We have some early snow, which is awesome! But regardless when the snow hits, it’s always easy to fall one step behind on the little things that make it easier to get on snow…here’s a checklist to review, covering some common “situations” that we’d love to avoid:
Bindings on skis
Do all your skis that you plan to use have bindings? Or, if you use plate bindings and are swapping between pairs, are you comfortable doing so? There’s nothing worse than realizing 5 minutes before you head out the door that you can’t attach your boots to your skis.
Poles with snow tips
As the snow gets deeper, rollerski tips don’t work so well. Make sure that the poles that you’re skiing on have the right tips for the job! Yes, this can be a pain if you rollerski/snow ski on the same poles, but it is worth the extra 5-10 minutes of hassle up-front.
Waxed skis…yes, even rock skis!
Maybe even moreso rock skis. Early season skiing is often a battle against icing/clumping, because the ground underneath the snow is not fully frozen. This applies to skate skis, too! You won’t believe how much more of an impact waxed vs unwaxed skis can make in the early season…putting training wax on your rock skis this time of year equals a better increase in glide than putting race wax on your top skis in the mid-winter.
I highly recommend putting a true, ironed layer of glidewax into your skis every once in a while. This will do the best job at making spray waxes be more effective and last longer with each application.
The right clothes and layers (during)
On ski trails we often aren’t as concerned about hi-viz clothing. But our focus shifts to the right layers for warmth and performance. Wool is best, with a shell over top! Keep in mind it can be tricky when we are warming up, then shedding layers to go fast, then putting clothes back on when we’re done pushing hard.
This applies to gloves and hats as well. One good rule to live by is “no headbands under 20F”…time for hats at that point. With gloves and mittens it’s always better to be too warm than too cold.
The right clothes (after)
Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the value of the “after-shirt” for training days. Even if it’s just the shirt you wore to school that day, taking off your wet/sweaty ski clothes and putting at least a dry shirt on can be CRITICAL to staying healthy, if not just outright comfortable.
Snacks, hydration, refueling
Mid-afternoon is a hard time for the body to train, being distant from lunch and distant until dinner. Please try to have a pre-training snack! After our workouts, having carbs and protein is equally important for recovery and health.
Hydration is also harder when skiing, because even though we work just as hard, you often are not hot and dripping with sweat like the other seasons…so hydration isn’t on the forefront. You’ve always gotta hydrate, though!
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