Just thought i would throw myself into the fray and get my intro out of the way. I'm a boarder due to mother nature...can't keep my skis together...but i still try the skis on every once and awhile. I'm a regular at the shoe. My five year old son and i spend as much time as possible there. His first year skiing, i will let you know if i survive the teaching years Hope to se you all on the slopes!

Welcome. I have a 6 yr old boy. Best advice I can give is to get him in a private lesson. Our son doesnt like listening to us all that much but he took right to the instructor.

TLine has one of the best kids programs I have seen. An hour was like 50 bucks. Best cash I have spent.

Welcome!

I dropped my 6 year old in ski school last year for a 1/2 day lesson. And bam! they made him a skier! By the end of last year he could pretty much ski with me on most terrian.

Put a brain bucket on the litte guy and get him going. Target has ski helmets for $20 that are not half bad. Instant ski partner!

Take advantage of it this year as most places allow 6 year olds to ski free with a paying adult. My son is now 7 so I started the addiction now I must pay for it!!

Thank you all. I started day one to teach him and by afternoon i was done. Next day plopped him in ski school and i hit the mountain. now he is doing great made it down the mountain last weekend for the first time, had a blast. still needs a little more time on the bunny. By the end of season he will probably out ski me

Welcome, kimmie. Great to have you aboard!
While I did not start skiing until age 29, I started all my kids at about 3-4. Now, 38 years later, I have two boarders (choose not to ski) and one skier (can board and monoski)...and a daughter-in-law skier and son-in-law skier....++++ 2 grandkids skiers...more on the way when old enough.
As for teaching the kids...IMHO ski school is the best bet, especially muliple days. And with my youngest child I used the "ski harness" when we skied together after classes and found it a great teaching tool. Child can ski in front of you on his/her own, you can voice instructions about turning and assist by pulling on the rein attached at the child's hip, or you hold the speed down by pulling on both reins.
Again, welcome.
The Colonel

ski harness? I think i have seen some of those on the mtn. thanks for the tip, will definitely look into it!

Cool. Welcome. Starting to be several of us F'burg, Stafford and spoty folks on the board. Maybe we should all meet at coffee house downtown sometime and bore each other with ski pictures and storys. Better yet meet a Tline bar after lifts close for a beer before the drive home. I'm a skier and My son (12 alomost 13) is a boarder. He has progressed steadily with lessons and time on slope. I really can't remember when he started, seems like forever. Last year he was hitting black diamonds with confidence and some of the nicest turns I've seen a boarder do. He is still working on the terrain park. He makes small jumps and can do simple rails. Our biggest problem is time on slopes. Between work and school finding time to get to slopes can be difficult. Although my wife stopped by my office a couple days ago where I have a pic of my son on his board. She picked it and said, "you know, I never see Sam more happy than when he is boarding. You guys need to go more." Yes! I don't remember where I was going with this but I guess the moral of the story is if you want you kid to progress lessons and time on slopes is the key!

I'm enjoying this thread since it was hijacked into a kid skiing thread . I'm also very interested in having my 5-yo son love skiing, and am afraid if *I'm* his sole teacher, that I will teach the love right out of him (that parent patience thing...).

short story:
on some kind of skis every winter of his life, even if it was just in the living room or the back yard on those plastic xc skis. snow=fun; sleds=fun; skis=fun

a few evening walk-abouts on the singletrack trails in the state forest on those plastic xc skis

3-4 sessions at Whitetail's Kids Mountain Camp, which he didn't love, and didn't progress very much (a difficult student)

last day of last season using this ski leash. Big smiles, had fun, good for only 3-4 runs.

yesterday at Whitetail, on the leash, had a lot of fun, laughing whole time, bored or tired after 5-6 beginner runs (I'm happy our passes are already paid for the season for this reason...). Likes to go fast, but doesn't seem near ready to turn and stop himself.

My next plan is to unhook the leash at the bottom of the beginner runs each time and let him go a bit and see what happens. I also want to try a private lesson.

