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I'm off to Austria in March for a week of what sounds to me like hell on ski's. I've only ever been skiiing once before, and loved it, but it was all lift assisted alpine stuff. Is it going to be as hard as it sounds? I quite enjoy climbing on a bike *sometimes, but i think that going uphill on skis is wrong on every level.
Ho ho ho get ready for a world of pain
Breaking trail through deep powder, with a nice big heavy multiple day pack on, ahhhh memories. Get fit now!
get running round dragging a tyre round on a rope 🙂 done loads of it and it hurts lol but great fun . Enjoy
tie two floor panels to your feet then wear a tyre round the waste......then run through bogs.
this simulates it.
Naaa it will be awesume.....all skiing is.
Bruce
Arrrrrsse, i was hoping to be convinced that my fears were unfounded :(.
At the moment i just have visions of getting back to the chalet every night with my thighs and hip flexors begging for mercy. So last year was basically a pissup then? And this is going to be my real introduction to skiing.
If it's proper ski touring, you're going to cry. Probably every night.
Can i begin to condition myself for it? Everyone that i'm going with is probably a bit better than me at running up climbs. On the other hand, i could demolish them all on a steep climb on a bike. How can i train for something that i know so little about? I've got no drama's with being at the back, but i don't want to embarass myself.
we used to run round camp with a tractor tyre on a rope round our waist and that was nowt compared to the real thing 🙂 pain is a sensation and sensations are there to be enjoyed 🙂
Its no harder than hiking as long as you pace yourself. You'll have somebody to break trail for you. Make sure that you don't overstretch, nice smooth short steps until you get into it, concentrating on sliding the ski rather than picking it up. Leave something in the tank for the descents, there is nothing worse than putting all the work in and being too knackered to enjoy it. Try and make sure you change between skins and skis etc nice and quick and keep your pack organised, it makes a big difference. Layer-wise, start off cold, you will warm up quickly.
The best training would probably be plyometrics for balance and controlled power, and cycling or hauling big packs up hills for conditioning.
I would say that after one week on skis you will find balance on the skis as difficult as the physical demands, it will sap a lot of energy if you just try and beast yourself.
You've only ever been skiing once and you're going for a touring week!!? 😯
I'm being very serious here. Cancel the trip. You will hate it and the rest of the group will hate you.
The uphill will (mostly) be OK if you're fit and it's easy ground but if the snow is hard and there's traverses and stuff to do, the footwork can be a little technical. But really it's the downhills that'll be the problem. You're talking about off-piste skiing in powder or "variable" snow conditions. To make matters even more difficult, you'll be on touring skis/boots/bindings with all the response and control of damp pasta. You will be on your ar$e every 5 seconds. Maybe every 2 seconds.
Seriously, get some more skiing experience, then do some kind of "intro to off-piste" course before you even think about going touring.
You've only ever been skiing once and you're going for a touring week!!?I'm being very serious here. Cancel the trip. You will hate it and the rest of the group will hate you.
As above, if it's a 'proper' ski touring week it's a very bad idea.
There is (I suppose) an outside chance that someone's offering an "Introduction to ski touring for people who haven't done much skiing" week. But I doubt it.
I don't have a choice, it's with the Army - and i am still looking forward to it no matter how hard it might be. I think it is going to be an intro week to be honest. Most of the other attendee's are doing it for their first time too. I may be mistaken, but i think that we are going to be coming back down mostly pisted stuff too.
Ah the army, that explains it 🙂 Completely the wrong way to learn about alpine ski touring but never mind. Like trying to learn golf by doing weight-training.
In that case it sounds like you're in for a bit of a beasting. Your best bet for avoiding pain is to be in the top two-thirds in terms of fitness. Then you'll be able to rest while the stragglers get their breath back (if allowed). I'd suggest doing as much hill-walking between now and then as you can manage. If you're ski technique is good then you will save an incredible amount of energy but there probably isn't much you can do about that.
Ah the army, that explains it.
Indeed.
I've been to La Thuile a few times which is on the France/Italy border and has a sizeable barracks. I never quite worked out if it was army, police, border guards or some other Italian uniformed brigade but they seemed to spend their days trudging up the side of the pistes with a look of abject misery on their faces and then skiing badly down again.
Ah, that'll be OK then. We see them all the time round here (French Chasseurs Alpin based just down the road). They generally just skin up (or just beside) the pistes or other groomed trails, then ski back down the same way. Just another excuse for a beasting! 😈