This reminds me of when we first got our kids on snow. You never know if you did it the right way, and timed it the right way until many years later. My wife and I had the grown up in the sport. All of our parents were skiers. We found out that we were expecting the very same day that the offer on our first ski house was accepted. We had our oldest out walking around in ski boots and playing around on skis at about 18 months, but generally only when the weather was sunny and pretty warm. Not for long. Normally after we had skied {or worked as weekend instructor and coach}. Lots of sledding and laughing in the snow. playing with the dogs in the snow. Building snowmen, and forts. Followed by hot chocolate, fires, etc. They both were in kids programs where they both had morning and afternoon ski time, as well as indoor play time. We'd often ski a bit after we picked them up.....if they wanted to. They did that at three. Every weekend, many extra days, too. Then at four, they started in regular weekend weekend programs, just ripping all over the mountain. They were in that a year on the young size. At seven {six for our youngest} the race program beckoned.
We certainly had some self interest in having them learn to ski, and to hopefully really LIKE it. When our son was about four, he could ski pretty darn well. Our town had a learn to skate program that began in the fall, before ski season. Lots of hockey in our hometown. His little friends were doing it. so we did, too. To be honest, we had our fingers crossed that he really would not like it. He actually skated pretty well. Bunch of my former college hockey playing friends ran the thing, and kidded me that he was a hockey player. When that session was ending, we went to get some pizza, along with his little sister. So we asked him if he had liked it, and liked skating. He said he liked it because he was doing it with friends. But he didn't like it because he "wasn't very good at it." Okay......
"Besides dad, I'm a ski racer like you, grandpa, uncle.........." Four years old. Guess we had him hooked. Kids wanted to go ski every weekend of every winter because they got to ski with their ski friends. Than later on, they were begging us to go to ski academies. PG years, raced in college, work in the industry as 30 somethings.
I'm thinking that pushing them to actually try skiing as soon as they could stand in ski boots would have been not wise. Sort of feels like it would be about us. By the time they started, in earnest, at about three, they were raring to go. And our son was more or less toilet trained! I think, looking back, it was because they loved being outside and playing in the snow.
I'll agree, though, those kids seem to be having fun! Snowboarding was never an option in our house. Haha.
