too young for tubing?

Yikes!

I would pick a slope where you can EASILY out-run your sliding toddler.
And you needn't climb higher than the kiddo would be willing to walk.
That will be fun and safe and more than enough thrill.

Our kids' first ski lessons were on the living rooming carpet. Nicky and Allie and I put on our skis in the living room, then skiied, duck-walked, side-steped, fell down, got up, and rolled over. We made sure to do it the night before snow (a snowstorm psyche up ritual) so we would be ready to try it in the yard the next day.

Yikes!

I would pick a slope where you can EASILY out-run your sliding toddler.
And you needn't climb higher than the kiddo would be willing to walk.
That will be fun and safe and more than enough thrill.

Our kids' first ski lessons were on the living rooming carpet. Nicky and Allie and I put on our skis in the living room, then skiied, duck-walked, side-steped, fell down, got up, and rolled over. We made sure to do it the night before snow (a snowstorm psyche up ritual) so we would be ready to try it in the yard the next day.

Good thoughts Alisa,

You may want to consider making a solo trip up to the Pass to check out the tubing area and decide if you think it would be a good experience for your daughter.

We started taking our boys up to Hurricane Ridge at about age 3 to play in the snow. The next year we skied with them between our legs. At age 5 we started them in ski lessons. Some days they were excited and wanted to be up their all day. Other days they were ready to go home in an hour or two. Both developed into passionate skiers. I think the key is making each day a fun experience. 

Gary

I think that at that age you can just find a safe slope where you can haul her up and then slide down together. Probably a lot more fun, less expense, less crowd, and less waiting around than a lift served place. I did that (self-haul tubing) at Baker with my daughter starting at about that age and it was great. Now she's 7 and I have to pay attention to keep up when she bombs down the groomers (mostly we ski instead of tubing now, except when it snows at home).

It is good to do it somewhere near a base lodge, for warm up break. Baker Heather Meadows is great for this.

I also did some touring while towing the tube when she was ages 2 through 4, she liked that as long as we didn't try anything too steep.

A tube is more fun than a sled, because it is less bumpy. My daughter disliked the plastic sled and liked the tube.

alright now for the most boring trip report ever (seriously):

took the tot tubing, first shift right at 9am. All went fine but peak speeds might be 20-25 mph, and there is really no optimal configuration for toddler and adult in the tube. Kid down in the tube means you sit on top and your mass would contact the little one's head and neck if things went bad; other option is baby on top which makes falling out a greater possibility. Generally it is safe if you stay centered on the beast and let it run its course. But if you do something dumb or someone else does there's potential for a negative outcome. This isn't very likely if you are comfortable with sliding on snow and are aware of your surroundings.

The real take away though is what experienced parents kindly noted: at 20 months she was just as or more thrilled at simply being pulled around in the tube than zipping down the tubing run. The rush of the speed was fun but not euphoric at her age. So really just sledding any little hill and spending some QT outside in the mountains would have been just as good (and free and no crowd). In a year or so it will be different, but then she's skiing, right?!

FWIW after the fact -- The sledding hill at the Hyak sno-park (Exit 54) is defininely smaller scale than the Summit Tubing center -- you get to be "Papa rope tow" and there is no snack bar for warm cocoa -- so bring a thermos. When my daugther was young she loved sledding and warm cocoa (not hot -- hot can burn a little tongue) 20 mos is a little young -- but parents do silly fun stuff like that -- my dad has a picture of my eldest sister perched on a pair of skis at 18mos -- he got a little smarter with by the time I can along and started me on skis at 4.5yrs -- Kids are fun -- just remember to play at their level.

Had my youngest son out a couple of times at the tubing centre earlier this year, he's 20 months but wasn't all the fussed after a couple of runs. Best config is dad sitting with son on lap. Never seen anyone fall out at the summit tubing and no input required after you sit down. At $5 with season pass its OK but wouldn't like to pay $18.

Amar, those charts are totally bogus BTW and represent a small sample size. My eldest whos 4 has been off the charts around 105% for weight/height since he was 1. Being big means he was easy to get started on skis early though. Looks like a 7 yr old but acts like a 4yr old which confuses people sometimes.