A few steps to take to prepare for the winter ski season
For those of us residing in the Northern Hemisphere at least, we’re coming up to an exceedingly exciting time of year, with snow on the verge of appearing across those stunning vistas.
Depending on when you read this blog post, the oranges, reds, and browns of autumn might still be lingering. However, as November nears, you can count on that situation changing fast. And when it does, you won’t want to be only just starting to consider your ski-season preparations, as this would risk you failing to extract the best from your time on the slopes.
So, for today’s article, we decided to throw our focus on some of the things you can be doing right now to ensure the smoothest possible transition to the cold season.
Refer to your ski books to refresh your knowledge
It might have been “just” seven or eight months since you were last putting yourself through your paces on skis. However, even in that seemingly brief period, some of your well-honed ski knowledge and skills might have faded, or completely slipped out of your mind.
When it comes to regaining those hands-on capabilities, there is little substitute to actually going skiing. Hopefully, though, you will have accumulated a decent amount of reading material on various aspects of skiing over the years, addressing such vital topics as ski techniques, how to prepare your skis for the winter, and first aid.
So, now is the time to take another look over that material, contained in whatever books, magazines, or other sources you have to hand. The present moment could also be an excellent one to purchase some new ski books to further develop your knowledge.
The particularly vital thing here is to orientate yourself back into a “skier’s mindset”. This will help you feel as psychologically and intellectually “ready” for the slopes as is possible without actually being back on them (just yet).
Build up your off-season fitness
If the aforementioned tip constitutes a form of “exercising” your mind to ensure you hit the slopes in optimal form, it is naturally of the utmost importance to exercise your body ahead of the ski season, too.
Such is the uniqueness of ski fitness, it is skiing itself that will truly enable you to hone it. So, your fitness emphasis during the off-season should merely be on achieving a strong head-start with this process.
At the risk of re-stating what you probably already know, you will need to especially concentrate your pre-ski-season training on the most critical body parts – your legs and core. So, strength training – encompassing a lot of deadlifts, squats, and jumping movements – will be crucial. You should be aiming for both strength and flexibility.
However, it is of the greatest importance to be realistic with your fitness goals, too. If you’re two weeks away from your first ski trip of the season, your ethos should be to do “little and often” to help gradually work up your fitness. Attempting to launch yourself into an Olympian’s training regime from a standing start is a recipe for injury.
Look over your ski gear, and prepare accordingly
It might seem obvious that you don’t want to end up only properly checking over your ski gear the evening before you catch your early-morning flight to your first destination of the ski season. But of course, there is a good chance you have ended up in precisely this situation at least once or twice in the past.
There isn’t a magic formula for avoiding a reoccurrence this year, other than making sure you definitely schedule a check of your ski gear well in advance of your trip, without the pressure of an immediate flight looming over you.
After all, a lot of things conceivably could have gone wrong with your ski clothing and equipment since you might have last reached for it in April (or whenever that happened to be). You may have gained or lost weight, meaning your existing clothes no longer fit you well… or your avalanche beacon might require new batteries. The waxing of your skis is a crucial thing to remember, too.
If any of your current ski gear no longer adequately serves your needs, performing this check early will give you plenty of time to acquire replacements at attractive prices.
Some of those replacements could well be sourced from our own UK ski shop here at Ski Exchange. So, why not make the most of the opportunity to browse our online product range today, and to contact us directly if you require any further advice and guidance in the run-up to the ski season?