How to Prepare Your Kids for Ski School

Getting ready to go skiing is a process: you have to fuel up with a hearty breakfast, get all your gear ready, put on layers upon layers of clothes, shovel the driveway and clear off your car (if it’s a powder day–finger’s crossed!), load the car, battle traffic to get to the resort parking lot, wait in line, shove your feet into stiff boots, load all your gear onto a bus full of people, get off the bus, haul your gear to the lift, wait in line again, and then get on the lift. All of these steps happen before you can take your first turns. Now, add kids to that equation. 

You might read that last sentence and scream, “No, thank you!” at their computer. 

Getting ready to ski is a process. When kids are a part of this process, they are a variable that cannot be easily controlled. Fortunately, all you have to do is get them to the heavenly gates of the ski school’s front door, and then the lovely, angelic ski school instructors will take them off your hands. 

The question is, how do you get them through that front door? 

Maybe you have a child who doesn’t want to learn how to ski, or maybe your kid loves skiing but is scared of meeting new people. Or perhaps your kid is a social butterfly on two skis, but they just can’t seem to get it together in the morning. All of these factors can play an inhibiting role in getting your kid on the slopes, and they are therefore an inhibiting factor in getting you on the slopes.

Luckily, Clio Wohlgenant, a ski school instructor going on three years, has some tips for you all to help prepare your kids for ski school. 

Helping Your Kid Commit to Ski School

Ski school can seem intimidating to some kids, especially if they have never skied before or only skied a few times with their families. It absolutely requires bravery for a kid to try something new and out of their comfort zone. As a parent, you can acknowledge this fact and remind them that they are brave and capable! Let them know that ski school is something you want them to try, because trying new things is an important part of growing. Emphasize that it will be a lot of fun and they will make new friends.

If your child is really resistant, Clio suggests doing a lesson with the whole family at first. This will get them used to instructing, but with the comfort of having the rest of the family by their side. She also says that putting a child with their sibling for the first lesson can be a great way to get a younger child to ease into ski school.

Helping Your Kid Prepare for Ski School

Once you and your child have committed to ski school, making sure they are prepared for that first day is key. Clio recommends having them practice putting on the clothing and gear beforehand. They should walk around in it for a little while, and even try going to the bathroom, in order to get used to how everything will feel. If there is snow around, even better! Get them playing in their gear in the snow so that they can see how fun it is to be in all that white fluffy powder without getting cold. Practicing with their gear will help to eliminate one unknown factor on the actual first day of ski school, so they can focus on the other unknowns that they are about to face.

Helping Your Kid Cope

When you pick your kid up from ski school, a huge unknown will hang in the air: How did everything go? Did they love it? Hate it? Get cold? Get scared? Get excited? Make new friends? Your kid will have the answers to these questions as soon as you see them. Be prepared for any reaction.

If they did not enjoy themselves, that is okay. Make sure to acknowledge their experience and their feelings. Tell them, “Yes, that sounds scary.” Or, “Wow, it must have been cold out there!” This is exactly what Clio does when a child is not having a good time on the slopes. She states, “I don’t want to dismiss those fears. I want to acknowledge that they are real, whether it is a fear of skiing or a fear of being away from your parents for the day.”

Next, make sure to affirm them for still getting out there! Remind them that they were very brave for sticking it out and let them know you are proud of them for trying ski school. You want to make sure to highlight that this is still a positive experience, even if they aren’t currently having a positive reaction. 

Helping Your Kid Stick with It

If you have another lesson in the books, and your child is resistant to the idea of going back, don’t worry–this is normal! Trying something new is a challenge, and it takes time to feel comfortable. Give it a few days, and then (if there is another lesson in the books) encourage them to try again. Help them remember the good things about the experience, what they may have learned, and the friends they made. 

Clio says that you can also talk with the instructor and let them know about what your child struggled with last time. Having this support on the mountain can go a long way in helping your kid enjoy the experience.

Most importantly, try to reduce the pressure your child might feel to get good at skiing really quickly. Although you might not realize it, your child probably knows that ski school costs money, and there could be an unspoken implication that they need to improve in order to make ski school worth it. When you reduce the pressure, you allow for your child to just enjoy the experience. Plus, with the pressure taken off, Clio says that children not only have more fun, but they actually end up getting better faster!

Preparing your kids for ski school and getting them to buy into the experience can be a challenge. However, it is totally worth it. There are so many benefits to ski school once you get them out the door and on the hill. If (and when) you hit speed bumps, imagine your kid making friends on the mountain as they gain ski skills, or the joy of being able to ski with the whole family on a challenging run. There are lifelong gains to learning how to ski. Your kid will thank you later. 

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