How to ski with kids … cheap!

Skiing is up there as one of the most laughably expensive hobbies. Along with golf, hockey, anything that requires a boat, or racing cars. But, I’ve found a hack and it’s a good one … thankfully downhill skiing doesn’t have to be any more expensive than soccer. It just requires a little compromise of the usual “perfect” parenting obsessions many of us inevitably suffer from—only new, top-of-the-line gear, private lessons and premier practice grounds, for my precious baby. Someday, if my wish comes true, my family will all be at a beautiful mountain resort skiing once a year—together. Not just me on my guys’ trip, which is fun, but it always feels selfish to spend all that money and only I get that religious experience of seeing mountain vistas, heavenly snow resting on stacks of spindly pines, or the thrill of accomplishing something truly physically amazing.

Here’s how you do it: start by buying used gear for kids. No more than $100 per kid from a used sporting goods store or you can get even better deals on Craigslist if you’re willing to do more legwork—I wasn’t! I tried this approach at first but most listings mid-season were junk, overpriced or gone by the time I called about them. So, I chose the local used goods store where I got advice on length for 4 & 6 year old kids. Two pairs of skis for about $140. Then boots. I ski a bit and always see racers and recreation skiers going around with buckles undone. How important can fit be? Well, it’s important for all-day comfort and blood circulation but to keep a kid on their skis and out of pain? Not at all. So, go big! Get more seasons out of them. Out the door for $50 for two pairs. On the second season already and everything still fits. Our plan with gender-neutral colors is to hand them down and never have to buy more than one new piece of gear any given season. And, with care of ownership, we’ll sell for top-dollar on Craigslist in November.

So, you’ve got cheap gear now but the lift tickets for two kids must be brutal! Well, at Vail, yeah, I’d imagine they are. Even at the local hill $50/person adds up. But this is a cheapskate’s hack so here’s my workaround. Unless you live in Kansas or western Minnesota, there has got to be a hill nearby with 30–50 feet of vertical drop. Check a local golf course—that’s where we go! Put on a good pair of boots and PUSH your kids up the hill and let them ride down. Repeat. Get 5–10 reps in per kid, per day… unless you have five then good luck. If you only have one, show them you love them and give ‘em 10–20!

Now you have free skiing to go with cheap gear.

OK, but how do the kids learn? Lessons must be where the cost comes in, right? Yes and no. Sure you could go lessons from day one like the above picture I took at Vail of adorable skiing kids. As an aside, when I floated the theme of this article to my wife, my phone autocorrected “affordable” in my text to adorable which I thought was quite perfect! Yes, lessons help, but forget the big classes for entry-level skiers. The kids get almost zero attention from the novice instructors. And kids’ ability to listen and apply verbal instruction is very poor before 8–10 years of age. So, when they’re really young I say let ‘em free to learn by feel on a small, safe hill and give them as many reps as your body can endure. My eldest was carving turns by her 4th time out last year. Here’s an important tip: give as little instruction as possible! Do NOT be tempted to correct everything! Arms forward (no poles!), feet close together, and toes pointed in the same direction. Don’t worry about explaining turns at first, nor stopping and leave the antiquated pizza slice lesson out! Similar to skating the body strangely adapts and skiing just happens.

I took my kids out about a half dozen times last year and have already been out four times this year. With a little more fresh snow my youngest will be ahead of where my eldest was this time last year at a year younger—carving turns and knowing fully how to control his descent down the hill. At this point, and only at this time do I feel it’s appropriate to really hand a child off to a professional instructor … unless you don’t mind getting little more than on-slope babysitting for your money. Later this year my daughter will be going with me to a local ski hill for a budget personal lesson because now she has the basics down well enough to build on them with professional advice. I firmly believe when just learning, kids are so overwhelmed with new sensations that listening just doesn’t happen. With a foundation of basics in place listening should work since they don’t need to concentrate so hard on staying up—I hope. Hopefully after her lesson, she and I can go cruising on a green circle or even a blue square—together, and nothing would make me prouder! Except next year having my son join us.

A real stinger came recently when I heard my daughter grumbling in the back seat that she hated her skis because they were plain and red. She wasn’t smart (or gracious?) enough to hold this sort of critique of her free gear for the drive home—nope, she laid it on me on the way to the hill where her sponsor was also her lift ticket and chairlift. We had a little talk and I think she learned something about gratitude, or at least timing of honesty. Ah, filters, when do kids get ‘em? What was I saying about wanting to do this as a family?!? Oh well, that’s what selective memory is for!

Now it’s time I start focusing on getting their mom in skis, too!