Any advice any care to give would be well received, thanks

Just make sure you get a real children's teacher for the private lesson. This is critical!! And leave them alone.
The Colonel

Great idea to get Stafford, the 'burg and spotsy skiers together! I live in Stafford and ski T'Line and Whitetail with spouse and 4 children (20, 16, 12, 9). Some ski and a few board. It would be great for the kids to meet each other. Then, they can enjoy the slopes together. I'll organize a gathering. Anyone interested?
Also, the Fredericksburg Ski Club meets monthly. Great group of people, but need more families. Maybe we can "crash" their next meeting. They'd love it!

meeting up sounds great, im just outside of the park. or weekends im at the shoe..let me know when and where, would love to meet other families. Aidan has gone to ski school 5 times this season and has a faorite instructor--name is Randy. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL he knew when the kids lost interest, got tired, whatever,and he UNDERSTOOD. Got them off the skis for a few minutes played in the snow, got them back on and they were ready to go. Picked up the harness, can't wait to try it wednesday when we go up. Anyone ever try the ski tips? I guess they are supposed to hold the "ski tips" together. Saw them in the store and wondered at the viability.

Wow, a couple of "local" folks. I'm in the metropolis of Reva which is a Ma and Pa grocery and road sign on Rt 29 south of Culpeper. There are quite a few skiers from the "burg" area. Clay is from Stafford and he has a place where I do at t-line. Then there is Steve (skibumMSP) from the burg area and does the rusty thing at the nut. Both of them are avid with the sport.

How old is your young one? I was curious cuz it depends on where he/she is, developmentaly, as to what you could use to enhance skiing.

I love kid skiing threads, since I think skiing has got to be one of the best (multi-generational) family activities ever. I take ski vacations with my kids and my dad, and we all have a blast - what could be better?

My two older boys were on skis at age 3. I totally agree with the advice on the ski harness, which really helped with our second son, now 9. They learn to balance and turn on their own, but you control the speed and avoid crashes! Also, on the less conventional side, we did a lot of night skiing while he was learning. No lift lines, few skiers, fewer obstacles. We didn't go super late - but even at 7:00 or so, the slopes really clear out. It's really frustrating to wait in a long lift line with little kids. We just made sure he got a lot of rest in the afternoon, and was good to go by evening.

Now we're just waiting for our littlest guy (age 1.5) to be steady enough on his legs to try skiing... maybe next season!

Oh yes, I agree with this completely. Lots of room, and ski right onto the lift. We hit Whitetail last night from 4-6 PM. no crowds, and we could park really close too. I do dread the first time we have to park in the far lots....

PS: the last run, there was hardly any tension at all on the harness. he was controlling his own speed on the beginner run.
Playing red light - green light was another highlight and gave him a reason to hit the brakes.

red light--green light? What an excellent idea!!! We head out early wednesday, will definitely be trying this out!!! This has turned into such a great thread, i appreciate everyones ideas and suggestions. I am so excited to get him out and try these.

Oh and kwill--he is 5.

Perfect age to get them on the hill. Most kids are strong enough, physically to learn at that age. My son learned at age 5 at Breckenridge peak 8 kids ski school. They had him doing it all at the end of his third lesson. We then had him do the shoes kids school several more weekends that year. Age six he got his own set of poles. By the time he was seven, he was doing a bumped up cupp run, top to bottom without stopping and jumping off the top of knot bumper's headwall. Kids learn so fast.

Might as well keep the hijack going.... We had a straightlining, speed demon 5-year-old boy after a day or two at the Copper kid's school, who wouldn't turn because it slowed him down. Our solution? Mommy would set the track with a few beautiful S-turns (or a snake trail), and any kid who could match the turns exactly got a couple of Skittles. Worked like a charm, and we Skittled our way down the hill every afternoon at the end of ski school. Just a question of finding the right motivation for that boy-- Skittles over speed, I guess.

so here we are at the shoe. Aidan did AMAZING!!!!!! Thank you all for your advice. He did school in teh morning then we had lunch took a break and put the ski harness on him. we hit pretty much all the open greens and even 2-3 short blues. He was wedging and turning and the harness allowed me to control the speed. Typical boy he wants to bom down the moutnain. we took the harness off on heisler and played follow the leader. and red light green light. we tried ridenskis skittle trick but with fruit chews. and if he made it all the way down and followed directions and maintained control--he got to throw a snowball at me. It was the best skiing experience we have had. Thank you ALL!!!!

Can't beat throwing a snowball at Mommy!