During the last snow storm, we went out and bought 5 his very own cross country skis. We weren't sure how he would do, but he'd been giving us signs over the last few weeks that he was ready:
Standing on the bed holding two screwdrivers and abruptly plunging them behind him "Mama, I seeeing!" (took me quite a while to make the connection to sKiing).
Later, walking down the hallway and randomly kicking a foot out behind him "Look Daddy! I skiing!"
We figured we ought to at least give him a chance. As the ski season is always over by now, everything was way clearanced, and we didn't feel so bad about buying two hunks of plastic that he'll only be able to use for a few years.
Five is a natural born skiier. He almost never gets his tips crossed, he only falls down on purpose, he can follow in Daddy's tracks or (much slower) make his own. He is SO much better than I was when I started. The things that kids can just take to absolutely amaze me.