If you’re an avid skier your kids may be interested in getting into the hobby, and you may be wondering if you can teach your kids these skills yourself rather than enrolling them in a ski school.
Enrolling children in ski schools is a serious consideration, as ski school can cost $150-$300 per day.
However, if you have plenty of skiing experience then it is possible to teach your children now to ski by yourself.
As long as you take a careful approach and read up on the subject beforehand, teaching your kids to ski not only saves you money, but is a great bonding activity and a fun way to introduce the hobby to your children.
Below, we’ll take you through how to teach your children 4 important aspects of skiing.
How To Glide And Move Through Snow
The initial step to teaching your kids how to ski is teaching them how to get their gear on and off comfortably and how to glide or move through snow.
If you live in a snowy area you can teach this at home, or you can teach your children how to do this in an open, quiet area at a ski resort.
We advise giving your kids a few hours to learn how to get their gear on and off and how to move in the snow ahead of hitting the slopes. While this does take a little time, it’s important not to rush your kids through this process.
Teach your kids how to glide forward as well as how to duck walk or sidestep to navigate terrain that is on more of an incline.
How To Pick Yourself Up From Falls
Once your kids have got a handle on gliding and moving through snow, you can move onto teaching them what to do when they fall. Some children will find this easier than others, so it’s important to be patient.
Teaching children how to get up on their skis is what helps them to become more independent, confident skiers. There are two main ways you can teach your children how to get up when they fall on the slopes.
You can even teach these skills indoors, and your children can practice these skills on a small slope.
The first method is recommended for younger children, while the second method is better suited for older children, or when the slope is a little steeper.
Method 1
Step 1: Point your skis to the side across the slope.
Step 2: Shift your weight towards the back of your skis so you’re nearly sitting on your back binding.
Step 3: Hug your knees and stand up.
Method 2
Repeat Step #1 in the above method.
Step 2: Sit on your uphill hip.
Step 3: Hold your hands out in front of you and carefully walk them towards your skis, between the ski tips and the bindings.
Step 4: When walking your hands closer to your skis, get yourself into a standing position.
Teaching your children how to recover from falls before they head to the slope is a lot easier than waiting until they fall on the slope to teach them how to recover.
If your child is under the age of 4, we recommend using a ski harness.
The handle on the harness is helpful for young children learning how to ski, as they may struggle to get up by themselves. But a harness allows you to help them get back onto their skis.
How To Ride A Chairlift
Once your kids are able to ride a chairlift, then the fun can really begin! You can spend more time on the snow, and your children can practice on tougher terrain.
When teaching your child how to use a chairlift, ensure you are using a lift that has access to easy beginner terrain and that is on the slower side.
Before you get in line for the chairlift, observe a couple of other skiers get on and explain what they are doing, so your child has an understanding of how to ride the chairlift.
We recommend informing the lift operator that your child is just learning how to ski. Normally, they will decrease the speed of the chairlift to accommodate you, and provide extra assistance to your child.
If you’re teaching a young child how to ski, use the handle on their ski harness to assist them in getting on and off the chairlift.
How To Stop
Now that you’ve taught your child how to move through the snow, and how to recover from falls, you can take them to the beginner slope to teach them how to bring their skis to a stop.
Magic Carpet surface lifts are a great tool, and if the ski resort you want to go has one, we definitely recommend your children use it to make practicing using a chairlift easier.
If you haven’t used or seen a Magic Carpet surface lift before, it’s similar to a moving walkway you would find at an airport. You shuffle your skis to get on the surface lift, and shuffle your skis to get off the surface lift.
If you would like to teach your children how to ski at a ski resort, we advise taking them to a ski resort that has a Magic Carpet surface lift.
The most effective method for teaching children how to stop when skiing is by teaching them how to stop in the shape of a wedge (like a slice of pizza!).
In fact, this wedge shape is often compared to a slice of pizza when teaching skiing to kids, as it is a fun and easy way for them to remember the shape.
To teach your children how to stop using the wedge method, instruct them to keep their knees apart, keep their toes together and pointing forward without crossing the tips of their skis.
The larger the wedge, the slower you’ll be able to stop.
Final Thoughts
We hope this article has highlighted how simple it is to teach your kids how to ski as long as you are patient and careful!
We hope you and your child have fun on the slopes, and remember to reward their first day on the slopes with a nice cup of cocoa!
Hi, my name is Jamie Andreas and I am a workaholic. I spent the best part of a decade climbing the corporate ladder, focusing on one thing and one thing only - my career.
Since then, I’ve stepped back in my job so that I have more free time to explore the wild. My mental health, clarity, and well-being have all improved by incredible amounts.
I now have a healthy work-life balance, and I want that for you too.
Life is too short to think of work only. Please enjoy my website and use it for inspiration for your next adventure. Maybe I’ll see you out there!
