Non-Frequent Skiers to Stay Injury-Free

 

Okay, so you’re not skiing 100 days a year.  You’re not training for the national ski team, and you’re not hucking a cliff anytime soon.  If your goal is to ski 10 days or less with your family or friends and not get hurt, then this blog is for you.

Here are my beginner ski tips for 2015-2016 season:
  1. Take a lesson with new shaped skis: If you haven’t skied in a while or you’ve just bought new skis, you may want to consider taking a lesson. They teach modern skiing differently prior to the shaped ski explosions of the early 2000s.  Older style of skiing on shaped skis may actually increase your risk for various types of knee injuries.
  2. Get used to your edges: Spend the first couple of runs, perhaps even the first day, getting used to smoothly getting on and off your edges.  Individual foot control is extremely important so you don’t catch an edge.
  3. Warm up: Forget the awkward stretches with skis on your feet, do a dynamic and ballistic warm up instead.  Take some easy runs and gradually progress to faster turns and quicker movements.
  4. Take care of your skis: Western skiers tend to not pay attention to the edges as much as Eastern skiers.  File off any nubs and keep your edges sharp.  This will help when all the fresh snow gets blown off or skied off by the end of the day.  If you have skied that last  section into the River Run area at Keystone around 3:30pm, you’ll understand.
  5. Get your legs ready: Do some kind of ballistic and dynamic exercise during the week.  Yoga and Pilates isn’t going to cut it here.  You need aerobic exercise that gets your heart and lungs working and loads the bones, ligaments, and joints in your body.  Your legs need to get used to the stresses of skiing.   This can be basketball, spin class, CrossFit, plyometric exercise, jumping rope, etc.  You should do this at least once per week.
  6. Get your head ready: Do some kind of balance training.  Yoga and Pilates are a great choice here.  Even something as simple as standing on one leg while throwing a ball can work, and can be done with a family member that also skies. Using a balance board while you’re watching your favorite TV show is another easy option.  Balance discs and Bosu balls are also great alternatives.
  7. Know when to quit: If you get tired on the slopes, take a break or call it a day.  Most falls happen when you’re too tired to correct a mistake.

Have a great and happy ski season from Metropolitan Physical Therapy!