l never took advantage of the snow activities growing up in Mn but would like to let my son and cousin (he is in my care) venture out.My son is 2 and my cousin is 5.are there any special considerations l should know about?

8-10

my son started his kids between 3-4 on the bunny slopes and they are excellent skiers now at 10,13 and 8.....

You r are great person to allow these two children to benefit from these sports.

1. the most important thing is to get them into lessons, they will teach & u two little ones will learn the fundamentals of the sport from a pro & not just hear say from friends. l have seen to many broken bodies because people just do not know what they get into.

2. Make sure they wear helmets if they learn to ski & snowboard

3. Any age u r comfortable with.it is up to the parent. l started when l was 5 but & worked as a ski instructor for many years.


4. make sure ur two children take advantage of both sports especially when they r young, their bodies r more limber when they r young & can learn to manipulate their ski is or snowboards easier.

Good luck & be safe ex ski patrol

l started skiing when l was 3. l live in Minnesota, so the hills are tiny, and very safe. 4 is a good age

l started my daughter skiing at four. l think she could have managed it earlier, but not without one of those kid is harnesses. However, snowboarding is a differnt matter. It requires differnt motor skills. I've seen 5 year old children learn, and would suggest this as a lower limit.

As with other : make sure they wear a well fitted helmet and get lessons.

two is not too early but unless you have the patience to be with him all day he is going to need a lesson (it is more like preschool on the hill) 4 to 5 l think is optimal though, because by that age kids are developed enough to have balance and athletic prowess .

The younger the better.Take them out with you and ski with them slowly holding them between your legs.Start at the top,they will love it.

l have skied all my life, & have two daughters. l had them on the fake plastic skis when they were 3, but not the real stuff until 4. In my opinion, 2 is way too young.

Their bones r not solidified & set yet, & skiing is fairly stressful. It is just an unnecessary thing to take a kid that young. Drag them around in a sled, they will enjoy that much more!

Aged 4 or 5 is fine for skiing ( l do not know about snowboarding). The good news is, at this age, u can really do it yourself without an instructor, if u r a very patient person. You must listen to the kid, & the minute they r not having fun, in u go! You will want two things to be successful:

1) a harness (even at the age of 5 or 6).

2) edgie wedgies (the little things that clamp to the tips of the skis to hold them together.

It is a terrible idea to hold them between ur legs, because they do not master their center of balance. They rely on u to hold them. l see parents do that all the time. Bad, bad mistake.

Some parents ski backwards holding the tips of the skis together. This is fine for the kid.however, l feel sorry for the back of the parent. Plus they might run into something!

Enter harness:

The kid wears it like a vest, & a nylon webbing hooks to it. What u do is thread one end of the webbing through the left side D-hook, across the tummy of the kid, & latch it to the right side D-hook.

Then u take the other end of the webbing, run it through the right side D-hook, across the kids tummy, & latch it onto the left side D-hook.

What this does is let u aid in turn initiation by tugging. If u tug on the left, this will force the hips of the child to steer to the left, because it pulls the right hip in that direction. Walla: turn!

Info on raising kids to ski (check out the first paragraph for an example of why it is bad to hold the kid between the legs):

http://nwskiers.org/article/stories/raisingkids/index.htm

Link for the harness so u can see a picture:

http://outdoorreview.com/Channels/OutdoorReview/images/products/Product_111416.jpg

Link for the edgie wedgies:

http://alpinesportsoutlet.com/pc-404-73-edgie-wedgie-ski-tip-connector.aspx

You can google search any of this stuff for yourself.

Have fun on the slopes with the kids!

l grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and have been skiing since l was 2. You can put a kid on skis as soon as they are old enough to walk, you just need to be careful about it. Use a harness and start slow.

l would recommend waiting a little longer before putting them on a snowboard--at least 4. It would be hard to harness in a kid if they're snowboarding, and it is easy to catch an edge. Kids can always do the ''pizza pie'' to stay slow while skiing.