Inline Skate training

I always say the best cross training for skiing is inline skating, and if you watch this video you'll see why.

Great video. Some of those guys are excellent skaters and doubtless excellent skiiers. I am going to repost it on http://skateinstructor.com (a London-based inline skating instructor whose website I maintain). It is tough skating in Alpine areas because it is really an activity for flat areas: the skating on hills in that video is only possible for fairly advanced skaters. And yet skating is popular in summer in Innsbruck, maybe because many of the serious skiers here know how good it is for their skiing. But I never skated with poles. You do see that more skating with poles in the Alps than in London.

Inline skating is the best for fitness, strength and balance relevant to skiing or cross-country skiing. I have been learning skating this year and hope it will improve things when I get on the slopes (maybe in a couple of days). It is not easier than skiing, and in some ways harder to get away with bad habits, partly because if you ski badly but point downhill you will go fast. If you skate badly on the flat (or uphill, as in parts of the video), without getting the knack of keeping your weight in the right place and transferring it between feet, you will struggle to get any speed up. Use of muscles is also very similar.

I did repost the video, thanks. Also made a new blog post about how much rollerblading improved my skiing http://skateinstructor.com/blogs/john/first-day-on-the-ski-piste-the-inline-skating-factor-pays-off