Tahoe Weather, Conditions, Stoke, and What's Up Thread...

[Ottime]

Mr Smith, telemike has an entire thread on the development of a ripper.

Bottom line, get a harness. It will save your back. And you can take him up the lift with the plastic skis, ski down with him between your legs and hold him upright with the harness. If you XC or AT, put him on your back and go out for adventure. Ergos are great, as well as external hard frame Kelty's. It will develop a sense of what schussing is all about. Finally, avoid cold miserable days and stick to te warm and sunny.

[Mach Looney]

Where is SchralphMacchio?

Name the resort.

That is a bad man right there! Heavenly?

[Sierra Cement]

Great fun to be had out there right now. Saw quite a bit of activity on some of the usual faces - including a very large crown on the top of Echo bowl (south of the peak). The nasty rain crust with facets was 5' deep where we were and failed easy. Played it safe and still had a ton o fun.

[stoepstyle]

Just an FYI, I had a reservation to Benson hut for 2 people from the night of the 29th till the night of the 1st. My friend tore his MCL and I do not have any other backcountry partners in CA, I am offering up my reservations up to anyone here who would want to use them.

[powdork]

fun day today making hippie turns with hutchski above emerald bay

[harpo-the-skier]

Sierra Cement, you set off that avi today, Thrusday morning?

Great fun to be had out there right now. Saw quite a bit of activity on some of the usual faces - including a very large crown on the top of Echo bowl (south of the peak). The nasty rain crust with facets was 5' deep where we were and failed easy. Played it safe and still had a ton o fun.

[BGnight]

Good day

[TahoeJ]

fun day today making hippie turns with hutchski above emerald bay

Nice - I've camped there a number of times in the summer and always thought it would be a fun spot to hit when there's snow. How far away did you guys have to park?

[gimpy]

nobody set off any release in our group this am. what avy are you referring to harpo?

[powdork]

Nice - I've camped there a number of times in the summer and always thought it would be a fun spot to hit when there's snow. How far away did you guys have to park?

The gate is at the campground. It's only good when the road is closed

[Vets]

That is a bad man right there! Heavenly?

Not Heavenly. Try again please.

[powdork]

Northstar

[Vets]

Northstar

You got it.

[skier666]

I'll be at KW the next two days to ski the moguls...well, that and some chair 7 laps with my kid.

[dookeyXXX]

Mr Smith, telemike has an entire thread on the development of a ripper.

Bottom line, get a harness. It will save your back. And you can take him up the lift with the plastic skis, ski down with him between your legs and hold him upright with the harness. If you XC or AT, put him on your back and go out for adventure. Ergos are great, as well as external hard frame Kelty's. It will develop a sense of what schussing is all about. Finally, avoid cold miserable days and stick to te warm and sunny.

If I may make a humble suggestion, I would highly advise against the purchase and use of the harness.

IMHO, those things are evil and create bad habits (i.e. backseat posture) and do not promote muscle memory or the sense of actually performing any of the basic moves of skiing (i.e. the wedge/pizza). They also instill poor rotary movements because way too many parents tend to yank the kid the way you want them to go.

Between the legs is okay (and I use the word "okay" hesitantly). The problem with this technique is if you get tangled up you're going to fall on your kid and possibly seriously injure them (trust me, crushing a kid is no fun).

Using a pole held out to the side and away from you and having the little tike holding on is the lessor of any of the evils. It gets the kid even with you so they feel a sense of being independent and they are also away from you so if they fall you won't go down with them and crush them. A bamboo pole or PVC pipe are even better.

Another great (and cheap) option is the hula hoop. You put your child inside the hoop and they hold the inside of the ring, pushing the hoop away from them to instill the sense of proper forward pressure and balance. You hold the outer part of the ring and ski behind them. You can also use it similar to the pole: have the hoop out to the side, you holding one side of the ring the child holding the other side away from you.

At any rate, I would suggest that you don't get a harness because if used improperly when you go to put them in a lesson they will have incredibly poor balance (see previous backseat comment above) and while they may be able to form a wedge, they won't be able to stop because they haven't developed any muscle memory to go along with the movements. As a result they will be a runaway missile and a danger to themselves and others around them. I've been on the receiving end of harness bred kids all too often and, imho, it's one of the worst possible things a parent can do in terms of developing a kid's skiiing abilities.

Definitely get the kid out and playing in the snow. Have them scoot around on the skis to develop balance and sense of the equipment. Make it fun and don't push them too hard (like Ottime said, avoid cold and stormy days). Do a lot of snow play and quit when they want to quit or get tired. Forcing them into the sport will backfire 9 times out of 10.

