This winter, my 5 year old daughter and I got ourselves season passes for Snow Valley, near Arrowbear, CA.
There aren’t many resources out there on how to teach a young kid snowboarding. Everybody tells you to just send the kid to the professionals. Well, now I have done so - with mixed results. She normally comes back bored and uninterested. However, I’m proud to say that she has the basics down.
My first goal is just to get Ashley to enjoy snowboarding, because doing that guarantees me a yearly season pass without questions asked by the wife. The WAF (better known as the Wife Approval Factor) is very low for kids activities. An example, Ashley got a Burton custom snowboard, Burton snowboarding boots and Burton bindings for Christmas.
In order to keep Ashley interested I keep the activity as much fun as I can. These are my personal tips. If you have any further suggestions, please do share:
- Stop frequently to make a snow angel or to have a snowball battle.
- Always encourage your kid, and compliment her even if she isn’t trying that hard.
- Do not repeat activities - keep changing. Repeating toes or heels is the best way to learn to snowboard, yet a young kid would get bored if you keep doing that over and over.
- She likes sliding straight – easy, with no knowledge required.
The results are then very promising. She can now turn and break on her heels. She goes up the chair and can get off without falling. I am convinced that by next year, she’ll be able to go down a blue trail, without help.
Cheers
Al
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