Teaching Kids to Ski When They're Barely Out of Diapers
We always seemed to be a mitten short.
We'd arrive ready to ski but some little person -- or mom -- had left the crucial mitten in the car or the rented condo. If not a mitten, goggles. As soon as we'd bought more and gotten the snowsuits zipped, one of the kids had to go to the bathroom -- again.
Now our two teens navigate the toughest slopes with ease, and our 8-year-old carries her own snowboard. We laugh about those days when they were so pooped after a couple of hours on the snow that we had to carry them and their ski gear, telling ourselves as we staggered along what a great time we were having on this vacation.
``No question it's a lot of work to take young kids skiing,'' agrees Cathy McDonald, the upstate New York mom of four young skiers who all had their ski legs by the time they were 3. ``What made the schlepping worth it was seeing their progress -- when they'd fall and get right back up again with a smile on their face.''
Even better, this is one vacation investment that keeps paying off, snow-loving parents agree, though they wish it weren't so expensive. ``It's a bite, but it's a choice we made to do this instead of other things,'' said Beatrice Vornle Von Haagenfels, a mother of five young skiers from Connecticut. ``We watch the kids do a lot of sports, but skiing is one thing all of us can do together.''
That's especially poignant for the McDonalds because their oldest, Michael, was born with a serious heart defect and wasn't able to play team sports. When Michael was barely out of diapers, his surgeon suggested skiing as an alternative, so ``we became a skiing family,'' said Cathy McDonald.
They have lots of company these days. Parents and kids now account for more than half the visitors to ski areas, the National Ski Areas Association reports. Ski resorts from Vermont and Colorado to California and Wyoming are struggling like never before to improve declining numbers by rolling out the red carpet for the littlest skiers, snowboarders and their parents. They sport big, bright new children's facilities with infant day care, junior rentals and gear (to buy those forgotten mittens) conveniently right in the same building.
There's plenty of beginner terrain just outside with ``magic carpets'' that effortlessly move the kids up gentle hills alongside young instructors schooled in child development who are responsible for just two or three youngsters. Pagers are available at many places for parents who want to stay in constant touch. Ask before you book if the resort has these amenities for your youngest skiers and boarders. (Laura Sutherland's book, ``The Best Family Ski Vacations in North America,'' St. Martin's Griffin $15.95, is a good resource. So is www.skinet.com.)
``Virtually every North American ski resort worth its salt has added, revamped or expanded its children's center in the last few years,'' says Felicity Long, who follows the industry trends closely as skiing editor for Travel Weekly and is a skiing mom herself.
Jackson Hole, Wyo., just spent $6 million on its kid center. Killington teaches 2-year-olds in its Fast Tracks program in Vermont. To promote its new children's School House, Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado is throwing in a free supervised kids night -- even for infants -- if parents spend $25 at the resort shopping or eating. Vermont's Smugglers' Notch is doing even better, offering free kids' ski school and day care at its 6,900-square-foot center several weeks this season. (Call Jackson Hole: 888-DEEP SNO, www.jacksonhole.com/ski; Killington: 800-621-MTNS or www.killington.com; Copper: 800-458-8386, www.ski-copper.com; Smugglers': 800-451-8752, www.smuggs.com.)
Seven Utah ski resorts, including Park City, Deer Valley and Snowbird, meanwhile, have partnered with Southwest Airlines to offer kids' free flights and lift tickets, when accompanied by a paying adult. Kids even get free lunch at Park City Mountain Resort. (800-SKI-8365, www.swavacations.com.)
Programs once designed for kindergartners now have been revamped for 3-year-olds, as soon as they're out of diapers, with so many parents willing to fork over $100 a day to cover their child's lessons, lunch, lift ticket and day care that advance reservations are often needed.
Smugglers' Notch as well as Heavenly and Northstar at Tahoe in California even have added ``Mommy and Me, Daddy and Me'' sessions so parents of young children can learn how to teach their kids. The Northstar program is free and so popular it's offered six days a week. (Northstar: 800-GO-NORTH, www.skinorthstar.com; Heavenly, which opened a new children's center last year: 800-2-HEAVEN, www.skiheavenly.com.)
``Kids are doing all sorts of sports at younger ages, and that includes skiing,'' observes Alison Clayton, who trains children's ski instructors around the country for the Professional Ski Instructors of America and oversees Stratton Mountain Resort's children's program in Vermont. ``Parents have high expectations,'' often too high, she adds.
How do you know if your preschooler -- once he's potty trained -- is ready to hit the slopes? Here's what Clayton would ask:
-- Can she happily be away from mom and dad? Ski school shouldn't be her first day-care experience.
-- Is he fairly coordinated and does he like to be active outside? Can he kick a ball and hop on one foot?
-- Can she maneuver under her own power? A kid that insists on being carried everywhere isn't ready. Wait a year.
Then, despite all of the hassles, ``their stories at the end of the day will make you want to go back the next morning,'' promises Cathy McDonald.
Michael McDonald, whose heart problem got his family skiing, became the star of his school ski club. Now 17, he's only eyeing colleges situated near the snow.
(c) 1999, Eileen Ogintz. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate
