Skiing Fitness-what are you doing about it? Pray tell?

C

CWHappyRN

New member
Well, it is Fall now. The leaves are falling off the trees around here, the clouds are moving in and making me happy.

I spent too much time clicking my mouse, watching TV, and reading, enjoying good meals and nice company! I am stepping it up. Instead of the occasional intense work out each week between easy tri-weekly work outs, I will work out 6 days a week. I just worked 12 hours in the intensive care unit, running around a lot. I did a spinning class after 12 hours of pounding intense work. It was wonderful to let it all go and pedal with other fanatics to crazy music!

Get working out! Just a thought.....something to do to make skiing more enjoyable and safe! Don't forget to stretch.

I think I only skied in my own neighborhood last year, Big Bear, Bear Mountain and Snow Summit and the cross country trails abound the lake. My recollection for how many days is gone. I don't count! It is my tradition not to! !!!!!!!!!!!!! The white stuff is coming! Get ready!

The most enjoyable ski related day this pre-season was not really a day. It was a summer refresher with ski patrol drills at Erick's ski area, a private club. Just mellow, beautiful fall atmosphere, good company, and nice! Carol
 
Admin's method works fine when you live at the base of LCC and ski 65 days a year. The best conditioning for any specialized activity is more of that activity.
 
Admin":1owkv3d4 said:
<ahem> 75
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Enjoy your 3.2 curls. 8)

I ride my bike to work most days if I'm not traveling. I've been at Killington some weekends recently and I walk up to the top to get some exercise. I row my dingy a couple of days per week.
 
I drink mircobrews and eat Santitas. Since it is Fall, it is time to start hiking for line inspection. I suppose I may do some running if it ever gets cool enough.
 
Tony Crocker":3l61bl6u said:
Admin's method works fine when you live at the base of LCC and ski 65 days a year. The best conditioning for any specialized activity is more of that activity.
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There is a very nice ski area open without snow in England! It has mats that are slide worthy! I wonder if anyone wants to start that here, or knows where they are doing that in the US, in LA? That helps you get the right kind of sport specific exercise. I always learned you have to rest certain muscles and use others for peak conditioning. I used to run to jump higher an get more endurance for jumping in ballet. It worked! I could jump higher than anyone. It also helped my dancing when I skied. Now, just getting to the gym is a major accomplishment. I must seize the moment and go when I have any time to do so. I am not sorry I did. Relief always results.

Hiking under chairlifts is another favorite one! Good hikes under Waterman, Baldy, etc.
 
Unfortunately I'm too busy or lazy to exercise. :oops:

I used to walk to work everyday prior to my trip (2.5 km one way - 5km/day), however I haven't walk since I got back from Chile. :|
 
I've learned to be humble skiing with locals. Say what you will about Admin and Bob Dangerous and their smoking and beer drinking. When you get on the hill with them they will kick your butt.

To some extent that is also true for people like Adam and Patrick who had extensive ski training and/or high level instruction when they were kids.

Off-season conditioning is more important for us peons who do not live within easy daytrip distance of reliable quality skiing. Destination trip skiing is often for several consecutive days. And when you're visiting from afar you're more likely to ski bell-to-bell instead of just hammering it for the best 3 hours on your season pass, then coming back the next time you think it's good enough.

I don't think 12-oz. curls are Admin's exclusive off-season recreation either. We've all seen the pics from the camping in Cottonwood and Uinta backcountry. Plus he's got Mt. Grandeur out his back door and a Labrador eager to get him up there anytime.

Speaking of which my Labrador Samantha deserves an assist for making the recent Inca Trail hike easier for me. Repeated short but steep climbs with her in the Verdugo and Griffith Park hills resulted in minimal muscle aches/fatigue over the 3 1/2 days and 30 miles in the Andes. Total elevation gain was about 7,000 feet, 4,000 of it on the second day to a maximum altitude of 13,800 feet and campsite at 11,800.
 
Tony Crocker":34dmpntb said:
Speaking of which my Labrador Samantha deserves an assist for making the recent Inca Trail hike easier for me. Repeated short but steep climbs with her in the Verdugo and Griffith Park hills resulted in minimal muscle aches/fatigue over the 3 1/2 days and 30 miles in the Andes. Total elevation gain was about 7,000 feet, 4,000 of it on the second day to a maximum altitude of 13,800 feet and campsite at 11,800.
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You'll surely be kickin' my butt out here this winter.
 
Tony Crocker":2js995xj said:
Speaking of which my Labrador Samantha deserves an assist for making the recent Inca Trail hike easier for me.
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You brought your dog to Peru??? :shock: Wasn't that a potential bureaucratic nightmare???

BTW, thanks for the good word on my physical shape. I would definitely need to get in shape for my race season (it would help my results), however family and stuff generally gets in the way. However I still am able to adapt fairly fast, that 13 straight days from Montana to Utah really surprised me. I never thought and could have made it so easy, especially after a very calm physical year up to that trip.
 
Patrick":3oc8rrbg said:
Tony Crocker":3oc8rrbg said:
Speaking of
You brought your dog to Peru??? :shock: Wasn't that a potential bureaucratic nightmare???

