Teaching a Two Year Old How to Ski: Three Seasons Later

When Neil was about to turn two, I started teaching him to ski. The beginning was slow, but seeing the smile on his face made it totally worth it. Three seasons later, he still has the ski bug. He now links turns down blue runs and enjoys small jumps despite breaking his leg while skiing. While I can’t tell you how to teach a two year old how to ski, I can tell you how we did it. This might not be for everyone – choose your method and timing appropriately for you and your family.

Timing
We didn’t consciously choose to start teaching Neil how to ski when he was two, it just kind of happened… Initially we rented gear, just to try things out. We watched him closely and he was clearly having a lot of fun, and wanted more, so we kept going. It might be harder to teach a two year old to ski than it is a four or five year old, although we think it might be worth it. Venture at your own risk and come with a lot of patience. Being adventurous, and having good coordination and balance are probably helpful traits.

Progression
During the first season (age 2) Neil mostly learned how to be stable on his skis. By the end of that season he could manage a very slight turn. By the end of the second season (age 3) he was able to turn and even link a few turns, and do a snow plow. We still spent all our time on the bunny hill. By the end of the third season (age 4), he can now ski a whole green/easy blue run linking turns and rarely falls.

Essentials: Fun First
Skiing at this age is all about having fun. If Neil wasn’t having fun, we stopped and I tried to understand why and attempted to change something. Sometimes he wanted to stop and throw snowballs or roll in the snow. We did that too…

As always, I found it important to make sure Neil wasn’t hungry, thirsty, too tired, too hot or too cold, or needed to go to the bathroom. As adults, we sometimes forget that kids need to be reminded of the essentials. Doing this can go a long way towards ensuring you both have a good day. We had some wet days and some snowy days, some icy days and some slushy days. I always tried to listen to Neil and go at his pace, not mine.

Learning Methods
We used a few different learning methods, alternating them based on what was appropriate for the slope, the snow, and Neil’s comfort on that day and at that time. Variety is helpful.

Method I: Ski Towards Me
At the very start, we spent a little bit of time on a very mellow slope, with me on foot and Neil on skis. The idea was that he would ski towards me and I’d catch him when he was going too fast, was about to fall, or was at the end of the slope.

Once I saw he could handle that, I put on my skis and we headed over to the kids T-bar at Mt. Baker – there’s one at each base station, and they are free! Going up the T-bar with a kid was actually a bit hard for me, since I had to hunch over in order to hold onto Neil, but I survived. I experimented with holding on to Neil while squatting, which seemd to help. Once we got to the top, Neil skied towards me, while I was skiing backwards slowly (practice this first) and I’d catch him. Gradually he was able to ski farther and farther without my involvement. A variation on this is to ski backwards while holding your child’s arms.

Method II: The Strap
After two sessions at the very mellow T-bar slope, Neil was ready for some steeper action – we headed to Mt. Seymour’s bunny hill, which has a magic carpet. We met a grandfather there who was teaching his granddaughter how to ski using a water skiing strap, which he let us borrow and worked quite well. That strap had a convenient handle for me to hold on to and was elastic. Later, I found something similar at home and started using it. We then alternated using the strap and the Ski Towards Me method. When skiing with the strap, the idea was that I would snow plow to slow Neil down, as necessary. Ski straps are available commercially and might work better.

During Neil’s second season we discovered the dangers of using a strap. We were skiing on a slightly steeper section, with bad visibility and somehow we got all tangled up and I fell over him. At first I thought it was just another fall, but he was unable to stand up and was in obvious pain, so I skied down with him on my arms. I talked to ski patrol but they couldn’t do anything for us (not even pain killers…). We headed back home briefly and then to the hospital. Later an x-ray confirmed that he had broken his leg. For three weeks he couldn’t stand, but after that his recovery was very fast, and a couple of weeks later he was skiing again.

Method III: Between the Legs
Another method we used was for me to ski with my legs wide open with Neil skiing in between them. It helped to ask him to hold on to my legs with his arms. If Neil was feeling not so confident, often at the beginning of a ski day, he would ask to ski in this way. To get him to ski by himself, I’d gradually introduce a bit of the Ski Towards Me method at the end of the slope, which was often mellower.

Method IV: Pole from the Side
In this method I held one pole horizontally and asked Neil to hold on to it with both hands. I found it a bit awkward for both of us, so we didn’t do this much, but it does work.

Method V: Ski After Me
Once I was fairly sure Neil wouldn’t go down the hill uncontrollably, we started skiing mostly with him following me. I purposely skied slowly and made long turns, right across the slope, to slow him down. Watch out not to go too far ahead – if your child falls and needs help getting up, you will be below them. For this reason, whenever possible I try to get Neil to ski first, with me after him.

Teaching the Snow Plow
Initially, I thought learning how to stop would definitely come before learning how to turn. I tried to teach Neil how to do a snow plow, but it just didn’t sink in, so in the end he learned how to turn before he learned how to stop. I even wonder if there isn’t an advantage to this order. The reason being that once you teach a child how to snow plow they will often just snow plow down a whole run without bothering to turn. I’ve seen kids ski with a ski tip connector (an “edgie wedgie”) and wonder if that might make learning to snow plow easier, but with Neil I never saw the need to use one.

Peer Encouragement
We haven’t yet managed to go on a ski date with any of Neil’s friends, but he has occasionally skied with random kids we found at the hill. This definitely makes things more interesting for him. For a less adventurous child, skiing with a friend could be an important way to get them out skiing.

Going Forward
It’s only a question of time before I can’t keep up with Neil. He already barely needs me to get on to and off the lift. I guess that’s every parent’s wish, and fear: that our kids won’t need us any more.