Get your Kids to love Snowboarding with these Tips by Marko “Grilo” Grilc

If you want your future riding days to look like this, read on.

Riding with your kids is the dream for all snowboarders bringing their offspring into the world. If you do the process right, you will have a shred buddy until you cannot ride any longer, get it wrong and you will taking solo laps whilst your kid is glued to the TV. We reached out to Grilo, for his golden tips on how to get your kids to love snowboarding. Grilo, his fiancé Nina and their children; Max and Emma love to take laps as a family and, subsequently, their days riding are stoking out a legion of fans on his Instagram. Ignore the myth that they need to ski first, get them strapped onto a board from the start and get them shredding.
Article by Tom Kingsnorth

Make sure they have fun on the hill no matter what they do. Photo: Grilo

Ignore the myth that kids need to ski first before they snowboard
Actually, I think for young kids, snowboarding is a way better experience than skiing. Because basically, they are young and are not so strong, they can’t handle the looseness of the skis. When you can attach both of their legs to a snowboard, they feel more in control of their body, whereas when you see young kids on skis, they can’t control them and their legs are all wobbly. When kids first start, their natural way of movement is side slipping down, it’s a more natural movement and they won’t ragdoll the mountain like you see with skiing. Also, they can progress quicker than you can on skis. Max and Emma, when they were three or four, could go down some gnarly pistes and tree runs and just sideslip in control. Snowboarding as an introduction sport is way better than skiing.

Start them young but more of an introduction to the mountains and snow.
You can start getting to the mountain at the age of two. But at that age, it’s the first phase of showing them the mountain and the experience of going up with the gondola and snow. They're so small then that they don't get it. It’s a good idea to get them sledging, maybe on a Burton Riglet that you can drag them around on too. Sledging gives them their first instincts of the wind in their hair, but you should wait until they are 3 or 4 before they really start to know what a snowboard is.

Start them off young so they get a feel of being on a board.

Make it fun.
The first tip is that snowboarding should be fun no matter what age you are, what your capabilities are, what level of snowboarding you are at, it always should be fun. When you have kids, especially when they're really small and you introduce them to snowboarding, you need to understand that not all things that you think are fun are fun for them. You need to see what your kid is like, what they enjoy and then try to make them through games and fun stuff that makes them have a really good time on the mountain. I know with Emma and Max a lot of times it happens, especially when I first introduced them to snowboarding that we would come to the mountain and they wouldn't even snowboard. That's completely fine because they had a blast on the mountain and that is everything that's important. You don’t need to be aggressive and force them to snowboard if they don’t feel like riding. So, you just let them do whatever they want and that's the tip. You also need to understand that kids love rewards and love games. You know your own child the best, but you should make snowboarding an awesome time, with games or rewards, so they always associate snowboarding with a fun time. This will carry through later in life. The most important tip for kids and adults is that snowboarding should always be fun. If you try and force them, they will hate it and you have already lost.

Make it fun. Photo: Grilo

Pick your mountain carefully.
When you go snowboarding with young children, you need to look at the mountain where you are bringing them and look at it in a way that is good for your children’s riding and not for your own. Firstly, you need a resort that has easy access with the car; secondly, they have to have a restaurant; thirdly, they need a resort with a lot of bunny slopes, flat pistes and places where they can play. If the resort has a bunny slope with a magic carpet, this is ideal. The first steps you should take with a young kid is to strap them onto a board – the Burton Riglet board with the rope tow is ideal for this – and pull them around a flat slope, so they get the feeling of being on a board.

The right gear is essential.
One of the key things we forget is that good gear will make you and your kids experience better. If your kid is crying the whole day, it’s likely that something is maybe not right with their clothing. Perhaps they are too warm, or maybe it's too cold, maybe are they wet? I figured out that dressing them up and having Gore-Tex kids clothing, preferably in a one-piece when they are very young, is ideal. That made a big change because they're never wet and get snow inside, so they're usually not too hot or cold.

Next up is their boards. I made the mistake of getting a board that was too big for Max, thinking he would grow into it, but the board was bigger than him and he couldn’t turn on it; it was like a boat. Nowadays, it’s so easy to recycle gear with friends who have kids, but you should always get a board for their size. That way they will learn quicker and will have more fun. The Riglet board is the best way to get started. The kids feel safe because you are holding them and they can progress. The next step is the MDXONE Kids backpack with the straps (link below). This gives them the security to really ride but still feel safe and it gives them the best introduction that gives them the best chance to grow into it. They should obviously wear a helmet – you need to make sure the helmet fits and is comfortable.

The MDXONE backpack is a game-changer.

Make sure they have enough food.
This is something that every parent knows, but when it's something as active as snowboarding, you need to bring a lot of food for them. Plus, you need to make sure you have lunch at a restaurant. When they were younger, I noticed that their energy level would drop rapidly. Children need to eat and drink a lot to snowboard for a longer time and they will again enjoy it more when they have energy. When they are hungry, they get tired, then angry and then it sucks.

Keep you kids well fed or your day will turn to this. Photo: Grilo

Be patient.
This has a lot to do with fun, but you have to also look at yourself as a parent and have a lot of patience. If you think your kids will just do it and it will be smooth sailing, then maybe it's easier for you to get an instructor to teach them to ride because it takes a lot of patience and time. Snowboarding with your children is something that you are sharing with your child. It should be a cool memory for them and you. But you have to have the right mental attitude going into this and don't stress yourself over anything. Things take time and you need to go into the day thinking, "Okay, I'm 100% here with my kids, I will ride with them and that's it." You don’t need to be nervous that you're not riding powder or the park with your homies, or why is your child not like riding good enough. Teaching kids is a process that you need to enjoy yourself. It takes time but it’s tough at first. If you stay patient, your kids will love it as much as you do and then the rewards come in the future. It was tough at first because maybe the jumps looked good, or I missed some powder days, but the time I spent riding with my kids was worth it because I get so much satisfaction with riding with them now.

Be patient, the pow and park can come another time.

You can follow Grilo on his Instagram here
The MDXONE backpack is available here.