Kids grow, so keeping up with them can be tricky!  Skis that are chin to nose are great for Slalom.  If you are buying, find nose hight, if you are hoping to get another season out of them, chin is fine.  We understand needing to make things work, even shoulder hight is manageable, particularly at the younger ages.  Once your racer gets to U16 or even U14, ski sizes get more event defined, see the competition guide for that.

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With Giant Slalom (GS) skis are longer.  These tend to be eyebrow hight to a few inches taller than the racer.  These are great skis to have, most all mountain skis are built from GS specs with some modifications usually to the width.  If you're traveling to Colorado, Utah or other bigger mountains, GS is the ski to take.  Like Slalom, as the racer gets older and attends USS&S or even FIS races, events determine ski sizes.

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Generally keep race skis out of the park.  Sliding a box a couple times a season and grabbing the occasional air isn't an issue, its the ongoing abuse that adds up.  May want to get some park specific skis if you have a racer than just can't keep out of the park.  We do some training in the park, mostly on the landing of the big kicker.  Skiing over that creates a floating stomach feeling and some kids end up in the air, though only a few inches off the snow, they can be in the air for a distance of a few feet.  Getting them comfortable with drops and rollers is important, we find that terrain in the park.  It's the rails, box spins, and big air that tend to make a mess of skis.  Rails scratch the bases and bash edges, box spins catch edges and rip them out, bonks delaminate tips and tails, big air landings can delaminate bases.  Not things desired for race skis, park skis are better built for that.