Gadgets for Teaching and
Tweaking Your Tykes
New England Ski Journal
By Heather Burke
We are a gadget-obsessed society, always looking for the multi-task
tool, the time-shaving shortcut, the veritable easy-bake oven. Skiing
is no exception; just count the camelback wearing, energy bar
munching, walkie-talkie yapping, altimeter-tracking skiers in your
next lift queue.
Skiing parents, eager to get their prodigy on the slopes, want
doohickeys and devices to teach their tykes at a record age. Most ski
resorts don’t accept kids into lessons until they are 4 or 5,– which
seems like an eternity for pre-pamper-changing powder hounds. Thanks
to a few innovative parents and instructors, there are now gadgets to
take some of the grunt and groan out of toddler teaching.
Steve Lathrop, former US Ski Team member and Downhill champion proves
that necessity is the “father of invention.” Lathrop was eager (you
might say obsessive) to get each of his five kids on the slopes, in
some cases before they could walk.
“I was like any other parent thinking I could teach my children to ski
because I knew how,” Lathrop said. “I quickly learned that the between
my legs method wasn’t doing me or my child any good.” Lathrop went on
to design (and modify after experimenting with his own kids) a series
of five gadgets to aid parents in their pursuit of toddler turns.
“With my Kid-Ski
line, parents can have their kids skiing as early as age one,” said
Lathrop, “and skiing independently by 2 ½.”
Rick Pasturczak of Alpine Accessories, a top ski gadget merchandiser
based in Illinois, said, “Parents want to teach their children to ski
early on, they want devices to make it easier, but they don’t want to
spend too much money either.”
For really young kids (1-3 year olds), Pastruczak says Lathrop’s
plastic skis that can be worn with the child’s own winter boots are
good for backyard beginnings. “For $39, the Kid Skis are easy to fit
and use. Since they are made of plastic, you can pull them around
inside on the carpet, then outside - even over gravel,” said
Pastruczak.
Another home-helper is the Ski Bar – a mini T-bar that parents can use
to pull kids around, and walk or ski next to them offering the bar for
support and balance. The plastic bar is adjustable in length and best
for 1-3 year olds. The cost is $27, half the price of a chiropractic
visit for a sore back. Lathrop says you can teach kids to ski within 3
months of learning to walk – though that is not guaranteed.
This ski bar would have proved useful to my husband and I. We used a
ski pole in a similar capacity with our one-year-old (admittedly he
was 23-months). At least we were smart enough not to give our son the
pointy end.
One of the critical skills small skiers need to learn is a wedge, to
control speed and initiate turns, especially as they go from the
backyard to steeper ski slopes. The “pizza pie” stance is not innate
to a youngster.
The edgie-wedgie (also known as the ski bra pre-political correctness)
is a tried and true gadget that keeps skis in a pie shape. It costs
about $10. The drawback according to Pastruczak is that the
thumbscrews can mar the ski tips and even delaminate the skis.
Lathrop’s improved “tip lock connector” uses Velcro and a buckle that
easily clips and unclips and doesn’t damage the skis, for about $5
more.
The traditional ski harness, attached over the child’s shoulders,
invites almost as much debate as the helmet issue. Some argue this
harness can introduce bad habits by turning the child’s upper body and
not instilling self-control. Even worse, the leash can get tangled on
the chairlift.
On the flip side, Lathrop’s Ski Leash that attaches to the child’s
hips instead of the shoulders prevents a speed-seeking tot from
bombing the hill (French fries) while introducing steering with the
lower torso. Lathrop’s Ski Leash for $32 comes with its own fanny pack
for storage during lift rides.
Pastruczak says all of these devices increase the learning curve
tremendously. “The ski tip connectors are by far the most popular
gadget because they are inexpensive, and easy for the child and the
parent (or instructor) to use.”
Peter Ingvoldstad, director of
Smugglers Notch’s
award-winning Snow Sports University for 25 years, said his ski and
snowboard instructors definitely use tools to teach small children.
“We definitely use edgie-wedgies on 2-4 year olds whose balance has
not developed enough and whose tips naturally come apart as they tend
to lean back.”
“We have also had success at Smuggs’ teaching snowboarding with our
own modified outriggers for really young riders, as young as 4 and 5,
to give them better balance. Our goal is to get young kids having fun,
with an emphasis on safety from the beginning, and progressing that
much more quickly,” said Ingvoldstad.
Lathrop has also designed a paddle to aid in early snowboard
instruction for kids and adults, which he believes will dramatically
wipe out the all to common wipeouts of learning to ride.
Ingvoldstad recommends intermediate parents who want to teach their
two-year-olds should enroll in Smugg’s “Mom & Me,” or “Dad & Me”
private lessons. “An instructor helps the parent teach the child,
giving pointers and important hints so that Mom or Dad can go off and
have fun instructing safely and more quickly with proper technique,”
Ingvoldstad said.
Lathrop says you don’t have to be U.S. Ski Team alum to teach your
kids to ski. “What is more important than your skiing ability is
progressing gradually, using devices to make it easier for you and
your child, and knowing that kids have good days and bad days – and it
should be about having fun with your child.