However I still am able to adapt fairly fast, that 13 straight days from Montana to Utah really surprised me. I never thought and could have made it so easy, especially after a very calm physical year up to that trip.
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Everyone has 30 minutes a day, running, something. Everyone wastes over 30 minutes a day on nonsense, bad habits, day dreaming. You are less likely to get injured if in shape. It is better for your heart, aging process, emotional health.

Skiing for speed is one thing, not a control thing, harder. I am just trying to stir up conversation. I can kick Crocker's butt any day by waiting until the afternoon when he has muscle failure from not eating lunch, not resting, not hydrating. He needs to count electrolytes, actin-myosin calcium expenditures, and a few other things other than vertical feet. I can kick his butt if I want to on a hike with weights, or if I want to be wreckless on the slope. I ski in control to preserve my knees and head! However we can have a kick butt cup the first day of the season in the afternoon any time for money! Skiing is not about the speed for me anymore--and I trained with Pepi Steigler! I am just there for the experience. http://www.iasm.com has some good ski exercises. I am off to the gym again, laughing, thinking of Tony yelling that his legs are giving out on no food and chasing verticals. I won't laugh when you get hurt, however.

Come on, kick butt today! Set a good example for your kids and spouses! I don't really care. It is just a lot of fun to work out, all the fun I get all day!
 
If I am in shape enough to charge hard from first chair to last on two powder days in a row with perhaps a little hiking for some side country, I count myself in shape for ski season. As such, at 28 years of age, I have not had the motivation handed to me the previous season yet. Probably not a good thing when your body doesn't punish you for bad habits, though I am sure I will regret saying that some day. 8)
 
riverc0il":3m9c1j1t said:
If I am in shape enough to charge hard from first chair to last on two powder days in a row with perhaps a little hiking for some side country, I count myself in shape for ski season. As such, at 28 years of age, I have not had the motivation handed to me the previous season yet. Probably not a good thing when your body doesn't punish you for bad habits, though I am sure I will regret saying that some day. 8)
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I have never had that sense of fitness, even as a young girl. I was in a ballet company on scholarship in my teens. If we missed one day we really saw the results the next day, and all week. Ballet is more exacting, does not help you at all in the gravity department. Skiing is so much easier to me. Now I am middle aged and I have more endurance in somethings (working 12 hour shifts like a marathon event), and less in others. I still feel my fitness lag with lost workouts. It is a thing I have to do every day, and the stretching. I think that is a dancer sense. Skiing is so assisted by gravity, torque and torsion. Sometimes after skiing all day, I have danced or done Pilates to get a WORK OUT. I felt as if I did not get one, even a few years ago. OH, well. Must be a meta athletic person. I know the olympic skiers and boarders work out a lot, train scientifically, include diet, rest, etc. They don't take the week off, summers off, etc. Well, we don't have to go to the olympics.
 
Tony Crocker said:
I've learned to be humble skiing with locals. Can I watch, I mean the learning to be humble part? :) No comment except that I lack humility and it is not coming easily. I am supposed to be a bold patrol. No one wants a humble Henrietta. I am just another skier.
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CWHappyRN":19irywf5 said:
Everyone has 30 minutes a day, running, something. Everyone wastes over 30 minutes a day on nonsense, bad habits, day dreaming. You are less likely to get injured if in shape. It is better for your heart, aging process, emotional health.
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You're preaching to the choir CWHappy. However it like the smoking Doctor, he knows it's bad for him and shouldn't do it, but....

All joking aside, I'm not as pathetic as I sound. :lol:

CWHappyRN":19irywf5 said:
I can kick Crocker's butt any day by waiting until the afternoon when he has muscle failure from not eating lunch, not resting, not hydrating. He needs to count electrolytes, actin-myosin calcium expenditures, and a few other things other than vertical feet.(...) I am off to the gym again, laughing, thinking of Tony yelling that his legs are giving out on no food and chasing verticals.
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:lol: :lol: :lol: I'm laughing too. Sorry Tony. :wink:
 
We are all individuals and need to figure out what works for us. As far as skiing is concerned, one good indicator is whether (or how much) you are slower or run out of gas faster in the early season than later on. When California was blessed with the October 2004 dumps I managed 176K over the first 6 days of that season, so I'm reasonably satisfied on that score. Admin seems to carve up the early season dumps at Alta pretty well IIRC.

CWHappy is correct that if you ski efficiently it might not be that much of a workout. Adam and Patrick rarely look like they are working very hard. And CWHappy's ballet backgound obviously helps with balance and coordination even though she was away from skiing completely for many years.

Those who have skied with me know that I always carry water and need to use it often. But I can definitely skip lunch on a good day if I've had a decent breakfast.

Samantha did not make it to Peru, but I'm sure she would have enjoyed it :lol:. Animals are not allowed on the Inca Trail; that's why porters carry all the supplies. 60% of the trail materials are original Inca construction, thus closed February each year for maintenance and they believe that having pack animals in addition to 500 people per day would make the trail deteriorate too much.

Perhaps some of you are under the wrong impression about the hike. We only carried light daypacks. For 4 of us we had a guide, cook, head porter and 8 other porters. This crew sets up and takes down camp, prepares all meals including a tent for lunch (useful on 2nd day where the lunch site was cold and windy). Our guide earned his keep, hiking slower than the rest of us with Andrew nearly full time. Andrew was not that well conditioned and also had intestinal problems during the 2 long days of the Inca Trail.

I guess I should post a few Inca Trail pics sometime.
 
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