BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

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Young Satchel
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BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by Young Satchel » Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:51 pm

My 3-year old has been obsessed since he saw me catch the bug last season with the help
Of the gang here.

He excitedly proclaimed my new Norwegian ski box I mounted last night for the Volvo “super cool!” and asked “can I put my skis in there when I get them for Christmas?!” ([emoji23]) The wife has agreed this might be a cool idea to boot.

So.....

Woods, Cliffs, Johnny, anyone!

What the fuck do you do for an adventurous 3-4 year old who wants to get out an shuffle around the woods with his novice Dad? How best to get Him set up to maximize fun and avoid frustration? I know google is a thing, but any and all personal anecdotes from the faithful are appreciated.

Thanks dudes!


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TomH
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by TomH » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:12 pm

Just get a set of the lucky-bums skis (or similar). I know Madshus makes a pair too. They just strap onto their snow-boot and have scales on the bottom. Any longer for a 3-year old would probably be pretty unwieldly for him. Should be able to find used ones around as well. My 6 and 7-year old still kick around the yard or the pond on their old hand-me-down Karhu K-booms (the original ones as far as I know). Just make sure to show him a herringbone and keep the hills smaller.

Don't expect to go far though, as every one of your strides/shuffles will be 4-6 of his, so they can start to tucker after a while. Once he starts to master those, then you can consider bumping up into more traditional xc skis which only run down to around 120 cm.



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t-$
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by t-$ » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:18 pm

hey satch,

no real advice for you here, other than encouragement that getting them going young seems to be the ticket. i only really got into all of this because my ex's dad was a huge ski bum and she was skiing at 3 years old in the driveway. that took and she passed that passion on to me. so yeah, get him out there somehow, and i think it's awesome you are trying to do it and hopefully have gotten the physical pain worked out. good luck, and have fun with the kiddos dude!!!!!



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Young Satchel
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by Young Satchel » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:35 pm

TomH wrote:Just get a set of the lucky-bums skis (or similar). I know Madshus makes a pair too. They just strap onto their snow-boot and have scales on the bottom. Any longer for a 3-year old would probably be pretty unwieldly for him. Should be able to find used ones around as well. My 6 and 7-year old still kick around the yard or the pond on their old hand-me-down Karhu K-booms (the original ones as far as I know). Just make sure to show him a herringbone and keep the hills smaller.

Don't expect to go far though, as every one of your strides/shuffles will be 4-6 of his, so they can start to tucker after a while. Once he starts to master those, then you can consider bumping up into more traditional xc skis which only run down to around 120 cm.
I’ll have a look at those, thanks!!!


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Young Satchel
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by Young Satchel » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:36 pm

t-$ wrote:hey satch,

no real advice for you here, other than encouragement that getting them going young seems to be the ticket. i only really got into all of this because my ex's dad was a huge ski bum and she was skiing at 3 years old in the driveway. that took and she passed that passion on to me. so yeah, get him out there somehow, and i think it's awesome you are trying to do it and hopefully have gotten the physical pain worked out. good luck, and have fun with the kiddos dude!!!!!
Yeah we’ll see how it all goes . . . Hope I can get him stoked. He loves to hike and run and just play in the woods in general so he should be a natural.


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TomH
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by TomH » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:43 pm

Also, if you're into lift served skiing at all. Some easy days on the magic carpet/tow rope are always fun and are really good for just learning balance with skis on the feet. Both my boys have been on alpine skis since 2, with their formal lessons starting at 4. They were probably on those toddler cc skis at 2 or 3, usually poleless, but the poles can help the topple factor at that age.



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bgregoire
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Ski style: Nordic backcountry touring with lots of turns
Favorite Skis: Fisher E99 & Boundless (98), Åsnes Ingstad, K2 Wayback 88
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by bgregoire » Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:11 pm

Hot Chocolate!

I also recommend him eventually joining a fun-oriented cross country class like this:
http://www.cccski.com/Programs/Athlete- ... bbits.aspx

Have fun!
I live for the Telemark arc....The feeeeeeel.....I ski miles to get to a place where there is guaranteed snow to do the deal....TM



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fisheater
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Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by fisheater » Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:51 pm

https://luckybums.com/collections/shop- ... -snow-skis

Tom, great call, these are pretty cool. Good luck Satchel, I wish Santa brought me those years ago.
Now all I want for Christmas is SNOW!!!



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lowangle al
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Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
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Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by lowangle al » Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:57 pm

Did anyone mention Whitewood Wildcats. I got them for my 5 and 7 yr. old grandkids. 95cm with a universal binding and they come with adjustable poles. We were doing laps in the yard and they were doing wedge turns around spruce bough gates. The skis seemed to turn easy for them. Unfortunately my 10 yr. old and 9 yr. old neighbor tried them and each broke one. They were rated for up to 8 yr. olds. My plan is to look for some cheap used kids downhill skis and put the universal bindings on them and either kick wax them or use trimmed down skins for grip. They were 65 bucks/pair.



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lowangle al
Posts: 2731
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
Favorite Skis: powder skis
Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: BC Nordic for The Babies (!?!?)

Post by lowangle al » Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:58 pm

Did anyone mention Whitewood Wildcats. I got them for my 5 and 7 yr. old grandkids. 95cm with a universal binding and they come with adjustable poles. We were doing laps in the yard and they were doing wedge turns around spruce bough gates. The skis seemed to turn easy for them. Unfortunately my 10 yr. old and 9 yr. old neighbor tried them and each broke one. They were rated for up to 8 yr. olds. My plan is to look for some cheap used kids downhill skis and put the universal bindings on them and either kick wax them or use trimmed down skins for grip. They were 65 bucks/pair.



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