Learning to ski never became easier for the little people in our lives, meet Elan U-Flex, skis for kids.
Up till now the smallest skis and boots for children have been stiffer, making it tough for our youngest skiers who lack the weight, muscle power and fine motor skills to bend their boots and skis, and utilize ski design while they're creating turns.
Why does restricting our ability to bend boots and skis make learning to ski harder? If we can’t bend our boots or skis because they are stiff, we require: more strength, weight or momentum to influence the ski bending, and be able to take advantage of the skis shape and design.
Anyone learning to ski builds upon learned skills to gain confidence in utilizing more strength, speed or fine motor skills. Young children developmentally have yet to cultivate fine motor skills. For say three or six year olds to have boots where they are able to easily access ankle bend, positive skiing movements are promoted. These easily achieved movements start to bend the front of the skis.
For any of us on modern shaped skis: when the combination of our body weight, gravity and muscles firing, allows our skis to bend at the start of a turn, then the skis shaped design can assist and will further turn our skis. This is particularly impactful for children where shorter ski lengths and the need for durable plastics in boots have meant their skis and boots have been less flexible. This is why U-Flex technology is changing the way children can learn to ski.
Children learn by doing. Skilled instructors set up an environment where budding young skiers in the making are encouraged to make movements on skis that result in them feeling what the ski can do for them, no matter how small they are, with their own power! Now instructors can focus on fun games and activities that stimulate children’s interest with body movements that will help them turn the skis.
We’ll always meet children that only want to ski straight down the hill, the trick always is to have them discover how much more there is to explore when they know how to turn! The outcome equals our smallest guests, quickly identifying with movements that will help them to turn and happily exploiting these movements.