Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

(Photo by Mike Christy, The Gazette)

By R. Scott Rappold, The Gazette

We’re grunting and sweating as we pull up on giant rubber cords, stretching them as far as we can, when a thought occurs. 

How, exactly, will pulling up with our biceps help prepare us for skiing and snowboarding?
Offers Carol Hadl Schmitz, “It helps when you get caught in the wrong place and have to pole your way up the hill.”

Outside, the flakes of the season’s first big snowstorm are falling on ski country. Soon snow photos and expressions of glee will spread throughout the Twitter-verse, as Colorado skiers get psyched for the season.

Inside the YMCA of the Pikes Peak region’s downtown exercise studio, nine of us are preparing. We’re suffering through the first in a winterlong series of ski conditioning classes, a three-week course to prepare us for the unique rigors of winter sports and cut down on the risk of injury. 

See a video of the class and exercises you can do to prepare for winter sports.

“It’s a small percentage (of skiers) that are actually prepared for Day One. Most folks go out and they are cooked by noon, if they start early in the morning,” says fitness instructor Ken Axford. “A class such as this really helps you go out and prepare and really enjoy the first couple of days, instead of suffering through the first couple of days.”

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In the old days, Ron Grasse had his own way of getting ready for skiing. 

“I thought drinking beer was getting prepared. It’s what we did in college,” he says with a laugh. 

But muscles and bones age, and, he says, “You get that burn at the end of the day.”

Says Ann Geohegan, “I was hurting last year the first time I went.”

It’s not just beyond-college-age skiers like Grasse and Geohegan, students in the class, who are beginning to take ski fitness seriously. Powder-hound culture, fatter skis and powder snowboards have us skiing harder and longer, and being knee-deep in the fluff on muscles that haven’t been used in such a way in months can take a toll on the body.

“I think a lot of people could do more,” says Ian Ratz, wellness coordinator at the downtown branch. “Those who are die-hards, and out there in Colorado you have a lot of die-hards, I think put in the prep and take the time to train right and train hard so they get the most out of their days on the mountain.”

In this spirit, the YMCA has offered ski conditioning classes for about four years. They have been popular enough that this year there will be classes each month through March. 

• • •

As a personal trainer, Axford stays in shape for snowboarding year-round.

But for those who spend many of our days plopped at desks and nights plopped on sofas, he recommends preparing for ski season at least two months in advance. 

Many skiers think all they have to do to prep for the powder is toughen up their legs.

But the hourlong class, kept small enough that the trainer can give individual attention, is a painful, grueling smorgasbord of exercises to strengthen the legs, back and core, both muscular and cardiovascular. 

“It’s important to have a good, well-rounded strength program,” Axford says. 

While the movements are different, the muscles used for skiing are very similar to those for snowboarding, and the class does not differentiate. 

There are lunges for leg strength. Vaults for cardiovascular strength. Balance exercises for, well, balance. Plyometric exercises for the muscles needed to ski the bumps. Strength-based circuits with minimal rest. And lots of squatting, crouching and otherwise holding yourself in painful positions for painfully long periods. 

Build your legs and neglect cardio and you’ll find yourself huffing and puffing on every mogul. Neglect the core exercises to focus on cardio and you could throw out your back. So this total-body activity requires a total-body workout. 

Skiers in the class give it high marks. 

“I wish I had done it years ago. I’m loving it,” says Schmitz. “I am a skier and I ski hard and I had been doing my regular programs and I hoped this would challenge me.”

“You can’t prepare enough for skiing. If you go out and you’re not ready to go, it’s a pretty painful first day,” says skier Dave Christen. 

For this reporter, taking one class was still painful 24 hours later. 

Much like after a day of skiing, and rightly so. No amount of preparation will totally take away the burn.

“You can train as much as you want, but until you go out and ski or snowboard all day, there’s nothing like it,” Axford says. 

Says Ratz, “In my opinion, if you’re not sore at the end of the day, you’re not skiing hard enough.”

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Contact: Scott Rappold 476-1605 Twitter @scottrappold
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Ski conditioning classes 

The YMCA of the Pikes Peak region is offering ski conditioning classes throughout the winter at its downtown location. The next one runs through Nov. 24. Prices are $20 for members and $35 for nonmembers for Saturdays; $35 for members and $50  for nonmembers for Tuesdays and Thursdays; and $45 for members and $60 for nonmembers for all three days.

Click here for details.