Any opinions on appropriate ski length for children? For a child in 3rd year of skiing do you apply the same rules as adults? Or go a little shorter? I am afraid a longer ski will put more strain on knees and ankles when turning. Currently using 120cm which is clearly too short but ski shop is advising 139cm at least which is just shy of chin...seems like a big jump though. No racing involved...sometimes likes to play in terrain park.

It depends how old and athletic the kid is. Something between 130/140 may be just right. Best thing to do is see if he/she can walk around in them without crossing tips.

That seems to be the range. I think I am going to stay towards the lower end of the range. 135 tops. I would rather buy skis every year then risk her getting hurt. Ski shop advice seems to be get them longer that way they last longer. Does not seem to be the best advice to me.

Thanks for you help.

There has been some thought that shorter and/or softer is not a blanket guarantee of "safer". It all depends on which risk syndrome you are trying to avert, and shorter skis are more easily deflected by the snow.

The thread on boot-top spiral fractures is here:
http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=51002

Comprex...thanks for the advice and the link to the excellent thread on Epic. I came away with 4 things:

1) For my daughter anyway, a conservative DIN setting is best.
2) Going to a stiffer, adult boot even though she would fit, is probably not a good idea.
3) I was going to keep her old bindings to save money, I think her bindings (Marker) are okay but now I am going to take a close look at the AFD...frankly the ones on my Rossi bindings look they would work better.
4) I will probably go with the extra few CM of Ski length.

Thanks again

When I taught children in ski school, I was amazed at what parents would bring in for their child to ski on and in. The skis were only the half of it. The boots were often two sizes too large because the parents wanted their child to "grow into" the boots. If a kid doesn't have a good fitting boot you can forget him/her having a real fun time or learning much if any skills. I was reminded of this last winter when I took a tele clinic and had to rent boots which were ill fitting. I know it costs more over the long run, but when my son was growing up, we discovered that buying good fitting boots increased his learning curve exponentially.

100% with you on that Kwillg6.