Starting Them Young - Ski at Three

I am often asked whether a guest’s child is 'old enough' to ski and the ages vary in relation to this question. In terms of my view, it will depend of course on the child, but typically the age of three seems to be the ideal starting point. At three they are generally strong enough to ski, or at least find their feet on the nursery slope or garden (let them become Hans Klammer another year). Some parents do seem to want more, but we would suggest at it is important at this age just to let them get their balance, confidence, and practice snow plough stop and turns and most importantly have a smile on their face.

Some parents we know worry about starting them so young, but our experience is that it makes a huge difference as the time they spend on the skis at this age seems to give them a natural balance that is hard to gain at a later age.

The most important point here would be to make sure they are dressed well and I hve given some tips on a previous blog below. So assuming they are properly dressed and prepared, at the start you may still want to be prepared for a few tears in respect of separation anxiety, but this is normal. Having seen all techniques in cases where the child is initially upset, the one that we believe seems to work best, is the ‘drop and go’. It may sound slightly callous, and we are not saying some support and assurance is good, but this said, we would advise on avoiding too much fussing and move away relatively quickly. Certainly where the parents, or the operator ‘fusses’ it seems to disturb the child for longer periods, as well as make it difficult for the instructors trying to settle all the children. We often go back on the first day to check children (without them seeing of course) and in the cases we do we have always found that even the most hysterical child, within 10 minutes of the parents or operators staff leaving them, has settled in with the other children and is joining in the ski training. Contrast this to the fussing parents or overzealous operators where children often just won’t settle for a long time, if at all!