Learn to Ski with Whistler Kids #FamilyTravel #Whistler

Last December, my kids had the opportunity to learn to ski with Whistler Kids ski school.

I had been wanting to get my kids on skis for years now. This year, we made it happen and put both my 4 year old son and 7 year old daughter in one full day lesson with Whistler Kids.

I must admit I was skeptical. I wasn’t sure if my big plan was going to work. My daughter has some anxiety and I didn’t think she’d even let me and my husband leave her for the 8:30am drop off. Here is a breakdown of our experience with Whistler Kids.

{The Day Before the Lesson}

The day before the lesson my husband and I brought our kids to pick up their rental gear at CanSki on Creekside. We arrived at a very slow time and were helped promptly and efficiently. The kids were soon equipped with skis, boots, helmets and poles. The process was smooth and the fitting experts made the experience of trying on “moon boots” for the first time great.

After picking up the gear we headed to the Whistler Kids desk on Creekside to finalize everything for the next day’s lesson. They printed out the kids next day ski lifts and lesson tags. They also informed us of where to drop off and pick up our kids the next day.

{Lesson Day}

Lessons start at 8:30am with Whistler Kids. Kids are provided snacks and lunch during the day.

We dropped off our daughter at the base of Creekside. When we arrived several instructors greeted her and had conversations with her about her upcoming day. They equipped her with a Flaik GPS chip to wear on her leg, gave her a pinny to wear with her name on it and directed her to where she needed to go.

To our surprise my daughter was very receptive and had no problem with us leaving. She started making friends with kids from Australia and the US right away and was immediately at ease.

We dropped off our son at the Whistler Kids storefront. He had a harder time letting us go but the ski instructor worked with us and convinced my little guy to stay.

{Lesson Time}

My husband and I headed skiing for the day once the kids were dropped off. We felt assured that our kids were in good hands and knew that Whistler Kids could contact us if there were any problems.

When we returned to pick up the kids from their lesson we had very thorough feedback from both our children’s instructors. This I appreciated. Not only did we get verbal communication of what they did we also received a Skier Progress Card for both kids. The progress card checked off everything they learnt during the lesson, it also had personal messages from their instructors.

The progress card also had their Flaik number on it. With this we were able to log onto the flaik website to see a map of where they had skied during the day. Since it was my kids’ first time ever on skis they didn’t go very far on the mountain but we still checked out the map on the Flaik website. My daughter thought it was so cool.

During his lesson, my four year old son learned how to put on and take off his skis, he learned how to walk with his skis on and is working on side stepping up the hill and worked on a gentle snowplow. His instructors also took them for a ride on the Creekside Gondola to play in the snow and have hot chocolate and marshmallows at the top of the gondola.

My seven year old daughter completed everything in Level 1. I was so proud to see that she’s ready for Level 2. She also rode the gondola with her group and had snacks and play time in the snow mid mountain.

That evening we received an email from Whistler Kids with an outline of how far my kids travelled, how many runs they were on and a link to the flaik website.

We loved looking at the aerial map to see where the kids had gone. I can imagine their map will have even more trails highlighted next time they take lessons with Whistler Kids.

{What your Child will Need for Lessons}

On lesson day, make sure your child has the following:

• waterproof gloves/mitts
• snowpants
• ski jacket
• helmet
• goggles

I had no idea that a first time skier would need goggles. I had to rush to CanSki the morning of the lesson to purchase goggles. Thankfully you will get a 10% off coupon when you check into your hotel for anything at CanSki. CanSki stores are located throughout Whistler village and have everything you would need for a great ski or snowboarding holiday.

{Overall}

I was overly impressed with Whistler Kids. Everyone I came in contact with before, during and after the lessons were professional and knowledgable. My kids had an amazing time in ski school and can’t stop talking about it.

My only regret was not putting my daughter in a two or three day lesson.

I’m so happy that my children’s first skiing experience was with the professionals at Whistler Kids. As a parent, I trusted Whistler Kids to teach my child, care and supervise them while I was skiing on Whistler and Blackcomb mountain.

My family is going to commit to going on one ski vacation every winter. My wish is for my kids to love skiing as much as I do.

To learn more about Whistler Kids check out their website. You can also follow Tourism Whistler on Facebook and Twitter for up to date information on Whistler mountain.

Have your kids ever taken ski lessons? If so, how was their experience?