Not really a skiing *holiday* question, but a 5 y/o skiing lesson question

[Pawslikepaddington]

How did your dc's take falls? DD would (probably) be fine if she knew I couldn't see her, but if she fell with me there/in eyesight she would totally refuse to get back up again.

I have recently taken up snowboarding, just graduated to the main slope and absolutely adore it-I want to go all the time (despite sore ribs, butt and legs today!). Some of the girls on the slopes nursery slopes were dd's personality type (quite shy and a bit unsure of new things) and were doing ok and got up after falls.

I feel bad because she is eager to do it, but I know some of that may be her overhearing me talking about how good snowboarding is, and she doesn't realise you fall. But she fell learning to walk right? And got over it?

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Is she doing lessons? My dd did some lessons and didn't like it, but at least she tried.
And if they are on the bunny run they can't fall too far

I'm wondering whether to enrol her. It is on a dry slope, so if she falls it will hurt, alot!!

Hi, A five yr old will have no problem skiing if she is up for it. It is very gentle and they dont seem to hurt themselves when they fall like we do. She wont be able to snowboard though as she will be too small and light to bend the board. Most instructors dont teach boarding under the age of 10. I would take he but dont push it if she doesnt like it. My eldest skied at 3 , my youngest didnt take to it until about 6. Now 10 and 8 they are both awesome skiers and so much fun to take out on the mountain. My eldest has just started learing to board, he loves it!!

Wouldn't want her to board yet-my bailouts HURT, although am worried she is more likely to break her legs if they can go different ways . She is defo up for the THOUGHT of it, but the reality I am not so sure about! She does know that if we start a course of something then we have to see it through. Am I better splurging and taking her to Milton Keynes? Will it hurt less when she falls?

My DD was 5 when we took her for the first time over Xmas. I told her beforehand that learning will be fun but that she will also have to work hard, and that she might fall over but that when you do you just have to pick yourself up again. And that because she's only 5 she'll learn to ski really quickly, much faster than I would as a grown up. So she probably won't fall much cos she'll learn so fast. ;)

Apparently she did have tears on the first day after a fall but the ski nanny comforted her and she was ok. On a subsequent day she apparently had a spectacular high speed cart-wheeling head-over-heels wipe out... and got straight back up without any fuss at all!

Might be a bit different cos we weren't there with her, but we were v. proud of her. I honestly thought she would hate it the first time she fell over and would have a tantrum and refuse to keep going but i think the pep talk and the help from the staff and the competitiveness from of the other children (there as another 5yo girl with her) helped too.

But i think if you set their expectations it can help. They're so much lower to the ground they don't seem to get hurt either!

Do you have to pay for a whole course or can you just do a trial? At the dry slope I have taken the dc to you pay each week. TBH the children rarely seem to fall - the dry slope is slow, especially if you are light. The ones that fall do so more because they are silly at the bottom and don't fall painfully.

There are more tears about being made to side step up the slope than anything.

Have also taken the youngest for a private lesson to MK - he liked it so much better that he now doesn't want to go back to the regular dry slope. Really they like real snow!

Children also seem to find snowboarding far less painful than adults - maybe because they are closer to the ground and just more bouncy. DH visited a chiropractor on return from hols last year, ds1(8) and ds2(6) didn't seem at all phased by falling over and are keen to carry on this year, but will also keep the skiing up.

Oooh MK is where I am hoping to take dd (I am really worried the dry slope will hurt, and I have learnt in a snow dome so feel like I can't learn on snow and make her learn on plastic!). Did your dc do the snowcubs thing? It is the snow that is the main attraction for dd too I think, plus she wants to snowboard "and be all funny and sore the next day" just like mummy!

We had a talk about how she needs to get up if she falls, and as it is snow it is soft, like falling on grass , and how if she REALLY hates it she only has to go 4 times, but she balked at that and said she wanted to do 122 lessons! Which dry slope do you go to? I know they do junior club at Norfolk for £5 a go (so once she is ok with the falling we can switch to plastic and go to a snow dome as a treat!)

How strong is your DD? My DS was 5.9 when we took him skiing this year. He doesn't like things he can't do, and after the first morning wouldn't go back that day or the morning after. But after a dull time with the babies in the creche he got back on the slopes and learned very fast. I left him in ski school as I thought he would just play up if I was there. He gets really cross if he falls, especially if someone laughs, so we did a lot of talking about Great Skiing Falls We Have Done and Today's Wipeout Champion Is Grandpa.

Dry slopes are very sore if you fall.

At MK my youngest had a private 1/2 hour and the older two just free skied. It's too far to go for the snowcubs thing, so it was a one off trip. could she have a 1/2 hour then if that works sign up for 4 weeks ?

The dry slope we use is at Welwyn, much nearer!

Aaah, Welwyn is too far for us, boo! We are an hour from MK, or an hour and a half from Norwich (with the added bonus that I can board while she is being taught at MK). Seems like a big expense, but we can quite easily spend that if we meet up with her friends and their parents at the weekend once we have done lunch, toy shop and book shop, and this feels much more worthwhile!