Slalom Ski For 5 Year Old?

[GOODESkier]

This has kinda blind-sided me. In the past 3 weeks my son (5 years old, 46" Tall, 46 lbs.) has gone from trainers with rope tied on skis and parent holding rope in boat with everything hooked together to completely on his own normal ski rope and able to run the jr. course on 2 skis with gates (yes even he can make it through the gates!) at 13 MPH 15' OFF.

 

On Tuesday he convinced me to try a deep water start on one ski............... I did my best to reason with him and tell him we needed to lift one of his two skis off the water to develop some more balance, then try the boom, then try and drop one, then try the small rope on the boom, then try some more, then try even more, and someday he would be on one ski. All this conversation came back to him telling me, he has seen his mom and me and all of our ski partners get up on one ski and he knows how to do it. Anyway, I caved and thought he would just release the handle each time, no harm done.

 

Well, the darn kid just about got up! He was basically up. I have tried to get adults up that didn't do as well. He is a fighter and determined to be a big boy on one ski. So, I have ordered a Masterline EZY-Up slalom handle and boys 1 rope. I am wondering what others have done for a ski? We are using a set of doubles with a toe plate. Anyone with a success story and equipment choice to help my 5 year old prove me wrong? I am contemplating taking a wide ride ski I have and cutting it down to like 58" and mounting some kids bindings to it...........

[Intheday]

We started with the standard kids Connley doubles with the rear toe strap. This worked great for a starter.

We then looked for a 42 or 43 after seeking the same advice as yourself. At the speeds he will be skiing these sizes will work well as it will keep him on top of the water, then as he gets older and heavier the ski should start to work better. We are hoping that the ski will last for a long time.

 

The only issue is that they will probably want to go faster than their ability or at least that what we found.

[sunperch]

We put our kids on the slalom ski from a junior double set (63") for the first season or 2. Both were 5 when they started to slalom with deep water starts. We then moved them on to one of my older 66" skis - keeping them on big skis helps them learn to pull behind the boat and keeps them balanced so they could learn a stacked position early. We moved them to a slightly smaller (64") ski when they started to make 26 or 28mph passes and needed to be able to turn a bit tighter. Both have progressed well and have way better forms than my husband and I, didn't learn all of our bad habits.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

For a slalom ski, the best is one of the wide, shaped junior skis. They provide a lot of surface area for the slow speeds and still turn easily. I saw a junior girl run a pass at 25mph at nationals a few years ago.

 

Second best is 64-65" adult slalom. D3s are great because they are very stable and easy to ride.

 

I recommend not spending time on the mini course. At 10-12 mph he should be able to run the full course at long line and get a better feel for slalom than he can get on the mini course. Be sure to use a lightweight rope.

[JohnN]

O'Brien Jr amigo We moved the toe loop up closer to the front binding. And a definite yes on the light line We moved our boys to a traditional ski when they were starting at 24mph in tourneys. fun times!

[Chef23]

When my kids started we took the combo without the rear binding and just put some non skid on it so that when they got up at first they weren't worried about finding the rear binding they could just put their foot on the ski. This was a big help for the first week or two.

 

Once they were comfortable getting up I moved the rear toe loop forward on the combo and they skied that even in the course up until about 23 mph then I moved them to a wide ride small slalom ski which my son skied into 30 mph/15 off. I did start them in the course at long line (after running the mini course).

 

My son learned to get up on one at 6 and never dropped. He wasn't strong enough to control the combo skis. He started on a 59" HO Blast combo.

[Jdubs]

The 59 inch Jr. allegance is what I got for my son when he was getting up easy and started getting into the course. I still have it in the attic for his younger siblings still coming up the pipe.

 

Here is one for sale though. I would stay away from the bindings listed and stick with Wiley's for a child that young.

 

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=29548

[WBLskier]

We've gone to skipping dropping a ski for almost all kids. They seem to do best with both feet in and get up almost like a wakeboard (let the ski drift to the left a bit for lff) as they come out of the water. We've gotten probably 10 kids up this way in the last two years and none of them had much success at dropping prior to that. No starter rope has been necessary. Peer pressure goes a long way too...if they see another kid do I they just do it too. So fun. Enjoy and good luck.

[WBLskier]

I have my 8 year old girl on an older 65 inch HO. My niece is the same age and on a similar ski. Both seem to work well. Both now running the full course at 15.5 and working at 17.4.

[Chef23]

My kids both did better with one foot in. I do think there is a benefit to getting up with both feet in though if they can do it.

[MaryTee]

Contact Seth Stisher for ski recommendations. I think his son was about that age on one ski.

[GOODESkier]

Thanks guys!