How to prevent injury when going on a ski trip

We all know that the worst thing that can happen on a ski trip is getting injured, and then spend the rest of the time drinking coffee/hot chocolate watching our friends ski while we sit at the lodge.

Here are a few pointer that can help you,

1- Always do some exercises before you travel on your ski trip.
2- Trying walking, uphill hiking so that your muscles get used to the movement as this will be the type of movements you will do when skiing
3- Learn how to fall, when falling fall on the side so the force of impact is taken away
4- Remember to wear all the safety gear, i.e. helmet
5- Try to condition your legs with resistance training if you can mange the time for it.
6- If you do a jump make sure you distribute your weight forward to prevent landing on the tail of the ski which will lead to serious injuries
7- You can wear a gum shield to help prevent injury if you fall on your face.

But remember be safe but most importantly have a hell of a fun time when skiing!!!!

Please give any tips if you have any or if i missed something.
Thanks

1- is a bit vague for me 'some exercises?!
2- surely this should just be a part of every day life, I wonder how many people just pick it up a week before they go away
3- very important to know 'how to fall'
4- 'all the safety gear'?! Not everyone chooses to wear a helmet and it definitely isn't essential
5- pretty sure 1,3 and 5 could be grouped together to say 'should be moderately fit'
6- distributing your weight 'forward' could lead to a fall on your face?! 'Be centered' is probably more appropriate
7- really?

Ski_maverick, an interesting list of pointers. How did you develop this 7 point strategy? Is it from your own experiences?

You talk about "the lodge". That is generally how facilities at the foot of ski areas are described in North America, yet you give your location as UK. So do you normally ski US/Canada?

I'm interested to hear your logic for points 2 and 5.

For training to be effective it should be as specific as possible to the sport you intend on doing.

Quite a lot of the muscle activity in skiing is eccentric. i.e. you are activating the muscle as it lengthens. Eccentric exercise causes more muscle damage then concentric exercise which is why people get muscle pain after skiing. The good news is that if you do even a singel session of eccentric exercise before a holiday it can reduce the effects of eccentric muscle damage and reduce (not prevent) leg pain. Walking uphill is a concentric muscle activity and will not actually do anything to prevent skiing muscle pain unless you walk back down the hill after going up!!!

Weight training should also be specific to skiing for it to be at its most effective.

Of course doing anything before going is better then doing nothing though.

Firstly I did not mean to be misunderstood ,

The reason I said walking uphill is that when I do it you start from the bottom and have to go back down to go home.

Another point about the gum shield as I have experienced a fall on the face can lead injury to the mouth i.e. a dead tooth which will turn grey depending on how hard the fall, its better to be safe than sorry.

As for jumping I meant jumping down hill, to get a better landing.

About the helmet, I heard a story that a person fell on their head when taking skiing lessons and felt nothing wrong however an hour or so later died due to the fall, so I always state to wear head gear, but I am not a pro, but on that note why do professionals wear it in the Olympics then?

If you want to know what exercises I meant look at the following links :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7k52pE2FtA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z4Du0xXfdI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4yGTlFR7SU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJXQ4s38rU

I hope I did not give wrong information, but this is what I think is important!

For further info look at the following site:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2112236_prevent-ski-injuries.html

Thanks again for your answers p.s I am strong on safety cause I have had face injuries before (when falling, i.e. dead tooth, cuts) I am just an over keen skier who has been many times.

If you safeguarded against every potential accident you would spend more of your time worrying and preparing for an incident instead of actually skiing. Wearing a gumshield is, in my opinion, total overkill.

Jumping downhill you don't necessarily need to 'lean forward' unless you have a habit of skiing, and indeed taking off, in the backseat.

In the speed events they can push close to 150kmh, in a fall it is very likely that a helmet could save their life. Recreational skiing doesn't reach anywhere near the speeds they do in the Olympics and deaths on the piste are usually for a number of reasons and not necessarily head injuries. Either way, there is a length discussion on helmets sticky-d in one of the forums where any further helmet discussion should take place

Ski_maverick wrote: why do professionals wear it in the Olympics then?

FIS regulations may have a part in this? )

Ski_maverick wrote:

I am just an over keen skier who has been many times.

Quite a few of the skiers on here are pretty keen and have also been many times. Which resorts have you been to and when?