So..... (looking for advice on a 6 week trip)

[recbumper]

We've already started some general fitness training as well as some core ski exercising, but are there any tips/tricks that those who regularly get this sort of skiing in might advise?

Saint, your profile says South of England. Do you go to the indoor ski places some? You could do some frequent regular sessions at those places for 3-6 months before your trip, that would help build/maintain a nice fitness base. Hemel or Basingstoke maybe? The slopes aren't particularly challenging, but up & down on the Poma for hours definitely builds the base.

As a bit of a funny side story, some years back I had frequent business trips to the UK from the States, and I used to bring my skis along on the biz trips and then every evening after work drive over to the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead and ski til closing. It was super fun! And helped maintain ski fitness during the US off-season. I didn't tell anybody at work though hahaha

 

[Saintsman]

Saint, your profile says South of England. Do you go to the indoor ski places some? You could do some frequent regular sessions at those places for 3-6 months before your trip, that would help build/maintain a nice fitness base. Hemel or Basingstoke maybe? The slopes aren't particularly challenging, but up & down on the Poma for hours definitely builds the base.

As a bit of a funny side story, some years back I had frequent business trips to the UK from the States, and I used to bring my skis along on the biz trips and then every evening after work drive over to the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead and ski til closing. It was super fun! And helped maintain ski fitness during the US off-season. I didn't tell anybody at work though hahaha

Yeah, I get up to Milton Keynes (or I did do, and will do now that things are re-opening) fairly regularly (my wife is NHS so she gets a 2 hour pass for free) Realistically though I don't feel that a 160m slope does much for fitness of any sort

 

[Cheizz]

I regularly ski indoors here in the Netherlands (once every one-two weeks in a normal year). It's a 300 m slope and offers enough opportunity to keep my muscles used to the ski movements and to improve my technique (added benefit of an indoor slope: very consistent conditions). I always find a ski friend or fellow regular to train with and to give each other feed-back. I do think it could help.

 

[anders_nor]

I regularly ski indoors here in the Netherlands (once every one-two weeks in a normal year). It's a 300 m slope and offers enough opportunity to keep my muscles used to the ski movements and to improve my technique (added benefit of an indoor slope: very consistent conditions). I always find a ski friend or fellow regular to train with and to give each other feed-back. I do think it could help.

300 meters vert?

 

[Saintsman]

I regularly ski indoors here in the Netherlands (once every one-two weeks in a normal year). It's a 300 m slope and offers enough opportunity to keep my muscles used to the ski movements and to improve my technique (added benefit of an indoor slope: very consistent conditions). I always find a ski friend or fellow regular to train with and to give each other feed-back. I do think it could help.

Like I said, that's not for fitness. It's fine for keeping some basic technique, which is what I use it for

To get fitness out of it you probably need something the size of Bottrop, which is 640-ish metres long

 

[recbumper]

I did Hannah Kearney's program last fall. It was very hard work at first but gradually built up a really good fitness & stamina base. It was super worth all the time & sweat put in. Cost was reasonable.

The cardio components include 1 day/week of a lot of what people have mentioned above (biking, hill hiking, stairs etc) ^^, plus 1 day/week of intensive intervals (Fartlek turns out to be really fun once you get used to it). The ski-specific strength components include a fair amount of eccentric downstepping, plus concentric upstepping of various types. The crown jewel is a progression series of leg power burnouts that start moderate in week 1 and gradually increase. For the first half of the 8-week program I was like, these burnouts are impossible, and for the 2nd half I was like, wow, can truly feel the gains.

It also included a weekly stretching session with a lot of elements like what peeps have described above ^^. And weekly rest days too whew

Then during the season I was skiing 5-6 days per week for 2-10 hours/day, and everything felt very light & easy. Highest recommendations for a foundation.


You could try a couple of live sessions in the meantime to see if you like it, there are a couple of peeps from the forum who pop up in the sessions from time to time, and also occasionally current and/or retired US Ski Team folks. Ages range from teens to 60s, I'm in my 50s

 

[Cheizz]

The slope is 300 m in length (about 65 m vert). It is the steepest indoor slope in Benelux & Germany. Bottrop is long on paper, but the final 100 m of the slope are actually uphill... terrible place. And a 2 hr drive for me (the slope where I go - Zoetermeer - is about 50 minutes). And if you lap the slope extensively, it will get you ski-legs. For me, it is the best preparation for the ski season, because you can work on technique as well. I try to get in some full days of technical clinics too. And believe me, that is certainly a workout.

To summarize - in my experience is that a longer period of consecutive ski days is not a problem, as long as you take it easy the first few days and take a break from skiing every few days. And I am someone who does not have great overall fitness, never does anything in terms of training, other than indoor skiing.

 

[Nobody]

Great sound advices, so I won't be redundant and repeat it all. I would offer just one small piece of advice, if fitting. Given you plan to ski Whistler, I ignore which is the "change" day. When precisely, weekly vacationer will leave and new one will arrive?
If it is like here in Italy, the change day is Saturday, so you might think of planning about skiing on that day, with lifts and slopes almost empty of crowds (if Whistler is indeed a crowded place) and not ski the next day.
Purpouse is twofold :
1)On the "change" day, all newly arrived tourists wil lbe out in droves to buy / rent equipment or ski passes or exploring the village.
2)On the next day, all will be out skiing, "en masse", hungry for mileage, verts and so on.
I noticed thus, that the best day to "happily" ski is the aforementioned "change" day. And the following one, not so much...So you might plan to have the rest day when that happens.

 

[Rod9301]

No way you will be able to ski 5-6 days a week and not get super tired, physically and mentally.

Also, heavy weights for your legs, 6 weeks before you leave.
On a leg press 3 times your body weight minimum, then you'll not have sore legs at all. You'll still get tired though.

