Snow Skills

The 2005-2006 season officially begins with opening day at our home mountain, Sugarloaf/USA. We’ve already had a number of stormstorms that whitecapped the summit and the snowmakers added depth on a handful of trails for opening day. I’d guess there are a number of folks like me that can’t wait to get out there and rip it up…..wait a moment. Opening day is no time to get ahead of yourself. There are five months of winter ahead; there’s just too much fun before you to not think this through. The skiing and riding you recall from last season is old news; to start the season, start at the beginning and that means warming up the body through stretching.

Whether you’ve been stretching through the off-season is irrelevant: it’s important to prepare for a new set of skiing and riding movements today and here’s a bare minimum of stretches to get that done. Start stretching at the ankles: without shoes, lift one foot and slowly rotate the ankle in every direction to the fullest extent. The calves are next; move each leg in the opposite direction until they form a downwards-facing vee. Keeping both ankles bent, slowly drop the rearward knee toward the floor until you begin to feel some ache in your calf. Hold for 20 seconds, release, and do a total of three stretches with each leg. Next, stand at leg’s length from a table and lift one leg to set the heel on the table. Your raised leg should be parallel to the floor and both legs will form a 90 degree angle. Gently bend at the waist, sending your head toward the knee while keeping the knee just slightly bent. Be careful; you’re stretching the hamstring and, like so many of us, it needs to be woken up very gently. Finally, stand tall with both feet at hip-width. Lift one arm until it is extended straight out in front of you from the shoulder. Grasp the outside of the elbow with the other hand and slowly draw the extended arm across your torso. Hold when you feel the ache; this stretches the rotator cuff and three reps at 20 seconds will prepare that fragile part of the body for both riders and skiers alike.

Start it off right, hit the slopes ready to go!