Monique Y. Herman wrote:
On Sat, 01 Nov 2003 at 00:01 GMT, Christopher Mooney penned:
I am delurking to start priming myself for my very fist ski trip this
coming Spring Break. Seeing as though I have never been skiing, the
missus, myself, and our four year old will be signing up for the
onsite lessons.
Few things I was wanting to ask a
1. Are there any exercises or practice routines you would suggest to
start now to be "ahead of the game"?
Ice skating uses some similar muscle groups, if you're doing it right,
with lots of bend in the knees.
Roller skating (in-line particularly) also uses some ski specific
muscles/moves. Race coaches often recommend soccer for it's directional
changes and stamina enhancement to their youth racers.
Anything that works on quad strength
and particularly endurance -- even sitting on an "imaginary chair" with
your back against the wall until your legs ache will do some good.
It's a classic ski excercise. You will get sore legs skiing (everybody
does the first few times) so get all the training you can, but for
sanity's sake I recommend activities (see above) rather than gym
workouts, although weight traing does have it's benefits. But your
primary problem will likely be altitude. Anything you can do to build up
your cardio will help, for you, missus, and kids. For instance chase the
soccer ball to deep chest wrenching panting, go another 10 minutes past
that; and do it again the next day. repeat until trip. Even so you'll be
left behind by those who train at altitude, so don't expect miracles.
Also don't worry. Skiing is an individual sport, so there's no stress -
ski till you're tired and stop. Or ski more relaxed and go farther; it's
all up to you.
2. When you took your first ski trip, what did you wish you had
done/taken with you that you didn't?
Boot/glove dryer! You'll be amazed at how long it can take for wet
gloves to dry without proper ventilation. This is one of the many
reasons that I love my gloves, which have zip-out liners.
This is an easy one; I bet your wife won't leave home without a hair
dryer - just make sure it has a low temp or cool setting and you can use
it to dry gloves/boots. Your hotel room may have a dryer also, or you
may want to pack two. Or you can look in the magazines and waste $100 on
a special "boot/glove dryer."
Extra ski socks.
Commercial ski socks are a crock: ski socks should be wicking (polyprop
or similar, relatively thin, high rising (so there's no edge or wrinkles
inside the boot cuff) and snug. Commercial ski socks are too thick and
often have wool in them. Wrong. Don't expect to pad out a sloppy boot
with thick or multiple socks - it won't work; insist on a good fitting boot.
"Wicking" long johns rather than the old-style honeycomb kind. Silk
long johns are great; so are many of the synthetics out there.
The synthetics are better than silk; just not as expensive.
Snacks in pockets. Most resorts will charge an arm and a leg for food.
If you can manage a paper-bag lunch, even better, but personally I like
having something nice and warm.
Boy is this correct; nuts, dried fruit, jerky, hard cheese, etc will get
you and yours from breakfast to dinner without killing the budget.
3. Same as two, but flipped. What did you take/do that you wish you
hadn't?
Not something I've done; but something I've heard about. Packages ski
trips; they always cost more than rolling your own. If you ease into
skiing like some of us, starting at birth in a skiing family, we learn
this in the womb. If I was you, I'd pay lots of attention to lodging,
transportation, ticket discount info etc, so if the family ends up
liking this skiing stuff you can ease up on the expense in the future.
I envy you - skiing is a marvelous family activity and you get to
discover something new and wonderful this spring. Have fun.
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