Keeping your skiing skills off season

I've been skiing for a little over a week and on my last trip I went from green slopes to red and black. I improved my skiing way beyond my expectations although I'm not sure what to expect come January 2014 (yes, I'm thinking about it already!). I don't really want to be back struggling on greens and blues again. Is there any way to keep what you have Learned on your winter ski trip over the warmer months? How much of it do you lose in between and does the loss minimise over the years?

Any experience, thoughts on this?

I'm starting to sound like a 'stuck record' but I'd suggest you check out your nearest indoor 'fridge'/snow centre. Things can quickly get very tedious if you just turn up and do your own thing, but many of them run structured development courses and have slalom race nights etc. (not just for the experts either.)



I have seen the likes of Trencher and Innsbrucker recommend in-line skating as an excellent training aid too. I have no personal experience of that but it seems like they haven't come to any harm from it :-) .

Of course both of these suggestions rely on you living within reasonable travelling distance of an indoor snow centre or ice-rink.

Sounds like you have made good progress on your Niederau trip. Nice one -) .

I inline skate. That doesn't mean miles on the road, just a small car park/quiet street with a slight slope. I found this video, which gives you an idea of how effective skating can be for cross training. Pumping turns uphill is about the best ski fitness workout I can think of.
Do wear a helmet and all the pads.

It really was an amazing feeling doing those steeper slopes! Progress indeed :)

Great advice, thanks! A lot of that skating really does look like skiing and the skates should mimic the weight of the boots too. I'd have to try it on a quiet street though or someone is likely to get hurt :\

Now this is not intended as a joke post: what do folk think about using the ski programme on a Wii (other games consoles are available)? Is there any pay off into the real world ?

I think it's a bit like riding a bike or swimming, and you skills should be there come next season. You can watch some videos and read a book on skiing off season to understand better what you are doing and basically keep yourself fit. Maybe be for a just over one week skier you shouldn't start on a black straight away, but I don't think greens/nursery slopes will be ever needed again. If yo are in UK you have indoor slopes so I suppose that's another opportunity to practice your turns. It's all about technique. There is little difference in basic technique whether you ski blues or blacks. Nothing is really lost between seasons. Just don't stop lessons yet:)

You don't lose the skills, but may lose the relevant fitness / strength without suitable exercises. Maybe the first outing of next season you will have taken a step backwards, but after a few hours at most you will be fine.

Further to the use of inline skating to improve skiing skills, I have been blogging a lot about the connections with skiing on the site of one of the top skate instructor (a friend of mine whose website I maintain). In my last post I linked to the following suggestions from Harald Harb for targeting skate skills towards helping skiing http://www.harbskisystems.com/web-lessons/inline-skate-series.html?m_id=1&cd=32&menu_id=74

As discussed elsewhere on this forum recently, steepness is not really the main issue in difficulty (though steeper slopes do I find impose greater load on leg muscles). I was recently on an blue at St Anton which was a struggle also for an Austrian friend with 40+ years experience, starting as small child skiing fresh powder in the woods (they still start in kindergarten, BTW, but in this day and age it's on piste, with instructors). Snow quality, piste maintenance, and piste traffic are bigger issues. However, other things being equal, steep slopes are not so great for beginners IMO partly because when you fall on a steep slope, there is a risk you slide and slide and slide...

But nothing wrong with skiing easy slopes! Leisure skiing is a fun way to spend time in the mountains and get some sun, and should look elegant and effortless IMO. Given the number of accidents, I find pushing yourself beyond your abilities on piste is irresponsible. If you need your skiing to be difficult and dangerous (which I don't), go ski Corbets Couloir (see youtube) or something.

Innsbrucker wrote:You don't lose the skills, but may lose the relevant fitness / strength without suitable exercises. Maybe the first outing of next season you will have taken a step backwards, but after a few hours at most you will be fine.

Further to the use of inline skating to improve skiing skills, I have been blogging a lot about the connections with skiing on the site of one of the top skate instructor (a friend of mine whose website I maintain). In my last post I linked to the following suggestions from Harald Harb for targeting skate skills towards helping skiing http://www.harbskisystems.com/web-lessons/inline-skate-series.html?m_id=1&cd=32&menu_id=74

As discussed elsewhere on this forum recently, steepness is not really the main issue in difficulty (though steeper slopes do I find impose greater load on leg muscles). I was recently on an blue at St Anton which was a struggle also for an Austrian friend with 40+ years experience, starting as small child skiing fresh powder in the woods (they still start in kindergarten, BTW, but in this day and age it's on piste, with instructors). Snow quality, piste maintenance, and piste traffic are bigger issues. However, other things being equal, steep slopes are not so great for beginners IMO partly because when you fall on a steep slope, there is a risk you slide and slide and slide...

But nothing wrong with skiing easy slopes! Leisure skiing is a fun way to spend time in the mountains and get some sun, and should look elegant and effortless IMO. Given the number of accidents, I find pushing yourself beyond your abilities on piste is irresponsible. If you need your skiing to be difficult and dangerous (which I don't), go ski Corbets Couloir (see youtube) or something.

I had a ball on the easier slopes too, especially with the warmer weather we had in Niederau a week ago. It allows you time to try out new techniques (which for me are limited at this stage) and it is much less aggressive and like a relaxing, sliding walk in the park :)

I did check out one Harold Harb video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPM7gwZwVDU (the two footed release) and while it was very insightful, Its too advanced for me now. I might try it next year ;)