What is the right age to begin teaching your kids to ski?

As a Ski School Manager, I get asked this question daily. As all parents know, every child is different. What really matters is the little one’s ability to follow simple directions and to have personal motivation. As a father of a two-, four- and five-year-old, I have kept my goal-setting low and attainable. So many parents are looking for the kids to be able to join them on the chairlift despite having no skill at all. This is selfish! They need to consider that for the kids to be able to enjoy the sport it is more important that they are having fun first, not how or where they are skiing. My wife and I are both instructors, yet have done very little teaching with our kids. We started all of our kids around age two, but really did nothing more than put them in the equipment and pull them around. It wasn’t until they were comfortably balancing that we put them on any sort of a slope. Furthermore, kids should only be expected to ski 10 minutes in duration for every year of age.

Bottom line: Make the experience fun and enjoyable. Like anything else we teach our children to do, it’s important to give continuous encouragement- and a small piece of candy or some hot chocolate doesn’t hurt either!

Editor’s Note: Scott has been a member of the Ski & Ride Schools of Heavenly for the past 19 years – 11 as an instructor and the past eight working as a Supervisor/Manager. Currently Scott is the Ski & Ride Schools Manager for Heavenly’s Boulder location where he oversees both the adult and kids’ programs.