Ski Pre-Season

Are you serious about improving your skiing? If you are then it may be time to seriously think about some ‘pre-season’ training.

It’s the time when most of the pros train. Before the winter begins. The glaciers and the southern hemisphere resorts along with indoor snow centres and artificial ski slopes are filled with teams preparing for the winter.

You may not be a racer or a so called ‘ski pro’ or consider yourself a competitor but performance is performance, whether it’s becoming an Olympic champion or coping with ice on a Blue run or skiing your first ever Black.

So how do all these ‘pros’ get so good. Like everything in life it’s down to some hard work, graft and getting the miles in. Getting the right miles in, at the right time, doing the right stuff.

Few skiers want to be practicing their ‘leg rotation’ on a sunny powder day during a winter skiing holiday. We all want to go skiing powder and rightly so, what fun. But we can only go skiing powder and reap the rewards if all the ‘hard graft’ has been done previously. We can still have lots of fun and ski great places but maybe not as much as we secretly desire. Powder, bumps, ice, Black runs. If you want to ski them all then graft is what is needed.

Athletes split up their training regime into what we call ‘phases’. The most commonly known phases are ‘Foundation’, Pre-Competition’ and ‘Competition’.

Foundation is where all the hard grafting takes place. Developing new skills and movements. Drilling them and getting them into the subconscious so they are there ready to use when you need them, this winter.

What do you want to do this next skiing holiday?
Ski bumps better?
Ski your first Red or Black run?
Cope with ice?
Ski better in bad visibility?
Ski a couloir?
Get your first taste of skiing powder?
Not be afraid of busy slopes?
Cope on a narrow path?
Ski bottomless deep powder?
Ski faster?
keep up with your mates, your partner, your kids?

If it’s any of these then why wait until the winter to learn. Invest in some time pre-season now, so you can then go and ‘do it’ this winter. Autumn is the ‘Foundation’ phase. Winter is the ‘Competition’ phase so to speak. Racers do not try to learn something new 5 minutes before a race. Well some do but not the best ones. Trying to learn something new whilst applying it is a bit like trying to do a mathematical equation while trying to ski bumps. Generally not a good idea. Learn then apply. ‘Learn in the autumn, apply in the winter‘. Now there’s a good strapline.

It was many years ago Snoworks begun pre-season courses for recreational skiers (so to speak) as we recognised that anyone wanting to enjoy their skiing holiday more is in exactly the same situation as all the racers and pros wanting to do their best in competition.

We’ve changed the name of our pre-season courses many times. Performance, Technical, Race Carve, Bumps, All-Terrain Courses. All aimed at encouraging skiers that are keen to improve to invest time pre-season. We eventually settled on ‘Autumn Ski Courses’. A ‘Ronseal approach‘. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Practice and prepare for the winter so you can reap the rewards on your next ski holiday, keep up with your mates or partner and ski terrain that you’ve always wanted to.

On an Autumn Ski Course you can learn and develop the skills to achieve your goals for this winter. Within reason of course.  Autumn Courses start on October 14th and run every week right up until the winter begins. You can come for 1, 2, 3 weeks. You can even come for the whole autumn of you have the time. It will be time and money well invested. You can reap the rewards this coming winter.

Click for Autumn Ski Courses.