Is 3 too young for Ski School?

[HarrassedWorkingMother]

We are going skiing in Tignes in Jan - our youngest is nearly 3 & a half but still gets cold very quickly. Can anyone recommend whether we should put her in ski school or just book her into the chalet creche?

Let her ski.

Don't go for skischool if you have the elast doubt - it will be cold and she'll have to stand around waiting her turn. most 3yr odls simply do not have the stamina and attention span for lessons. Book her into the creche and maybe look for a ski kindergarten package locally if she seems up for it - they may offer shorter, more play orientated sessions after lunch (when it is warmer and the busier lessons have finished) - or a private one, or take her for a slide yourself in the snow garden if you are confident.

French ski school has a creche attached to it - so if the kids are getting cold they can go in to warm up. However they do need a little bit of French b/c all the tuition is in French. Things like stop, start, please, thank you, left, right, start et al

Why not put them in for a day see how it goes and then take it from there. Our dd was too young at 3 but by the time she was nearly 4 it was another story.

I recommend a short private lesson at the beginning of the week to see how she gets on and then take it from there. She is probably too little to really ski properly anyway but one to one she can have some fun hopefully depending on the instructor. Our 3 year old had a great instructor and had fun going "fast" but when he was 4 he got cold on the nursary slope trying to learn properly and hated it.

DD was 3 when she went to ski school in Tignes. She went to the Evolution Deux one and enjoyed it. They have short lessons, about an hour I think. Lots of shuffling through hoops. If I remember rightly there is a little hut in the middle of the snow garden where they can go in if they get a bit cold. But with so much shuffling I think they stay warm.

Ds1 was 3.2 when he first went to club piou piou with esf. We weren't going to send him to ski school but once he saw it he was desparate to go!

They had a lovely kindergarten area with indoor activites and even beds for the kids who got cold or tired.

He didn;t do a massive amount of "skiing" but they did a lot of shuffling and bits of sliding while on their skis.

Totally depends on the child. We just got back from a week in Champoluc, DD2 is 3yrs 7mths and although interested in following in the ski trails of her older 6yo sister, there was no way she wanted to try skiing herself yet. The one (lovely sunny warm) day we took her up the mountain she whinged constantly was v. trying. BUT we saw a 4 yr being taught by her parents and a couple of 3yo's being taught (private lesson) by instuctors - which was v. cute and they were quite into it.

DD2 keeps saying she will ski next yr - when she is 4 and when she is old enough to go to school. So we'll try her then, but i also think its a bit like potty training - the older you wait the faster they get it.

DD1 started at nearly 6 last yr and was doing scary reds in her second week of skiing this yr at nearly age 7.

ds3 had 1 hour private a day plus 1/2 day creche at that age. After a week he moved to 3 to 1 lessons for an hour in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Whatever you pick be prepared to be flexible - one day we dropped the creche bit as he just wanted to watch cartoons in the apartment. Shame for me to watch the amazing powder from the window, but it was meant to be be his holiday as well.

Our youngest started skiing on her 3rd birthday and loved it but having been skiing at 3 and 4 she is still not really able to ski (ie. do turns). This year at just 5 I think she will be ready for skiing proper, rather than just sliding through hoops etc. However she enjoyed being on skis at 3 and so if the group size is small your DD might enjoy it. Invest in a balaclava to fit under her helmet. My DD got very cold at La Rosiere last year but was much happier as soon as the balaclava was purchased. We booked a ski lessons plus lunchtime creche option for our two children last year. This gave us enough time to ski in the mornings and we skiied with the children in the afternoon.

Further to my last post I've just remembered DD was only 3 3/4s on her second skiing trip so still very young. This year she will be just 5 so I expect she will find it a lot easier.

We go with a large group of friends with children of all ages. Various parents have tried to start their kids at various ages, now with the benefit of hindsight we agree that it always seemed to "click" and start skiing properly and learning quickly at about 5.

let her ski.Lots of layers and good gloves and crash helemt with snood.Easy access trousers for going for a pee.And use googles instead of glasses as they stay on better and if clipped to helmet,wont get lost.
They will learn herring boning and walking up hill,which keeps them really warm(i remember in the the dim and distant past,how hard it was) DS1 was 3 and he loved it. Never complained about the cold,infact he was always too warm with the effort.

3 is fine. Just keep her well wrapped up ... and check she is happy and ok on first day . Me 9 yr old started at 3 in Frach ski school and cried cos they all spoke French but by 4 he was skiing well and now at 9 yrs he is faster than me and very good. !!

Don't do it! We put DD2 into ski school at 3.5 (with her big sister and a friend so she wasn't on her own) and she lasted 1 day. Refused to ski the rest of the week, refused to go to ski school the following year but skiied with DH and enjoyed it. This year has said she'll do ski school but now the holiday is approaching, she's getting nervous so we'll see how it goes.

I think it's much too young and I really wish we hadn't done it when she was 3.

3 is the absolute bog standard non-eyelid batting age to start - go for it