No matter what your age or ability, skiing should be on everyone’s bucket list. Little ones will feel both thrilled and terrified, and as adults we will have a cocktail of emotions coursing through our veins.

Feb 16, 2016

No matter what your age or ability, skiing should be on everyone’s bucket list. Little ones will feel both thrilled and terrified, and as adults we will have a cocktail of emotions coursing through our veins. Top that off with a fair whack of exhilaration and an adrenalin buzz really is the icing on the cake.

It’s the small things that will make the difference though,understanding the lingo and then teaching it to the little ones will make all the difference to your experience too. If the kids are attending ski school then knowledge of these words will help them to learn quickly and start to have fun more rapidly. Phrases they will hear all the time are “base” which means the bottom of the mountain, this is normally where the lodge, parking and bar are located. This is the place where you start and end the day. And of course the “bunny slope” which is where all beginners start. The pitch is gentle and obviously the easiest of any run.

Here are four terms that you can make your kids aware of. These are simple commands which are pretty self-explanatory.

• Shoulder – just hold on to my shoulder
• Toe - Line up your toe in the binding. A binding is where the boots meet the ski, it is the mechanism that allows the boot to click in and be released when needed.
• Heel - Line up your heel
• Stomp - Press down on your heel