[~mikey b]

see that?



dookie67 has WAY more experience than I do with kids

I have 1 kid

he has taught many

harness worked for us - dookie67 says no harness

Ottime did not give bad advice - he gave advice that worked for him

dookie67 - ask Chris how bad the harness was for Owen

Owen still wears his for chair riding


parents - try what you feel will work for you and your kid - have fun

just because I put up a thread about my kid does not mean I think that's the only way to teach your kid

the more time you spend on the snow with your child the better - you'll figure out what works

[bodywhomper]

wait, you guys yank the kids with the harnesses? i used one for several years with my first kid. helped picking them up after a fall and holding them securely on the chairlift. i had some leads, but kept them slack; they were for emergency stuff only. he skied between my legs a lot first with my holding him and controlling things, then w/o me controlling things (i.e. not holding him, standing on his own, his own pizza, etc.), and quickly with him skiing away and out in front of me. it worked pretty well for us.

on the western slope, there is more low elevation snowpack now than anytime last season. in truckee today, i could not form a snowball while sledding with the kids (thanks for the recommendations!). my sledding based obs, the surface snow is facetting (nsf).

[powfiend]

rumor has it that silvy is opening tomorrow. saw that the road was already groomed from the cable car today. Squaw has been really good even with holiday crowds.

[jahoney]

was there today, obviously huge crowds on the roads but the mountain didn't seem too busy. Some lines on granite but nothing too bad.

silverado will be fun tomorrow if it opens

[Ottime]

DO NOT GET/USE A HARNESS!!!!

Those things are evil and create bad habits (i.e. backseat posture) and do not promote muscle memory or the sense of actually performing any of the basic moves of skiing (i.e. the wedge/pizza). They also instill poor rotary movements because you are always yanking the kid the way you want them to go.

Between the legs is okay (and I use the word "okay" hesitantly). The problem with this technique is if you get tangled up you're going to fall on your kid and possibly seriously injure them (trust me, crushing a kid is no fun).

Using a pole held out to the side and away from you and having the little tike holding on is the lessor of any of the evils. It gets the kid even with you so they feel a sense of being independent and they are also away from you so if they fall you won't go down with them and crush them. A bamboo pole or PVC pipe are even better.

But please don't get a harness. When you put them in a lesson they will have incredibly poor balance (see previous backseat comment above) and while they may be able to form a wedge, they won't be able to stop because they haven't developed any muscle memory to go along with the movements. As a result they will be a runaway missile and a danger to themselves and others around them. I've been on the receiving end of harness bred kids all too often and, imho, it's one of the worst possible things a parent can do in terms of developing a kid's skiiing abilities.

Other'n that piece of extremely bad advice from Ottime, the rest of what he said is solid: get the kid out and playing in the snow. Have them scoot around on the skis to develop balance and sense of the equipment. Make it fun and don't push them too hard (like Ottime said, avoid cold and stormy days). Do a lot of snow play and quit when they want to quit or get tired. Forcing them into the sport will backfire 9 times out of 10.

Dude, relax. The harness if for picking your kid up off the ground, holding on to them on the lift, and general lifting, shifting, and moving. I never said anything about using leashes to turn, yank, direct etc. If you value your back as an adult, it sure is useful. But, if on the other hand, you like to damage your back, go ahead and don't use a harness, and bend over to pick up your tike everytime they fall.

And as far as the inbetween the legs thing, that is another spot the harness helps. Kid starts to tangle, you grab said harness, lift them off the ground and ski it out to a hockey stop. No tangle, no fall on kid. I only use this technique for the first few lift rides, when they are still in plastic skis, and are really just getting a sense of the glide, stopping for snacks half way down and enjoying the lift ride. Once on the real skis, then I agree with Dooks, on the pole method.

As for leashes, if you are skilled enough, you can use them in a slack mode (as in not pulling on them) and just use them for if/when you newb skier is out of control, unable to stop due to an icy spot, or about to be blind sided by some dbag bombing the kiddie hill. In no way am I suggesting using the leashes to steer, hold up, or otherwise influence your kid's skiing, except in an emergency. OTOH, I have seen parents skiing down the hill, with leashes pull tight, and perhaps using them to help steer their kid. So, I can imagine the backseat kiddos Dooks is talking about.

My 2 cents from partaking in teaching my god son, his brother and now my own son, who will get on his first real ski set up this next week at 20 months.

[schuss]

I'll be at KW the next two days to ski the moguls...well, that and some chair 7 laps with my kid.

I'll be there Saturday shaking off the cobwebs.

[Sierra Cement]

Sierra Cement, you set off that avi today, Thrusday morning?

As gimpy said we did not set off anything in our group. We saw quite a bit of action on the surrounding peaks (and even on the one we were on). The biggest being the Echo Peak crown.

[TahoeJ]

Planning on a day trip to KW on Saturday - I figure it'll be less crowded than Squawlpine and it looks like south lake is going to get a little more snow tonight than up north. I still haven't made it there yet this season so I'm long overdue. White helmet, black/charcoal jacket, blue pants.

[gimpy]

harnesses are the best thing to keep your kid from hitting others, trees, level 27 psia tightasses, and other obstacles. unless you are fine w/ keeping your kid confined to flat magic carpet serving slope until they are able to stop and avoid on their own.

[TahoeBC]

Buddy took this photo today