snow of tomorrow

Snow of tomorrow | Can children still be taught to ski today?

Voices from the PG community

by Lisa Amenda • 02/20/2023

Winters with little snow, maximum temperatures and increasingly expensive lift prices: Does it still make sense to teach your children about your passion for two skis? And if so, what is important?

Would I ever teach my children to ski? That was never really an issue for me. After all, skiing was my sport. I've been into skiing since I was three years old. My dad taught me how to ski, then I joined the ski club. Skiing poles - the classic way. Then: earning money as a ski instructor. That was probably one of the most enjoyable jobs for schoolgirls and students. After that it was just fun, passion and collecting ski days while studying in Innsbruck. My oldest friends? I know them through skiing. After training in the ski club, we shoveled kickers in the backcountry. We saved our money for our very first twin tips and feverishly awaited the latest ski films on video cassette. Skiing was my passion, my life, my circle of friends. Lifestyle, as they say.

Then the snow became less or the awareness of climate change more. The journey from Munich became longer, as did the hours and minutes I had to spend in traffic jams for a few hours on the slopes. A ski tour away from the crowds? Doesn't exist in the Munich catchment area. The lifestyle was crumbling. But as soon as I clicked my ski boots into the bindings, the feeling came back. Zack boom - and I was in love again.

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Practice makes perfect... — Early practice makes perfect...

Steffen Kruse

The dream of having your own child on skis

Of course you want to pass on this feeling to your children. And by "you" I mean me. Because I've been mom to a son since March 2022. Even when I was pregnant, I imagined what skis and boots he would have one day. Which slopes we would race down together and where we would strap on the little boards for the first time. I interviewed ski instructors about the best way to teach children to ski today (I no longer know the latest ski teaching methods myself), when to start and found out which ski club we had in our town. But there was still another thought at the back of my mind: is it really still possible to take the children to the ski area for two hours on Friday afternoons after work and school, like we did back then? Can we still go on day trips to the mountains every weekend and preach during the week that we should leave the car at home and get on our bikes instead?"

This is what the authors of an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung thought. It was precisely about the question: Should children still learn to ski today? A discussion of pros and cons. In the case of the contra author, it quickly becomes clear that something fundamental is missing here that is needed to practice skiing: Love. The pro author certainly has that. Because she is well aware that skiing is not sensible, but simply great: "Elegance and speed come together here as beautifully as in few other sports."

On the greatness of skiing and the enthusiasm for nature

And I think so too. Skiing is great and has shaped my life significantly. From my childhood to my youth, my studies and my career. Everything has come together for me through skiing. Why else would I be writing for ski magazines today? And I don't want to keep this greatness from my son. I want to show him what the different types of snow feel like under the skis. What it's like to glide through deep powder or to press the sharp edges onto a hard piste. I want to show him the tingling feeling of thawing feet after a long day of skiing and how beautiful the air can glisten with snowflakes. What it's like to spend the day outside with friends and that it's not so bad if you fall off the drag lift. That the yeast dumpling tastes best when you're skiing and that the ice-cold cheese sandwich in the car afterwards tastes best too. And I want to give him a feeling and an understanding of nature. For sun, snow, fog in the mountains. The cold and the many, many shapes of the peaks.

In fact, I also believe that outdoor sports are one of the best ways to convey an understanding of and love for nature. Because only those who are active in nature know how to appreciate it. Steffen from the PowderGuide team has a similar view: "People should go out into the mountains, to the sea, into nature, guided and in groups if necessary. They should see how beautiful it is out there and therefore also be willing and have the understanding to consciously want to preserve the beauty. Each according to their own abilities, one person understands that plastic packaging is not a fertilizer for alpine flora and another already knows that you burn the toilet paper after the big store or take it with you, as the cows prefer to eat plants." Totti from the PowderGuide team agrees: "I think that if we can pass on an awareness of nature (yes, you can discuss that!) through outdoor sports, then our descendants will also be more or more aware of the environment." And Simon Pfandler from the PowderGuide community agrees: "I believe that it makes sense to bring our children closer to the beauty of nature. Skiing can definitely support this idea. Nature that is overdeveloped by lift towers and ski huts does not correspond to my image of this beauty. Nevertheless, skiing on the slopes can be an effective way for children and beginners to improve their skills to such an extent that they can enjoy moments of solitude far away from civilization."

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Educating responsible skiers

However, it is also clear that we cannot simply carry on as before. "It is very important to me that my children are not only taught a climate-friendly lifestyle, but also a healthy and sporty one. Unfortunately, the alternative sports on offer here in winter are relatively limited and a sport that can only be practiced in a heated hall in winter is probably not necessarily better for the climate. However, this calculation could be different if you have to travel a long way to the ski resort," says Simon. That's why I won't be traveling to the mountains for two hours of skiing in the future. A one-hour journey is not justified. Totti in Freiburg feels the same way: "I find it increasingly difficult to drive up to the Black Forest for a few hours to go skiing or ski touring, and I'm always surprised at how many people drive up to the slopes or cross-country ski trail (often alone)." This also includes: only skiing when there is enough snow. That may seem difficult at first, but honestly. When it's ten degrees in February, I'm not a fan of squeezing into the gondola with lots of other people anyway, but prefer to go for a bike ride on my doorstep. And: "Of course, the first question is: how long will we still have snow for skiing? Most studies currently assume that a sharp decrease in snow cover days is to be expected at low and medium altitudes. At higher altitudes, skiing should remain possible for longer, but the ever-decreasing supply will probably lead to even more pressure on nature from winter sports enthusiasts," Simon points out.

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Do we want to support this come hell or high water?

My answer: No! I want to teach my son a responsible approach to nature. I'm sure some people would ask themselves whether this even has to include skiing. For me, it is part of it. Of course, you can't explain it rationally, but perhaps you can empathize with it. It's up to us parents to raise our children to be climate and nature-conscious skiers. How do we do that?

Only ski when the snow cover allows
Inspire children to appreciate the beauty and special features of nature
Travel consciously
Use (small) ski resorts without major expansion plans
Try to sensitize children to nature conservation as early as possible

Patrick from the PowderGuide team doesn't go far enough: "In fact, this question is rather too narrow for me because, as is so often the case, it is aimed at individual responsibility for CO2 emissions. That is part of the answer, but probably the smaller part. What we need are structural changes and that is the responsibility of politicians. However, politicians only feel responsible if we make our displeasure clearly known at the polls. In this respect, we have a responsibility with every election to enable majorities for better management of the climate catastrophe."

Training for the parents!

Steffen Kruse

I can only agree with Patrick. As parents, we can do something ourselves - and that's definitely better than waiting for something to happen from the outside. But we must also (once again) hold politicians and officials accountable (as demonstrated by the open letter from ÖSV athlete Julian Schütter to the FIS). Max from the PowderGuide community concludes: "It's difficult for us to give up skiing completely. The important thing is to be flexible. Then we are optimistic that we will be able to enjoy the sport for a few years without a lot of artificial snow and glaciers. What is certain, however, is that skiing can no longer be practiced as extensively as it was when we were children."

As parents today, we no longer just have the task of teaching children to plough and ride the lifts, but also to teach them responsibility far beyond that. But you should do that anyway, even without a skiing background. And then perhaps the passion for the two boards will be passed on to the next generation. Even if they might not be able to enjoy it as much as we did back then. And what if my son doesn't want to ski at all? Never mind, then he'll find his passion in something else. But I hope that I can pass on my love of nature to him in any case.

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