to be very cold (high altitude or Canada/Norway). Wear long sleeve cotton tops, fleece and thermal layers underneath whcih can be removed if needs be. Sunglasses essential and goggles if weather is bad but you can buy them inexpensively over there. Good gloves - waterproof and cosy - a must, mittens better for lo's than gloves, long socks (again buy there if needs be), waterproof thermal snow boots (nb not wellies) and we found thermal fleece neckwarmers good for keeping the chill out without having to fasten the jacket all the way up around the neck. Keep an eye out for Tchibo , you will be able to collect a lot of these things relatively cheaply between September and Christmas.

If you're near/in Surrey there is a great second hand skiing shop in Cranleigh - 'Snowstorm' - it has just opened so if you're interested I can get you a telephone number. It's run by a friend of mine and has some seriously great bargains.

I'm in SW London so close enough to Surrey - does it have a website?

And thankyou LIZS, all coming back to me now! Will sort out some time to look in the autumn.

Still hoping for suggestions re That Train....

Hi - no, not yet. They have literally been open for about a week. If you want I can give you some details?

Also sign up for Lidl and Aldi newsletters then you'll be notified when their ski clothes etc are on sale. My advice is to go on the 1st day they are available to get the right sizes. Out here in Austria lots of the locals buy from there and you could get all the items listed by Lizs.

hth

Deb

tk maxx had some jackets and snow boots in yesterday ! Trespass stores have a half price sale atm

I kitted mine out from ebay. got some very nice salopettes for £8. check out freecycle too. kids grown out of this stuff so quickly there's tonnes of second hand stuff flying around - most of which people want to find a good home - mention it to all your friends and I bet you'll have an offer of somthing.

TK Maxx brilliant for ski stuff!
Decathelon is good too.

You will need to buy a neck gator too (like an old snood thing - tube of wooly fabric) - our ski school wouldn't take them without it.

TK Maxx were good last year for all the goggles/gloves/ski socks etc etc too.

Tchibo next week girls] and boys plus snow boots etc.

helmets off ebay. I'd start looking now as the prices really goes up during the season.

I wouldn't buy a helmet if it's your first time, you can rent them along with ski hire. In fact I think some places automatically issue them to children as part of the hire cost.

what about seeing my thread further down, why don't we all swap/pass on stuff that our kids have grown out of??

Hi fridayschild - I have some ski clothing - what age? I was going to ebay it.

Oops - read the thread head again - 4.
I have a green jacket and trousers for a 5/6 year old. You can have them for p+p but they may not be to your taste or the right size. I found that a ski suit was great for my children but I always had a separate jacket/trousers as spare or for when not skiing.

Some schools hold 2nd hand ski/sports equipment sales. If you're in SW London, you could try Kings and Wimbledon High. They both had one last year (around November IIRC).

I wouldn't buy a helmet, either. Cheaper to hire because they'll probably have grown out of them next year.

BHS do nice ski stuff now too, but obviously not cheap cheap as it's new.

I got jacket and trousers for DD2 in TK Maxx last year, not cheap but branded and considerably cheaper than in Snow & Rock or wherever.

Make sure he has 2 pairs of gloves at least, one for morning and one for afternoon, because they do get wet.

2 pairs of gloves is a very clever idea, thank you

Decathlon. At Surrey Quays 5 mins walk oif that from Jubilee line station, so easy to get to from central london. French company, all those "Quechua" clad French kids on the slopes are Decathlon wearers. Salopettes for 3 year old £6 last year. Fantastic boots for £6 too. Have web site. Think ther's one in Warrington too?

Some good stuff on this site

At all costs, keep them warm!!! If they're cold, you're all stuffed!
I would recommend on-line shopping for the accessories, such as ski ties (stops them falling all over the place when being carried, although if your dcs are anything like mine there'll be no danger of them carrying anything for themselves!), boot carriers etc.... I would say that those round the neck glove tie/ribbon thingies are a must - and even my 8 and 10 year old agreed to wear them as it was skiing - because if they lose a glove halfway up a mountain, again, you're stuffed.

Btw, TKMaxx has a fair number of jackets at the moment, but virtually NO trousers! Hundreds for men, but not kids. Good idea to hold out for salopettes with a zip on the leg for better fit over the boot. Also, inner linings to help prevent snow from going up the leg - same for jackets. Sorry if I'm stating the bleeding obvious.

Pricey though Hunker .

Kids' snowboots @ Lidl this week

this site has some bargains for all the family too !