l am back from Lake Tahoe and had a fantastic trip. l thought after two full days of ski school my five year old would be able to ride a chairlift and ski down some green runs with me. On the plus side she almost finished level three and she seemed to enjoy the sport so there is promise for the future.

Maybe my expectations were too high?
Brandon - we paid pretty good money for her lessons and my wife made sure she did more than that! LOL. That was pretty funny.

like forever..
they can hardly walk..

A LONG TIME

she is 5. yes your expectations were too high. do you think you could throw her behind a boat and she could wakeboard in just a few trips?

no. sit on a rock and scratch your butt. and talk to a magical dragon.

Many kids learn sports quite fast if they have good muscle strength and coordination. Five is pretty early. Keep it fun for her and try not to have any expectations on her progress. She will progress faster without any pressure. It really depends most on how much she enjoys it and her own desire to get better.

l think ur expectations were a little too high. After only two days the whole concept of going down a snowy hill on two boards is still a little scary to kids. l think it is best to wait until she goes up the lift with her ski class first & after she gets to that point in ski school then she will probably be ready to go to the green slopes with you. Until then stick to the bunny slopes with her. It will take a little patience for her to get to that point but it is worth it once she does :o)

The more you ski the better you get,my seven year old ski is better then l do,but l started him at around five years old and we ski every weekend through out the winter months. l now have to keep an eye on him as he gets a little over the edge if you know what l mean.Be patient and a good teacher/listener. l am a ski instructor so it is a little easier for me and my son.Good luck and good skiing.

5 is a great age to start skiing! Good for u for getting her in there early. As an instructor l can tell u that kids that age r all very different in their readiness to learn. Some have ice skated before & r very quick to pick up skiing. Others just r not as coordinated yet, or do not listen well or take coaching so they take longer.

One thing that helps a lot is if she ice skates or roller-blades off season. That jump-starts the skiing as it is exactly the same movements & balance.

Most important is that ur daughter love being at the mountain, love being out in the snow, & love skiing. If that means it is going to take her a little longer to learn because you're mixing it up with hot cocoa & playing in the snow & eating french fries, then that is OK. If she loves it she will want to keep going back & eventually, in her own time, she will take to it.

For my son, who l started at age 4, he was also a slow learner. But as soon as he saw some of his friends from the mountain day care riding the lift he got very serious about learning so that he could ride the lift too. We never pushed him, which was hard because l am also an instructor, but that turned out to be smart as he is still skiing all these years later & still loves the sport. No burn-out yet. And honestly, skiing with him is my favorite thing in the world so l hope he wants to keep doing it for a long, long time.

Good luck with ur daughter. Keep having fun!

Buy a couple of half day private lessons next time.

Take your child ice/roller skating when you can not be at mountain skiing.

however long it takes them to learn

l would suggest u do a good look at her physical abilities.
1. Can she stand on one foot without falling over for 2 minutes?
2. Can she stand still on both feet without moving or getting bored for 5 minutes?
3. Can she do any sports like soccer or roller skating without falling down every few minutes?
In reality, she is 5 years old & is still growing, she needs muscles to ski & at her age she has not yet got fine muscle control of her legs & body. Let her have fun skiing as she grows she will improve. Your money for her lessons was well spent since ur daughter skied without injury & hopefully had a good time & wants to do this again. Let her grow up & enjoy the time with her. She will grow up too soon no matter what. Take her to one side of the slope & play catch with her with snow balls, make snow angels. ''Life is a banquet, most poor folks r starving to death.'' Let her live & grow. Have fun.

definitly going to be a while - coordination is not fully developed yet so its going to be difficult to pick a lot of stuff up very quickly. However, she will pick it up in good time.