Skis for kids

[mercurymang]

My son is 10 and wants to take a shot at water skiing. What size (length) should I be looking for? Any suggestions?

Edit: I guess I should ask this as well. Should I get the skis that are attached or does that teach them to rely on it?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Skis for kids

For a 10 year old, any of the junior sized combos should be a good start. The ones we have, have a removable bar to tie the skis together if you want. Its a nice option to have so that they can get a little success getting up and skiing if they are having trouble controlling the skis when getting out of the water.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Skis for kids

I was researching skis yesterday and stumbled on this by accident. I happen to have an old (classic?) set of kids skis that I would considering doing something like this with. None of my kids are interested in skiing though, just kneeboarding and wakeboarding.

DIY - Trainer Water Skis - How to make your own waterski trainers.

 

[garbageguy]

Re: Skis for kids

I agree with oldjeep. Maybe try to find some used junior combos (craigslist?). At 10, a kid should be strong enough for unattached skis. But having the option to attached them if necessary til they get the hang of getting up might be a good idea. Remind your son it may take a number of tries before he gets up, rest before doing too many attempts. Keep your knees tucked up, let the boat do the work.

 

[mercurymang]

Re: Skis for kids

Thanks guys. My son claims he wants to ski so well see.

 

[BF]

Re: Skis for kids

My son is 11 and finally said he wanted to try skiing again 2 weekends ago. He tried 1/2 heartedly a couple times last summer, but never really got it going. We've have a ~20 year old generic wooden jr. combo set that came with a rope setup pretty much exactly like in the link above. The ropes help a lot to keep the skis together when getting up. It took him 5 or 6 tries but then he stayed up. He skied 3 or 4 times with the ropes on for the first weekend. This last weekend I took the ropes off and he got up first try and has been having fun cutting across the wake. After 4 or 5 times on the pair over the weekend (and getting very comfortable on them) he got the idea to give a try or two dropping a ski. He's almost got that... probably will manage this weekend. I've got my old wooden pair of trick ski's, and he's set on trying those too... Those I'm sure he'll have fun on the first time he tries them. Now that will look retro!

I do figure that he'll want a wakeboard soon enough (which were not around when I did lots of skiing)... but it is nice to see him (and his sister) get out of the tube for a change!