I'm sorry if this sounds really stupid but I have never been skiing in my life so I haven't got a clue (we've only been here 2 months). I've done a search but couldn't really find specific info.

Our 11 year old son is going skiing with his school in about 10 days time and I'm trying to get his gear sorted out.

We have a sort of list from the school which is not very helpful. It says 'ski equipment for the 5 days plus change of clothes for the evenings. Helmet is not obligatory but reccommended and a costume/dress up make up make be brought if desired for the last evening party' I guess the Swiss kids have been skiing for years anyway so the know the drill.

So we have bought him the jacket, salopettes, socks, goggles, long johns plus thermal long sleeve tops, hat, gloves and a helmet. The school are lending him skis, boots and poles.

My question is . What should he wear underneath the jacket when he's skiing? He wiil have the thermal top but will he get warm because of the exertion? Does he need a roll neck top, a fleece type jumper or something else?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

PS He's going to Zinal (wherever that is) if it helps.

Go to a sports shop and buy some Polyester thermals.

Expensive yes.... but they are epic.

Mostly I just have these thermals, a fleecy jacket, snowboarding pants and boots.

Also get something to cover the young blokes face from the wind (when sitting on the ski lift). A scarf or something similar should do the trick.


For women I actively encourage the attire illustrated below:

Attached Thumbnails

 

another tip:

it's not so much an item of clothing, but a material suggestion.

Stay with Polyester material where you can. It doesn't hold water like cotton does... hence, it is warmer to wear (you stay drier longer).

It sounds like you have the young bloke sorted though.

Thanks for the tips. I will add a scarf to the list.

Just checked the thermals we bought and they are indeed polyester so it looks like we're on the right track.
I've got sun screen amnd lip balm too as I guess he'll need some of them.

He's sure to have fun whatever. He may be the only one in the beginners group though.

PS. I'll also bear your suggestion in mind if I ever take up skiing myself

My 5 year old has ski week also around the same time. We still have not gotten any details from the school. I just wanted to have enough time to find what we needed and not be in a rush the weekend before. Thanks for asking this question. Now I know what I should be looking for aswell

I'm not sure that this is something you want to invest in for an 11year old but my fav. bit of kit.. back in the day when I was still skiing was a fleece/wind stop with pit zips... you could keep the fleece zipped up to the neck and still keep warm, protected from wind, etc, while controlling temp with the underarm zips,

n.b... this is not my pit pictured.





EDIT... it would appear Paddy G has no need of pit zips.

Speaking of temperatures, it also depends on the person - I get overheated easily, so generally ski/snowboard with just undies & a t-shirt under my ski pants and jacket, and on warm days the jacket comes off ...

For keepng faces warm, a balaclava is a good option - easier to manage and harder to lose than a scarf, and can be just pulled down to expose face.

Another point to recall is sunscreen - easy to get sunburn on sunny days in the snow! If you have a balaclava & goggles on, usually keeps your face protected. Otherwise sunscreen is a must, especially for a ten-day trip!

Under his jacket, my son wears along sleeved thermal top and one or two slightly thicker lid-layer thermal tops depending on the weather.
The thermal tops have high-zipped collars so we don't bother with a scarf (which he'd probably lose anyway).

This has worked down to -15'C with wind-chill on top of that.

Jemoli had half-priced Odlo boys thermal mid-layer tops last week.

If your son has never been skiing before, make sure that you drum it into him that he must ensure that he puts his gloves, jacket and boots somewhere warm to dry each night when he gets back from the slopes.

Most kids seem to just chuck them in a heap on the floor and then forget about them - and there's nothing worse than having to don wet gloves in the morning.

Children generally don't overheat like adults do - unless they have serious weight problems.


That's what I do!


Good call. Getting them to remember to put it on though is the problem!

Nix the scarf, could get caught on the lift...not good. Balaclava as recommend earlier or even just a fleece neck warmer

Yeah whats the deal with balaclava/face mask thing? I saw a lot of those multi-purpose neck warmer/balaclava/scarf/face mask products in the ski shops at Saas-Fee. What are the best sort to go for? While they had a polatec neck section the rest seemed pretty thin and I wondered about its effectiveness. Also noticed a lot of ice build up on the helmet/goggles while skiing in a bit of a snow front and thought these things would be terribly cold on the face once they got wet? Didn't need anything in December but I'm thinking it may be necessary from now on...

Another option for the thermals is Merino wool, which I tend to favour over the synthetic man made stuff. Because they are not matierals treated to become thermal and breathable but are naturally this way they tend to last a little longer, plus I have found they do not retain anywhere near as much body odor.

The rest of the balaclava is s'posed to be under your helmet, which is generally padded/insulated enough to keep your head warm, so that part of the balaclava can be thin. Helps the helmet fit better (less adjustment if you change!).

Multi-purpose thing - Snood - or whatever it is called - gets the thumbs up from me. Works really well.

..and I was going to compliment you on the nice pit.


Belgianmum, I think a sports store will be able to help you out. Athleticum is probably a well priced store with knowledgable staff regarding ski wear.

About -2°C to -8°C, my kids wear t-shirt, jumper, ski jacket, scarf, helmet, ski trousers, gloves, ski socks. Above that, they may shed the scarf and one layer. Below that they may add another shirt, and possibly a balaclava or headban - to prevent brain freeze.

Their trousers and jackets have vents that can be opened to allow more air in for cooling.

Here we go, google finally found what I was talking about - the Polar Buff - https://www.buyabuff.com/ - as made famous by CBS on Survivor, apparently



Does anyone use these things? I though 45chf was a bit much to fork out but I might consider it if they work well and help me get a table at the apres ski bar

My kids always seem to get freezing so they wear quite a lot - remember that in the beginner ski class there is a lot of waiting round not doing very much so I would go for more rather than less if it's likely to be cold - for grown ups who are motoring down the slopes it's a bit different. So - from the bottom up, my kids wear:

• proper ski socks (buy the ones that are made specifically for skiing otherwise they fall down and can rub)
• thermal long johns
• my younger one also wears a pair of tracksuit bottoms underneath his ski trousers but then he's really in the "baby" ski class where there is a lot of standing round and he gets cold easily
• ski trousers
• thermal vest
• long sleeve T-shirt or T-shirt polo neck
• fleece
• ski jacket
• good gloves that are really waterproof - I always buy goretex even for the kids because it works and even though expensive having cold wet hands is the absolute pits
• one of these neck warmer things if he's not wearing a polo neck
• goggles and helmet

Also good to have a pair of sunglasses for when on the slopes but not actually skiing and a pair of normal gloves and a wooly hat for out in the evenings. And (optionally maybe) a pair of decent "snow" boots for walking round the snow covered town in the evening.

Is that an alternative name for a scarf?

If there's the possibility of it getting really cold, some of those chemical handwarmers might be an idea.

BelgianMum - Sounds like this thread might be useful too.

On topic, I got one of those neck things that's a bit of fleecy tube then a long polyester tube and it's useful for all sorts of conditions. It's probably got a name, but I don't know what it is (snood doesn't really fit the bill).

It can be worn round the neck, it can be pulled up to cover most of the face or worn on the head - with the top of the head exposed or not.