How to get more skiing into your skiing
boston.com
By Herb Kavet, Globe Correspondent | November 13, 2005
If you are a sophisticated skier or snowboarder who enjoys leisurely lunches on the sundeck while tasting locally produced wines, these rules are not for you.
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If you are a mature skier who enjoys the camaraderie of friends and communing with nature while you ski, these rules are not for you.
If you are a partying boarder who is enthralled with après-ski activities and spends the evening dancing and chugging beers only to awake the next morning needing several infusions of coffee before meandering out to the slopes slightly before noon, these rules are not for you.
If you are, instead, an unsophisticated, immature skier or boarder who's too old or too young or too dedicated to party at night and likes to spend time actually on the mountains maximizing downhill activity, here are some tips on how to do it.
1. Ski early, when the groomed trails are a perfection of smooth corduroy. The crowds seldom arrive before 10, and you'll have the mountain to yourself with no lift lines. If there is fresh powder, the locals will be out, but you can still get in a few ''first tracks" if you know the area. On powder days, real nuts get in line a half-hour early.
2. Ski without stopping on the runs. Besides wasting time, stopping is positively dangerous. Stopping is when incompetent skiers run into you and break your bones. If your legs are burning and you must rest, stop behind a tree. The only time I've been hurt was when my son and I both decided, simultaneously, to stop behind the same tree.
3. Carry a sandwich. Going inside to have lunch not only takes time away from skiing but also turns off the body's motor. When you come back out, you have to get the muscles moving all over again. I carry a super-healthy natural peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread reinforced with wheat germ and raisins. I eat it on the lifts. Yes, my sons laugh at me, and other skiers, while occasionally asking for a bite, mostly try to look away politely. The laugh's on them: I'm still skiing while they are getting all sweaty waiting in a lunch line. If you do have to stop for lunch, do it well before noon or after 2 to avoid the crowds.
4. Carry water. You can't ski all day without it. Get an insulated hydration backpack, like a Camelbak, and wear it inside your jacket. If the temperature falls below 15 degrees, blow into the mouthpiece after each drink and the tube won't ice up.
5. There are no ''too-cold days," only underdressed skiers. Polypropylene and layering are fine, but the most important innovation in recent years is to wear a vapor-block layer next to your skin. Marmot and Mountain Hardware make a garment I call a ''fuzzy." It's loose-fitting and has some wicking stuff inside a wind-blocking shell. This garment captures a layer of air next to your body. Other than a vacuum, air is the absolute best insulating material. With some additional layers topped with a warm jacket, you can stay out in any weather. For cold hands, use those little packet hand warmers that give off heat once you open them. Buy them at the mountain and they cost $3; buy them at a local discount store for under a buck. For cold feet, use the packet toe warmers.
6. Wear a helmet. A few years ago, an adult in a helmet was a rare sighting. That's not the case anymore. Everyone wears them. They won't necessarily save your life if you hit a tree at 20 miles per hour, but if you ski through trees, they stop branches from whacking your head or picking off your hat and goggles. Most important, when other skiers bring the safety bar down too quickly as they sit on a chairlift, helmets prevent you from getting hurt when the bar slams into your head.
7. Know the mountain so you can avoid lift lines. Every mountain has some underutilized lift, which is unpopular for one reason or another (it's too far from the lodge or provides access to only intermediate trails). Besides having no lines, this lift usually leads to less crowded terrain. When skiing at a new area, the best way to find this lift is ask someone who works there.
8. Use the ''singles" lines. If the lifts are crowded, you can generally save time this way, since singles lines often move faster. Even if you're skiing with a friend, if you both use the singles line and don't mind not being in the same chair together, you'll probably arrive at the top at about the same time anyway.
You can keep track of your runs and altitude by wearing a Suunto or Avocet wristwatch calculator. Enthrall fellow skiers by telling them how much you've skied.
Following these eight rules, you can accumulate 30,000 to 60,000 vertical feet each day, though you'll probably ski mostly by yourself. |
