In the last week or so temperatures at Mammoth Lakes have dropped and it feels like winter is not that far away. In fact, Mammoth Mountain plans to be open in two weeks today, fingers crossed. Snow making started on Broadway a couple of days ago and hopefully mother nature brings us some snow tomorrow night. I’ll be posting photos on a regular basis to keep you updated with conditions and you can also check out Mammoth’s webcams here.
The webcams are interactive meaning you can point them where you like online to get the full picture of what conditions are like. Or as a friend of mine did, organise to be on camera for family when you are in Mammoth next!
In part one I looked at ways to do some pre season training that simulated real skiing. Most of these involved some expensive equipment or a fair degree of risk hurting yourself. This article will look at some other (perhaps more realistic) things you can do to get into shape for skiing. Here’s a few ideas:
1. Anything is better than nothing
Most people think of skiing as a downhill sport with gravity pulling you down the hill so who needs to be fit? Well to get the most out of your day, ski bumps, powder, steep terrain or in anything more than a straight line you will want to have some fitness, any kind of fitness is better than nothing. Any exercise that improves your cardio will be good, especially when you come to Mammoth of which the top is 11,000 ft above sea level. I like running myself but cycling, rowing or anything that gets the heart going is good.
2. The Legs!
The legs! You might want to think about squats or lunges to work the quads. That’s your thighs and with most people the thigh muscles work pretty hard when skiing. If you tend to ski in the backseat, like a lot of skiers do, your thighs work hard to keep you upright. Then you need those same muslces to help turn the ski. Likewise the hamstrings and big backside muscles are used a lot too.
3. Core Strength
Don’t forget about the core. In skiing you can get thrown around a lot as you hit bumps, different snow or terrain. A strong core will make a difference in keeping your balance. Things like Yoga are great for the core whilst also really good for flexibility.
4. Tactics
On your first day up the hill for the season go easy! Easier said than done (especially if it is a powder day), but why burn yourself out on the first day if you are skiing for a week? Start on slopes that are easy for you and do a few warm up runs. Stop skiing before you feel tired. A lot of accidents and injuries happen to skiers when they push for that last run. As a side note for those of you that are superstitious: you should never mention you are having a last run as this will be frequently when an accident happens; Murphy’s law I guess. The elevation at Mammoth is pretty high so other things you can do to help your first day is drink lots of water and not so much of the margaritas.
5. Take a lesson early in the season
I’m not a personal trainer or exercise guru but I can teach skiing. I teach technique that makes use of the ski to help turning which then saves your energy for more skiing = more fun!
6. Some resources on the internet
Map my run is a cool site that allows you to map your run on google to see how far you have gone and how many hills you have gone up; the more the better.
You can find some great ski exercises here that will work the legs and core.
Winter is not for away and you have to get in shape for the season ahead, right? Unless you are a hemisphere hopper and chase the snow around all year, you are going to have to prepare on ‘dry land’. So to come up with some ideas I did a bit of reaserch on the internet. Here are some videos I found of possible ways to get into shape and improve your skiing at the same time.
The Racers Edge.
This great piece of equipment will help you get into shape for sure. I have never tried the Racers Edge but a few things jump out at me in terms of crossover into real skiing. First, I think you should be wearing your ski boots to get a real feel for the movements. Second, skiing involves going down hill whilst this device is flat. Third the legs are always in the same position relative to each other, in downhill skiing the inside leg usually moves forward a bit to accommodate the slope you are standing on.
My rating:
The SkyTec Simulator
A couple of boxes are ticked by the SkyTec Simulator that the Racers Edge doesn’t, you will notice the inside leg moving forward and the athlete is wearing ski boots, yay! However, there is still no slope angle built in, so it might be difficult to reproduce the same movements on an actual ski hill. Also this machine looks rather large, the average house probably wouldn’t accommodate it.
My Rating:
Homemade version
This looks to be a homemade version of the two exercise machines above. Also looks to be a great way to keep children entertained in the school holidays and stop them from running off.
My Rating: (half star given for the sound track)
Harb Carvers
I like how these have a downhill component. This makes it closer to downhill skiing than the other trainers minus the car hazard. Probably best to have a good medical insurance. Skiing and rollerblading have quite a bit in common so this is an excellent way to get in shape, work on balance and get the legs working.
My Rating:
Tree skiing without the snow
So far the most realistic ski training I’ve found on the net. I like that the dry leaves are a good simulation for snow and that the trees give it realism too. Also you can use your normal ski equipment if you wish making it very cost effective. As a negative I imagine there would be quite a large hazard from exposed tree roots.
My Rating:
Lastly,
If you are short of money and don’t actually own any equipment you could try this for your dry land training.
Dry Land Training
All you need is a shovel and poles for this preseason exercise drill. I guess you could use stairs too as an alternative. This drill has obvious application to skiing the bumps. If you can do this as well as Jonny Moseley then you are a legend.
My Rating:
I’d be interested to know if anyone has used any of the preseason training equipment I’ve shown here or have your own way of getting into shape. In part two of this post I will write about some more practical things that you can do to get ready for winter.
In my last post I mentioned some snow was in the forecast. Here are some pictures from yesterday up at the mountain. Should be enough to get anyone excited, except for those that don’t like snow of course!
I arrived back a week ago. A week can be a long time in politics but as it turns out a long time in the Eastern Sierra too. This picture from just last week.
The official opening date for Mammoth Mountain is November the 11th. That is just over one month away! Of course this is dependant on mother nature giving us some snow or cold enough temperatures to allow the snow making team to make the stuff. As I look out my window now it’s raining so I’m guessing there will be a dusting of snow up high and there is also some more snow in the forecast this week.
In the coming weeks I will be posting some ideas on what you can do to get ready for the winter. Anyway it’s time to get excitied about the season ahead!
If you want to see want is going on up the hill check out these webcam pictures
After seven flights and several stopovers catching up with friends and family I have finally made it back home to Mammoth, oversized ski bag in tow. I got a few weird looks at the airport due to my winter luggage, looking a little out of place in the 80 degree heat. It was great to arrive back and take in the mountain landscape, albeit naked without the snow.
I’m looking forward to the winter ahead but for now I am happy to enjoy some late summer warmth and sunshine. Check out a couple of photos from a short hike I went on today.
Usually there are two main reasons Mount Hutt goes on ‘hold’. First, it is sometimes windy. And second, the road sometimes needs to be cleared of snow. Well, on Saturday there was a new reason, a strong 7.1 earthquake that hit Canterbury cut off power to the hill.
Luckily in Methven the quake only caused a minor damage as parts of Christchurch look like a war zone. After power was restored and the lifts inspected it was skiing as usual at Mount Hutt. The snow was pretty good too.
Anyway, I hope things can get back to normal for the residents of Canterbury and my thoughts are with them. In the meantime stress relief can be found skiing up at Mount Hutt.
(half star given for the sound track)