 

[Crank]

I've seen lost of posts advocating running stairs. that is something I used to do when I was in my 20's. My knees would not for it nowadays. Biking, hiking, core work. Work on skiing with efficiency/ economy of movement. And yes to comfy boots!

 

[Saintsman]

Great sound advices, so I won't be redundant and repeat it all. I would offer just one small piece of advice, if fitting. Given you plan to ski Whistler, I ignore which is the "change" day. When precisely, weekly vacationer will leave and new one will arrive?
If it is like here in Italy, the change day is Saturday, so you might think of planning about skiing on that day, with lifts and slopes almost empty of crowds (if Whistler is indeed a crowded place) and not ski the next day.
Purpouse is twofold :
1)On the "change" day, all newly arrived tourists wil lbe out in droves to buy / rent equipment or ski passes or exploring the village.
2)On the next day, all will be out skiing, "en masse", hungry for mileage, verts and so on.
I noticed thus, that the best day to "happily" ski is the aforementioned "change" day. And the following one, not so much...So you might plan to have the rest day when that happens.

Whistler works a bit differently to Europe in that there is much less of a "change" day. However Saturday and to a lesser extent Sunday are usually busy days with lots of BC locals coming up for the day or weekend - so we're planning on largely skipping Saturdays unless there's a monster dump the night before

 

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[sparty]

Don't overlook a morning activation routine; I prefer yoga, but other forms of warm-up and stretching could work pretty well, too. Getting your body ready before you go out and then recovering properly when you get back in should help you get the most out of the whole block.

 

[dovski]

Adding, good nutrition is important for recovery. Make a habit of having something with (for an overage sized guy) about 80-100g of carbs and 20ish grams of protein shortly after skiing each day.

And drink enough each day that your urine is clear or almost clear most of the time.

@jt10000 when the thread shifts towards urinalysis I have to take a step back
Joking aside nutrition and hydration are very important. I also take some supplements that help with muscle recovery, but worked with a nutritionist to tailor those to align with my personal needs based. This is also something people can explore, but strongly recommend you work with a professional to find the right ones for your individual needs. The wrong supplements can be bad of you.

 

[Mike King]

Sure, the general strength and cardio fitness training is a good baseline, but there are a variety of flexibility/mobility and strength training exercises that will make your skiing experience better and, even more importantly, set you up for better ski technique and ski performance.

@tomgellie's ski conditioning immersion program is definitely a game changer. It is a 10 week program focused on building strength and mobility necessary for skiing. I don't know anything else out there that is similar. Not only does it have once a week classes with exercises focused on a particular portion of the kinetic chain (feet and ankles, knees, legs, hips, spine, arms, neck, etc.), it also includes ski coaching that focuses on aspects of your skiing. I've been fortunate to be in the coaching program. Two of the successful new members of the PSIA demo team also were in this program, as well as a number of folk who successfully completed their Level 3.

It isn't cheap. If you can afford it, I think it is well worth the price of admission.

If you can't afford it, then look to supplement your strength and cardio regime with stuff that will strengthen your feet and awareness of your feet, your tibilias anterior, your knee and hip mobility, your gluteus medius, your spine and rib cage mobility.

Still, there's nothing like being on snow. So start slow. Ski 4-5 days, then take a recovery day or two. Build both the time and the days on snow. And realize that rest is as important, if not more important, than the load.

Mike

 

[David Chaus]

A lot of posts about fitness and recovery, and not one wondering about spending 6 weeks in BC and only skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb?

 

[dovski]

A lot of posts about fitness and recovery, and not one wondering about spending 6 weeks in BC and only skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb?

Sounds like OP has rented a place their for 6 weeks and OP stated they will only be skiing there. But completely hear you on that. If it was me I would be tempted to rent an RV and travel the Powder Highway following the snow. So many great resorts in BC and Alberta all within a few hours drive of each other. That said this would be a very different type of vacation than renting a place at Whistler for 6 weeks, which would also be great.

 

[Saintsman]

Sounds like OP has rented a place their for 6 weeks and OP stated they will only be skiing there. But completely hear you on that. If it was me I would be tempted to rent an RV and travel the Powder Highway following the snow. So many great resorts in BC and Alberta all within a few hours drive of each other. That said this would be a very different type of vacation than renting a place at Whistler for 6 weeks, which would also be great.

A lot is down to my wife who is far less "adventurous" than I can sometimes be......

 

[DanoT]

@Saintsman make sure that your reservations can be cancelled with a refund as this Covid thing is not over in Canada and it is unclear as to when the border will be open and/or no quarantine required when entering the country. Whistler was forced to shut down early this spring. due to Covid outbreaks. Canada has no domestic drug manufacturing of its own and has done a very poor job of securing vaccines from off shore manufacturers. The Federal government is on record as saying that all Canadians will be vaccinated bu September, but I don't believe them.

Once the season starts, imo the best way to get your ski legs is to work up to skiing non stop top to bottom of the run. You don't need to go fast, in fact making lots of turns without stopping is the best workout.

 

[Sibhusky]

@Saintsman make sure that your reservations can be cancelled with a refund as this Covid thing is not over in Canada and it is unclear as to when the border will be open and/or no quarantine required when entering the country. Whistler was forced to shut down early this spring. due to Covid outbreaks. Canada has no domestic drug manufacturing of its own and has done a very poor job of securing vaccines from off shore manufacturers. The Federal government is on record as saying that all Canadians will be vaccinated bu September, but I don't believe them.

Once the season starts, imo the best way to get your ski legs is to work up to skiing non stop top to bottom of the run. You don't need to go fast, in fact making lots of turns without stopping is the best workout.

He's coming from England.