Teach Children Skiing | Episode 2 : Conditions and Basics

Can you look at the camera bud? Can you smile? Hi everybody, this is Nicholas, and this is Will, and this is Teach Children Skiing Episode 1. Hi everybody, I'm Nicholas Clark. I'm the Director of Merchandising at Level Nine Sports. I'm a father of three and a lifelong skier. I've taught my two oldest kids how to ski. I'm now teaching my four-year-old how to ski. I'm going to share some of my knowledge of skiing with my kids and teaching them how to ski with you guys through this video series. And hopefully you gain some good insight to teaching your own kids how to ski, because it's a sport that you can do with your family, and it's a lifelong sport that they can participate in for many years to come. This series is going to be focused on children learning to ski ages two to eight. There is differences out there teaching adults versus older kids and younger kids. Follow along and we'll go through some of those details. Your children's skis don't need to be any longer than chin height. Don't worry about kids growing into their skis. Shorter is better. Shorter is going to be more maneuverable and easier for them to be more comfortable getting the basics of skiing. We taught you how to put socks on. Your kids' ski boots need to be comfortable. It's important that they fit. When learning, if your boots don't fit, if they're uncomfortable, it's going to make for a long day and most kids are just not going to want to ski. It's a very common thing for people to not want to ski because they've had a bad experience with boots. So take the time, make sure your kids' boots fit. If they're a little on the big side, an extra pair of socks is okay, especially while they're learning. Kids should always be wearing helmets and parents, you should be wearing a helmet if they're wearing a helmet. A good fitting helmet is going to be snug, not too tight, not too loose. To do their job, it's got to stay in place, protect your kids, and protect yourselves. It's too bright. Oh, it's too bright? You want to put your goggles down? Okay. Eye protection is important as well. Goggles, sunglasses. There's a lot of light coming off the snow. On a snowy day, goggles are always better. On a sunny day, leave it up to them. The other thing you throw on, any exposed skin, put some sunblock on there. It can get sunburned very quickly. Mittens are always a good choice. Mittens are always going to be warmer and easier to get on and off for mom and dad. Your kids are going to beg for them, but as much as you can while they're learning, they don't need ski poles. Ski poles will get in the way. Focus on your skis. Focus on your turns and your stops. Leave the poles at home until they're much more advanced. Parents, when you're teaching your kids how to ski, try to find the smallest pair of skis you can. Even a pair of ski blades help. It makes it easy to maneuver, get around, help the kids as much as possible without your equipment getting in the way. Another key piece of equipment is a wedge ease or a tip connector. Anything that keeps their tips together on their skis will help them keep their tips together and snowplow easier when they're learning. A ski harness is another piece of equipment that's nice. You can use it to help control your kids speed from behind them. You can use it to introduce them to different parts of the mountain to ensure that they're not going to go too fast down steeper terrain. The other handy thing you can use it for, a lot of the harness systems that are out there have a little handle that makes it easy to grab the kid and get them up on the chairlift as well. Thanks for watching Teach Children How to Ski. Follow along with all our episodes for all the tips and techniques we offer for teaching your children how to ski. Thanks and have fun out on the hill.