Take Your Skiing to the Next Level This Winter
Words by Steve House
It's likely that you know me best as a climber. I'm also a husband, new father, a mountain guide, and an author of two books. Most recently, in conjunction with my partner Scott Johnston, I launched Uphill Athlete, a platform for openly sharing proven training knowledge for the sports of alpinism, mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, ski mountaineering, skimo racing, and mountain running. Together, Johnston and I coach alpinists to achieve their highest level of fitness using proven training knowledge.
If you're like me, improving your skill level in your chosen sport is always on the mind (and you might be feeling a little guilty about the extra few servings at Thanksgiving dinner). With winter fast approaching and ski season already here, there's no time to waste, it's time to get down to business.
Scott Johnston and I created a 12-week training plan for expert backcountry skiers and ski mountaineers who are seeking steep lines on big mountains to improve their overall fitness, thus having a better season. This plan is intended primarily for skier who will skin or climb to the top of their objective, but it also serves well for lift-assisted skiers looking to improve their all-mountain skills. (If you are looking for something a little easier, check out our 8-week hut to hut plan here.) The backbone of this program is the aerobic base you bring to it. The early weeks include extensive workouts to support uphill movements along with core and general strength workouts. The middle weeks focus on muscular endurance and the final weeks mix aerobic training with muscular endurance workouts.
To help you get ready, here are a few example workouts from the plan.
**Workout #1 ** Free Skiing Base Strength Planned Time - 1:00:00
Warm up: This is a squat-based strength workout because squats are a reasonable simulation of the movements you will be making in skiing steeper terrain. Start slow but work to increasingly vigorous movements as warm up progresses so that you have broken a sweat by the end. Move from one to the next exercise with 30-60 second breaks.
5 minutes of squat stretches as shown here:
Burpee x10
Air Squat x20
Goblet Squat x 20 use light to moderate weight (10-30lbs) (5-15kg)
Work out:
This workout is aimed at increasing your strength without adding muscle mass. We do that by keeping the number of reps in each set low and weight lifted high and incorporating a long rest of 3-4 minutes between sets. During this rest, you will perform other exercises.
Ideally you will be using a weight that is 85-90% of your absolute max. This will be a weight you barely can lift 5-6 times with good form. However, the first couple of sets of the workout also serve to additionally warm you up for the heavier lifts. We're using half squats rather than full squats as the exercise because its range of motion is most similar to the range of motion when skiing.
As you notice strength increases from workout to workout, you will need to increase the weight being lifted. Do this gradually and even from set to set as you feel it.
Set #1 1/2 squat: 6 reps @ 75% of max, toes pointed straight ahead rest 1 min Plank: Maximum hold with good form rest 2 min
Set #2 1/2 squat: 5 reps @80 reps of max, toes straight rest 1 min Hanging leg raise: max reps rest 2 min
Set #3 1/2 squat: 4 reps @85% of max, toes straight rest 1 min Push ups max number rest 2 min
Set #4 1/2 squat 3 reps @ 90% of max, toes straight rest 1 min Plank: Max hold with good form rest 2 min
Set #5 1/2 squat: 3 reps @ 90% of max , toes straight rest 1 min Hanging leg raise; max reps rest 2 min
Set #6 1/2 squat: 2 reps at 95% of max (if feeling strong)
For Plank: Good form means no hip sag or lift. Use added resistance in the form of a weight vest if you can exceed 30 second hold.
Hanging Leg Raise. Start dead hang position. Select the resistance that allows you to perform at least 2-3 reps. Easiest to Hardest: Knees up 1/2 way Knees to Chest Straight leg 1/2 way Straight leg all the way
For Push ups: If you can't hold good form from toes then go to knees. Reps done when straight plank position fails. Use weight vest if you can do more than 15 reps with good form.
Want more?
Follow Steve House’s journey on Instagram and join the program at uphillathlete.com by signing up for their newsletter HERE!
