next ski set for 6 year old
 

got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap to kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide, good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her?? Thanks,
Andy

next ski set for 6 year old
 

Starskyfamily wrote:

got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap to kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide, good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her?? Thanks,

Get a proper set of waxable skis with NNN or Salomon bindings, get them
to hve good glide and grip, and let her have fun.

Do not, I repeat NOT, buy any nowax/crown style skis, they have zero
glide. :-(

Terje

--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

next ski set for 6 year old
 

At age 6 she's ready for real boots, combi skis, and poles. She can
classic ski on waxable skis and skate when the skis are glide waxed.
Then she just needs a group of other kids and a lot of games to play on
skis.

Rob Bradlee

--- Starskyfamily wrote:
got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap
to kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide,
good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her??
Thanks,
Andy






=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

next ski set for 6 year old
 

You have had good advice on getting good equipment for her.

The next thing is to be sure that she spends time skiing with some good
skiers. Children that age learn be imitation and she follows around behind
someone who just plods along the trail, that is what she learns. If she
spends some time skiing with accomplished skiers, it won't take her long to
figure out who she wants to ski like.

Also, remember to let skiing be fun for her. Let her rest, play games, ski
short distances and spend time doing fun things like skiing up and down a
small hill.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

"Starskyfamily" wrote in message
...
got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap to
kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide, good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her??
Thanks,
Andy

next ski set for 6 year old
 

"Rob Bradlee" wrote in message
o.com...
At age 6 she's ready for real boots, combi skis, and poles. She can
classic ski on waxable skis and skate when the skis are glide waxed.
Then she just needs a group of other kids and a lot of games to play on
skis.


Yes I agree with this 100%. Playing on skis, having friends who ski `(this
was what put my kids into skiing through their teen years) and just
generally having skiing be one of the fun play/rec activities they do is by
far the most important thing for a 6 year old. Far, far more important than
any thought to technique - that will come. Second most important thing,
never go overboard with a day skiing or a tour - burnout, fatigue, etc. can
be tough to counteract. Just my experience, having made some mistakes 8-).

As for equipment - it's already been said - decent boots, skis and poles.
Make sure the boots fit well with warm socks.
Grissy

next ski set for 6 year old
 

All good advice!

I will add two items to this
don't plan on skiing yourself when you take her skiing.
bring food and drink, and make a picnic out of it. She'll have more fun if
there's food involved, and it'll be good for her, plus it gives you and her
a break.


on 26/1/04 00:29, Griss wrote:

"Rob Bradlee" wrote in message
o.com...
At age 6 she's ready for real boots, combi skis, and poles. She can
classic ski on waxable skis and skate when the skis are glide waxed.
Then she just needs a group of other kids and a lot of games to play on
skis.


Yes I agree with this 100%. Playing on skis, having friends who ski `(this
was what put my kids into skiing through their teen years) and just
generally having skiing be one of the fun play/rec activities they do is by
far the most important thing for a 6 year old. Far, far more important than
any thought to technique - that will come. Second most important thing,
never go overboard with a day skiing or a tour - burnout, fatigue, etc. can
be tough to counteract. Just my experience, having made some mistakes 8-).

As for equipment - it's already been said - decent boots, skis and poles.
Make sure the boots fit well with warm socks.
Grissy

next ski set for 6 year old
 

On 25 Jan 2004 21:30:35 GMT, (Starskyfamily) wrote:

got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap to kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide, good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her?? Thanks,
Andy


My kids have both been skiing since they were less than 2. They graduated
from the snow boot set ups as soon as they could fit into regular ski
boots. With the first I tried waxable skis and found that they were hard to
wax so they worked with enough consistency for a small persons inconsistent
technique. So we bought a used pair of waxless and with good glide waxing
on the tip and tails and maxi gliding the pattern they were fast enough to
keep up with us on most downhills and gave rock solid kick in a variety of
conditions. This is referring to classical technigue obviously. If they
were skating it would be a different matter. But we were happy to let our
first child classic until he was 10 or so and then introduced him to
skating. I think the years of experience he had on classic skis helped him
pick up freestyle very rapidly. YMMV of course.

g.c.

next ski set for 6 year old
 

Terje Mathisen wrote:
Starskyfamily wrote:

got my 6 year old daughter out today on the beginner skis that strap
to kids
boots, she is a natural, skiied without poles, even got some glide, good
balance. Any suggestions on a next step for ski equipment for her??
Thanks,


Get a proper set of waxable skis with NNN or Salomon bindings, get them
to hve good glide and grip, and let her have fun.

