What size skis to choose for children?
Holidays in the mountains are just around the corner and your child is looking forward to it. It's time to equip him/her for your next winter sports holiday: ski suit, mittens, helmet and beanie. Everything is there. All that's left is to choose the skis. Finding the right size of child's skis for your little skier can be tricky. So to choose the right size of children's skis, follow our advice.
How to choose your children's ski size
If Einstein had skied, he would probably have bequeathed us an equation meaning "the smaller the ski, the more manoeuvrable it is, and vice versa."
This is one of the unavoidable rules of skiing. If one is looking for manoeuvrability, then one will turn to shorter skis. On the other hand, if you want to focus on stability, long skis will be more suitable. This is why beginners appreciate shortened skis for the ease with which they can be controlled. However, it is not a gift to give small skis to novice skiers. While they can be a help in the early stages of learning, they become an obstacle as soon as you want to progress and increase your pace. Between too long and too short, to determine the ideal ski size for your child, you'll need to rely on three criteria: their age, their morphology and their level.
Choosing a ski size based on the child's age
For a little one trying out skiing for the very first time, there's no need for an expert in children's ski size. Before the age of 3, it is above all a first contact with skiing. On the snow front, in the company of his parents on foot, the child can learn to keep his balance on the skis.
Just choose the shortest skis available
From the age of 3, the child can be enrolled in group lessons. Nevertheless, the lessons remain very simple and not very skill-oriented. Focused on the fun aspect of skiing, the lessons aim to introduce children to skiing and build their confidence. As long as they stay in the kindergarten, the kids can keep their skis short, even if they are a bit short for their height. Indeed, at this level of learning, the ski is only a support, an object, but has no precise technical use.
At the age of 7 or 8, as the child reaches the first star level, the basis of learning will evolve and the quality of the ski will then become more and more important. This is why, at this age, it is important to choose the right size of children's skis. If during the Flocon and Ourson tests, the little skier has shown himself to be particularly gifted, sporty and precise in his snowplough, then it can be considered that he has good control of his equipment and is ready to advance. In this case, we can turn to slightly longer skis to encourage him to progress more quickly. On the other hand, if passing these two tests was difficult, it is because all the technical gestures taught are not yet correctly assimilated. Do not discourage your child by increasing the difficulty with unsuitable skis. Opt for short skis to facilitate the learning of the next stage.
At the age of 9/10, the third star test is around the corner. It is a question of knowing how to control parallel skiing and skidded turns, among other things. Here again, it will be necessary to rely on the feedback of the instructor as well as the child to estimate the level of the pupil and consequently, the size of the most adapted skis.
Ski size and child weight
In the ski shop, when the team that welcomes you asks about your weight, it is for two reasons: one, to offer a ski with an accommodating flex (the stiffness of the ski), and the other, to adjust the bindings to avoid injury in case of a fall.
As far as the child is concerned, weight is also synonymous with strength. Between a strong pupil and a puny classmate, the pressure exercised will not be the same. Because it takes muscles to control your planks. Any skier realises this when, once they've reached the bottom of the slope, they feel their thighs heating up, or even tetanising, under the strain of the effort.
So, apart from the weight as such, it is above all the strength and power that you need to know how to estimate in order to know the size of skis to choose for a child. Not to be confused with endurance: a child can be frail but tonic. However, he will not have the strength to bend his skis by the pressure of his body during a hard turn.
Depending on the morphology of your offspring, it will be preferable to adopt shorter skis for a thin child, and longer for a muscular or beefy child.
Pole size
In contrast to skis, pole size is calculated solely based on the height of the skier. The elbow must form a right angle while the person (child or adult) holds the pole by the handle.
Ski level and skier profile
Finally, the last point to consider when choosing the size of skis for your child is the skier's spirit. Does he like to ski to play with his mates, for the glide, for the speed? Not everyone is destined to pass their Arrow or Chamois Test. For some children, skiing is a game, it's the pleasure of a nice day out (rather than doing homework!), the opportunity to be with pupils of their own age. For others, it's the race, using a stopwatch, the competition: everything that boosts their adrenaline and strong sensations.
For the former, skis that are fairly short will be perfectly suitable as they will be easy to manoeuvre. For daredevils, it is the ski's ability to remain reliable and stable in all situations that will allow them to progress and push their limits.
Summary table for children ski sizes:
As we have seen, to properly choose the size of children's skis, we must rely on three criteria: age, morphology and level of the child. According to, one will choose the low or high bracket to promote the learning of skiing by the student.
| Child's height | Average | High bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 115 cm | Neck / Chin | Nose / Forehead |
| Less than 135 cm | Neck / Chin | At his height |
| Less than 150 cm | Chin / Nose | At his height |
| Adolescent | -15 to -10 cm | At his height |
From the straight skis they had back then to the skateboards and parabolic skis of today, children's skis range in size goes from the shortest to the longest. For most ski beginners, choosing a suitable model requires more than just standards (between - 15 cm and - 5 cm), it requires a global analysis to be able to propose skis in accordance with their desires, skills and expected progress.
The three key points to remember when choosing the right size of skis for children:
- To find the right size of children's skis, I take into account the height but also the age, weight and level of the pupil;
- Smaller skis are more manoeuvrable whilst longer skis are more stable;
- I adjust the learning difficulty by opting for the higher or lower bracket ski size.