These are tips for all skiers, do not let the “Ski Racing” scare you away.
Ski racing is just free skiing at a high performance level, and we all want to ski at our own personal best right?
First I want to introduce myself, I’m Dylan Henderson and I’m the head coach for the Whitewater Ski Team. I’m a certified development level coach with the CSCF and a Level 1 ski instructor with the CSIA. I’m a full-time coach so I will have some ideas to share with every skier, but I’m by no means the ultimate authority on skiing technique. I’m always learning myself and I welcome your feedback.
My goal with this little column over the next few weeks is to give you something to keep your skiing fresh every week, even if the snow is not.
I have a little saying that skiing is great exercise, but great skiing is fantastic exercise.
A lot of us get lazy when we are skiing and use very little energy on some turns. This might get us through the ski day, but it gets really boring. Skiing with some performance uses a lot more strength and energy but the rewards are huge. For one, getting performance out of your skis whether they are fat or fast (or both?) is super fun. And two, using strength and energy is what you do when you are in the gym to get fit for skiing anyway and to look hot apres ski. Hey, nice glutes. So, I suggest that you use high performance skiing as a way to get fit, and get more out of your ski day.
Here is how: Use you edges. Skis these days are made to be easy to ski, so don’t take the easy way out. Increase your edge angle with every turn and you will find the real sweet spot with your own skis. Use your ankles first to roll the skis on to edge, then knees to increase edge angle, then hips to nail the sweet spot.
Now you are really enjoying every turn, and you should be feeling a burn in your quads and core. Bonus.
Tune in next week and we will take your skiing to the next level.
Visit our website at whitewaterskiteam.ca
Dylan Henderson is the coach for the Whitewater Ski Team reach him at dylanhen@hotmail.com