Do not, I repeat NOT, buy any nowax/crown style skis, they have zero
glide. :-(

I respectfully disagree. Nowax skis have their place, and unless
parents are very comfortable with waxing for all conditions, the kids
have a lot more fun being able to ski instead of slip backwards. In
some areas, like Seattle, kick waxing kids skis is totally insane.
In Minnesota, wax is a little easier, but still not something a lot of
parents are ready for with a 6 year old. Of the 180 kids in our club a
couple of years ago, only about 1/4 used waxable skis - those with
parents who were serious skiers.

Another really nice step is to get kids who show interest in skiing into
a program like the Minnesota Youth Ski League, Bill Koch League, or
other regional/local programs. Make sure the idea is 'learning thru fun
on skis' instead of 'racing'. We spend lots of time playing games with
kids, doing things like scooter tag, limbo, slalom, little jumps, dodge
ball, soccer, ultimate, etc. Out of 2 hours, we'll usually play for at
least 1/2 hour, often more.

Marsh Jones
Member, Board of Directors,
Minnesota Youth Ski League
Parent and volunteer coach.
Terje

next ski set for 6 year old
 

The following is a link to the equipment selection page at the Cross Country
B C website.

http://ccbc.junction.net/skiequip.htm

Waxless skis are recommended for children 5 and younger. By age 6 they
recommend a transition to waxable skis. This assumes adequate instruction
and waxing ability for parents when the children are not in class.

When I was a "Jackrabbit" instructor we always spent the first part of the
class helping the children and their parents learn to wax. It did not take
the children long to learn enough technique that those on waxless skis were
being left behind. This was very unfair for the children stuck with waxless
skis and I eventually had long discussions with several local ski shops on
how they should outfit children who were going to be in our ski program. On
some days we would do skate technique and the children with waxless skis
were at an even greater disadvantage.

I live in the interior of BC so conditions may be somewhat different in wet
coastal areas.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

next ski set for 6 year old
 

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 03:47:21 GMT, "Scott Elliot"
wrote:

The following is a link to the equipment selection page at the Cross Country
B C website.

http://ccbc.junction.net/skiequip.htm

Waxless skis are recommended for children 5 and younger. By age 6 they
recommend a transition to waxable skis. This assumes adequate instruction
and waxing ability for parents when the children are not in class.

When I was a "Jackrabbit" instructor we always spent the first part of the
class helping the children and their parents learn to wax. It did not take
the children long to learn enough technique that those on waxless skis were
being left behind. This was very unfair for the children stuck with waxless
skis and I eventually had long discussions with several local ski shops on
how they should outfit children who were going to be in our ski program. On
some days we would do skate technique and the children with waxless skis
were at an even greater disadvantage.

I live in the interior of BC so conditions may be somewhat different in wet
coastal areas.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/


On the other hand the Minnesota Youth Ski League states that until skiers
are about 8 years old "waxable skis are almost a handicap to learning".

http://www.mysl.org/mysltips.html

http://www.mysl.org/myslskilllevels.html

I would suppose the real person to answer the question of waxable vs.
waxless skis is the original poster. Does he use waxable skis? Is his child
advanced as far as balance and co-ordination go? My main concern with our
kids was that skiing should not be a source of frustration for them and
waxless made the sport less frustrating when they were little. They could
put them on and go. It must have worked to some extent as our 17 year old
is still xc skiing. All of his friends who used to ski with us have given
it up.


g.c.