Top 3 Skiing Accessories for Children

When taking your children skiing, there is a huge array of skiing accessories available from helping you teach your children to ski, important safety equipment to small useful gadgets.

At Little Skiers I get to see the huge range that is available each year and I have used a number with my own children.  Over the years there are a few that really stand out and that I get good reviews on.  In part one, I review the accessories I found most useful with my two young children and in part 2 I will look at some smaller best selling accessories.

• SKI HARNESS: I first saw skiing reins being used on the slopes in 2008 in Austria with my 3 year old

Lucky Bums Ski Reins

and set about finding one for us as well as stocking it for Little Skiers.  I chose the Lucky Bums Ski Trainer and it has been a consistent best seller since.  It is robust with 2 easy buckles at the shoulder making it simple to get on and off.  The reins are long at 7’, which I found to be a perfect distance for my child to ski in front of me.  To start with I used them to help her turn by gently pulling on the side she needed to start her snowplough turn.  It controlled her speed when the slope suddenly got a bit steeper but the rest of the time it was slightly slack.  When she fell over the handle on the back made lifting her up easy: you literally lift up high and their legs and skis just untangle!  It also proved invaluable on the chair lifts.  I would pack the reins into the backpack, and when the chair lift came to me I used the handle to lift and pull her back into the seat.  I thought I would only use it for a few years but she only just stopped using it when she was 7 yrs. old.  It was perfect for when she skied the much steeper parts of blue runs as I could stop her at any time if she started speeding off. As they grow in confidence they do tend to speed off very fast so this is great to control those moments!  I also used them to pull her along those hated green flat sections.  There are a few copies of this but the Lucky Bums Ski Trainer is the most popular brand used in USA.
Recommended: Lucky Bums Ski Trainer: the handy backpack is a simple yet really handy feature.


• TODDLER BEGINNER SKIS. These were the best things ever!  After putting my son too early

Lucky Bums Toddler Skis

into ski school and him absolutely hating it, I decided I wouldn’t start my daughter until she was older and had already started school.  She was desperate not to be the only one not skiing so armed with a pair of toddler skis we explored Flaine.  As they are light I put them in my rucksack and when we found a snowy hill (Flaine has great beginner green areas with slopes and hilly areas around the hotels) we simply strapped them onto her normal snow boots (I didn’t wear my skis) and I ran alongside her.  She learnt the snowplough position, to balance and we had such good fun.  When she’d had enough they were easy to take off and then we would go off to find the next place, ride in the gondola or go and have a hot chocolate.  We had such fun together and she progressed fast when she started ski school and now aged 8 she skis with us all day – leaving me in her snow spray….
Recommended: Lucky Bums Beginner Skis.  These have adjustable plastic bindings, (which easily accommodate a boot up to about size 1), they encase the heel securely and they have a funky design!


• CHILDREN’S SKI GOGGLES vary quite a bit; generally if you buy from a trusted brand the quality is sufficient for a week’s skiing.  A basic pair will have a single lens and as long as it has air vents it shouldn’t fog up.  If you want a bit more reassurance then a double lens creates a thermal barrier and combined with an antifog coating and air vents ensures that the goggles will not mist up.

If you want a few more features it may be worth spending a little bit more and invest in a pair of goggles that will last quite a few years.  Previously, my son wore a mid-range pair from Trespass (under £20), which worked well but when we went spring skiing in Tignes, he really struggled with the bright glare from the snow.  I gave him my Bollé goggles with a citrus dark lens and he was so much happier and comfortable skiing in the bright sun.  Bollé also sell a modulator lens in adult ski goggles that adapt to the different light conditions without changing the lens.
Bollé Kids Ski Goggles come with a choice of two lenses: Vermillion lens which is suitable for part cloud and part sunny conditions and is a good all-rounder with 37% VLT (visible light transmitted through lens or the Citrus dark lens which is suitable for full, very bright sunny conditions (17% VLT).
Finding goggles for the smallest in your family is not easy, I found the UVEX Snowy pro are an excellent choice for infants as the frames are more flexible and soft to the touch to ensure a good comfortable fit on small heads.

In part 2, I will review and recommend useful smaller accessories.

This post was written by Tess Bradshaw, Director of LittleSkiers.co.ukLittleSkiers.co.uk and busy mum to two little skiers; Sam aged 10 and Amelie, aged 8