suggested first slalom ski for 8 year old boy

[Rob]

I'm wondering what beginner slalom ski and boots you fine folks would recommend for an 8 year old, 60 pound boy. I actually can't believe I'm asking the question as I thought his junior combos would last through the entire summer, but yesterday he showed me that he can hold up one ski without much of an issue so....holy crap I think he's ready!

 

He has access to slalom courses and it's almost a certainly at this point that he will want to try them. My personal focus is on him enjoying his time on the water, more than something that will allow him 'one more buoy'. If he starts aggressively skiing the course and I have to buy him yet another ski to help with that, that's a problem I'm fine with.

 

I'd be perfectly fine with a new or used stick, so all options are on the table as far as I'm concerned. Reply here or PM me, and thanks for any assistance.

[Chef23]

You can start him with the single ski from the combo set. My son ran up to 23 mph on that. After that just be careful not to go too small. At 60 lbs that probably isn't too much of an issue. I started my kids on a 63" HO Wide Ride ski that my son ran until he could run 30 mph on it. It provided great support and turned fine as he improved.

 

For bindings it is hard to go wrong with Wileys for kids as they are learning.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

If your combos are the wide, shaped variety, one of those is the best choice. Second best is a 64” adult ski that is very stable like a D3 or Radar. You want lots of surface area for the slow speeds. You will want to start him on the course around 13 mph.

 

More good info here:

https://www.ballofspray.com/home-page/tech/2598-the-future-of-our-sport-tips-to-addict-the-next-generation

 

[Chef23]

Connelly used to make a ski they called the Mid which was a shaped ski that I saw a bunch of kids have success on skiing really slow. I have one that my daughter used but they are hard to find so I will hold on to it but they pop up on eBay periodically that is how I got mine.

[dshock]

My son skied on a 59" obrien elite at last years nationals after learning to slalom on it at 6 years old. He then graduated to a 63" radar vapor. The 59" ski was fine at 17 mph and 19mph when he was getting started.

 

He runs Wiley bindings - they are highly recommended.

 

Dan

[Rob]

Really appreciate all the help guys, especially the article from Bruce - great stuff in there. I recently had a photo taken of my kid skiing on two skis and me beside him on a trick ski - our smiles (especially mine) are a mile wide. Can't wait to see him progress and it's great to see how much he enjoys it.

[Hallpass]

Not sure where you are located. I have seen these guys recommend the O'Brien Amigos. Here's a set I saw in the California Bay Area for $30. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1891849554439310

[Bdecker]

Funny @dshock, my oldest son did the exact same progression. Actually just eclipsed a practice PB set on the 59” elite last year in the past couple of weeks on the 63” Vapor. Lots of people told me the Elite was too small but as I already had it, we used it and he skied really well on it up through 34mph. The Vapor turns awesome for him and is much more consistent than the Elite was (and less terrifying to watch).

 

My younger boy is not as aggressive, so I think he’ll be on @Chef23’s ski which I bought for my niece and nephew years ago. Wider is definitely better the Elite was definitely too small until we got to 26 or 28 mph.

[blagrata]

My 8 year old got up on a half of a junior combo set this summer... I measured it at 59". Seemed pretty wide and stable. Standard adjustable bindings. I then wanted him to get a real slalom ski. I ordered the Radar Total Awesomeness with the small sized Prime binding. His shoe size is about a 3-4. I found that his foot would not slide out of the binding very easily. Per a recommendation I found on this site I called Wiley's and they said that since I had to snug the lace up binding so much that it took the elastic properties out of it. I ordered a semi custom binding from Wiley's tailored to his foot. It fits great and he comes out of it very appropriately. I feel that for his build and foot size that the rubber binding is more appropriate and safer. He may go back to the prime when he gets a little bigger. He loves the ski and loves the binding... and has had great success on it. He can run the junior course up to 22 mph and pulls straight through both wakes. His success has been one of the highlights of our summer. Wiley's was great to work with... they knew just what I needed and shipped it out the next morning. The radar ski is awesome too. This setup has worked great for him.

[Jimbo]

One more plug for the Radar TRA, since it is closeout season...my guy started slalom last September on a closeout 63" TRA with primes that I think cost ~250 bucks. He was about 70 lbs at the time. His first tourney was 19 long line and since then he's used the same ski to go 30 -15. He'll need something else in the next year, but we have definitely gotten our money out of that little TRA.