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| Kids and Ski School | |
French ski schools accept children from around three years
old, Swiss ones in general from four years old. Most good resorts have 'snow
gardens' for very young children. Ring the local tourist office before you
book your holiday. In France, children's instruction is very standardized
and quite good. All schools follow the same levels, starting in the nounours
(teddy bear) class, which is the lowest rung for toddlers. Usually this
is in a little fenced-off compound close to the village, at the foot of
the lifts, easily recognizable by the profusion of penguins and elephants.
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[Dan Campbell, The Canyons (Utah)]
Generally, you won't have a problem convincing your child to go to ski school
in the morning.
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Teaching is through games aimed at making children feel happy both on
snow and on their skis. They then progress through flocon (snowflake),
in which they learn snowplough
turns, simple step turns and easy downhill runs, to the various étoile
(star) levels, when they begin to compete.
Most teaching methods for children involve little explanation and a great
deal of copying movements. This is all disguised as fun, games and, for
older children, races. Children's technique often develops directly from
the snowplough
to parallel turns simply through progressive increase in speed and narrowing
of the skis, much to the irritation and pride of the parents.
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