It happens to every child at some point in their life — they ask to become a snowboarder. In fact, this question will likely be posed by your child every year. If your kid wants to snowboard, read on to learn when and how this is a good idea.
You can take comfort that there have been significant advances in learning to snowboard for young kids, so he or she can have a fantastic experience learning to become a snowboarder.
So, let’s take an objective view on the rapidly evolving landscape of learning to snowboard, when it makes sense to start snowboarding, and how to politely say ‘not right now’ to snowboarding if it doesn’t make sense just yet for your child.
What is snowboarding like for a 3-7 year old?
The common refrain has been that children can’t learn to snowboard effectively before age 8. For a while there was a self-perpetuating condition as few kids snowboarded under 8, and thus it was nearly impossible to find kid-specific gear or tailored teaching methodologies for young kids.
Fast forward to today, and there are excellent gear and resources. And, kids can have a ton of fun learning to snowboard with the right learning environment, gear, and support.
Check out these kids ripping it up for proof:
Is snowboarding harder to learn than skiing for a young kid?
While ‘common knowledge’ says ‘YES’ to this question, the actual answer is much more nuanced:
| Snowboarding Pros for young kids | Skiing Pros for young kids |
|---|---|
| – Comfy gear… way more comfy! | – Basic movements are easier to learn in the first 10 days of learning to ski |
| – IF parents are boarders, they can support a young boarder more easily than a young skier | – Skiing is less physically demanding than boarding in early learning stage, so you can have more time on snow |
| – There is a growing number of great boarding-schools and boarding gear for young kids | – There is a wide range of high quality gear, learning options, ski schools, etc. that are easily accessible |
| – Mastering snowboarding is generally easier than mastering skiing, so upper level progression can be faster for young boarders | |
Learning to ski can be easier than boarding for young kids based on the following reasons:
- Skiing builds on a physical skill kids naturally pick up while walking, running, and hopping — namely balancing or weighting one foot while facing forward.
- Skiing can be less physically draining to learn than snowboarding, so you have more time on the snow before kids hit their melting point
- There are currently more options for high quality instruction / ski clubs / group lessons with skiing than snowboarding for young kids
Tap into these resources to learn more about kids skiing: teachyourkidtoski.com/category/lessons
But, snowboarding has 4 factors that can make it easier to learn than skiing for some children:
- Kids are naturally attracted to snowboarding, so your child may be really motivated to get started and stick with boarding through the harder parts of learning.
- The boots are WAY more comfortable and allow for natural walking. This can remove a huge learning barrier for kids who have rejected skiing due to sensitive feet or ill-fitting ski gear.
- Snowboarding is generally thought to be easier to master than skiing, so once your child is boarding down green runs, they will likely progress more quickly towards advanced terrain than a young skier.
- There are some fantastic programs across the country for young boarders, and plugging into one of these can offer your child a fantastic learning experience.
What innovations are available for kids who want to snowboard to make learning easier?
Awesome online resources for parents
- The team at KidsCanRide.com provide excellent online tutorials and videos. They tailor their advice to specific ages (under 2, 2, 3, 4, 5…) which is very helpful. Here’s an example https://kidscanride.com/snowboarding-age-4/
- TalesofaMountainMama.com has a long-form blog post with a fantastic overview of the teaching process and additional resources, so I’d recommend reading it to get a good overview of the learning process and tips to get started. https://talesofamountainmama.com/teach-kids-snowboard/
- Finally, FlowingFreeRide.com has free tutorials online along with more in depth training videos to purchase. Here is an example of their intro to snowboarding for young kids video:
Resorts with strong Kids Snowboarding programs:
Innovations like the Burton Riglet Park — a learning area designed specifically for teaching young kids to board — have changed the game for young boarders. Check out this Star Wars version at Sierra at Tahoe (in California) for one of the coolest versions!
Innovations that make kids want to snowboard
Kids Boards with tons of flex
Kids Bindings with only one strap for ease and comfort
Riglet Board Reel for teaching kids to snowboard without having to physically hold them
Burton Grom (young kid) Boots for easy slip-on and great comfort
Don’t forget to check out these must-have accessories for winter recreation:
When does snowboarding makes sense for kids under 8?
Snowboarding makes a lot of sense for a young child to learn if the following conditions are in place:
- The parents are skilled boarders, and want to be engaged in their child’s learning over a sustained period of time
- The child is really stoked for snowboarding, and has a temperament to stick with mastering hard skills
- You have invested in either:
- getting your own gear that is child specific (like Burton Riglet kit) and invest a lot of time on a high quality ‘how to’ site like KidsCanRide.com
- a sustained set of lessons at a resort that has a Riglet park and strong youth program
If not, just stick to skiing and make the switch when your child has the right resources available.
What we tell our children about snowboarding
Our kids tell us a couple times a year that they want to learn to snowboard. Our answer is ALWAYS:
YES — but first we want you to be a level 9 skier.
Level 9 is the top level at our home mountain, indicating our kids can safely and skillfully ski everything in-bounds. You can use variations on this, but basically we want them to complete learning to ski, and then they are welcome to try something new. This also likely coincides with age 10 or so, which will also mean our kids’ learning curve will be a lot shorter than if they started earlier. Plus, since we as parents don’t snowboard anymore, having our kids able to learn from peers and in group lessons will be really helpful when the time comes for them to learn to board.
What is your experience teaching young kids to board? Any tips or resources I missed here — please add them to the comments section below.
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