Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year here in Utah. The colors of the cannons are absolutely magnificent. Aspen trees are a golden kiss of color against the lush green pine trees of the forest. The air is crisp, the days are getting shorter, and frost falls on my house at night, reminding me that before long, winter will be here.
Along with fall comes preparation for the cold. It seems like a mad race to get everything ready in time for winter. I often wish that maybe I should have done more of these tasks in the hot summer months instead of sitting in my air conditioned house and making excuses.
It’s time to collect the leaves, especially before a winter storm covers them with snow, making them impossible to collect until spring. Not to mention the mess that arises from leaves sitting under the snow for 5 months. Worse still are the gifts my dog leaves me during those cold snowy months. It’s also time to put snow tires on cars, shovels in the trunk, and chains on standby for when it gets really nasty. New filters for the furnace, winterize the boat, put away the lawn mower, and dig out any remaining dying summer flowers and vegetables. The list goes on and on.
Then there are some preparations that at first glance are more tolerable. That’s getting ready for the fun part of winter. That means breaking out winter jackets, pants, gloves, hats, thermals, etc. I can inventory these items in the fall and determine what needs to be replaced, kept, or donated. Last but not least are my skis and snowboards.
My skis and snowboards have been sitting in my garage all summer collecting dust and rust. They have been abandoned for several months and will be called upon to perform on the mountain at one point. I don’t get new equipment every year like when I was younger and skied more, so now I try to take care of it the best I know how. Time to break out the p-tex, files, scalers, wax, vise, iron, cleaners, and brushes. It’s time to get them back in shape. Just like taking care of the sheets, the car and the house, I need to take care of my skis and snowboards. The result of doing all these fall preparations will be increased joy and an absence of stress that comes from the frustrations of being ill-prepared.
Tuning up my gear makes my days on the mountain so much better. My skis and snowboards turn effortlessly, glide quickly on the surface of the snow, and I don’t have to worry about loose bindings or peeling topsheets. Skiing and snowboarding is fun and doing all the fall preparations around the house, boat and skis make it possible.
There is a part of the fall preparations that was very difficult for me in the past: preparing my own body. In the past, I would never participate in a ski or snowboard training program. He was always making excuses that he didn’t need it or didn’t have the time. The result was that I would be so sore after the first day on the mountain that I would miss the back-to-back days of incredible snow that a big storm brings. You could ski the first day in fresh snow, but you’d end up giving it up the next day for everyone else to enjoy. You should have thanked me. I wasn’t getting any better either. I was stuck as an expert skier and snowboarder. He didn’t want to just take down the toughest runs down the mountain, he wanted to do it with power and grace. Also, I hurt myself more often when I fell. As I’ve gotten older, my body doesn’t seem to bounce off rocks as well as it did when I was twenty. I needed to do ski-specific strength training, I knew that, but I found it difficult to stick to any regimen I’d tried in the past.
Fumbling around the Internet, I finally found what would help me train for skiing. It wasn’t tricks, it wasn’t really anything he didn’t already know. It was the program, the results, and the accountability piece that worked. Since I’ve been training, not only in the fall but all year long, I have spring in my step while skiing or snowboarding. I have improved a lot without skiing or snowboarding. I’m not sore after a hard day of riding and I wasn’t hurt at all last season even though I was skiing harder than ever. The ski and snowboard specific strength training I have found works. I wish I had learned these years when I was younger. He probably could have been a real threat in professional competitions.
So, just like raking leaves, picking up dog waste, and filling the hot tub, there are two things that cannot be overlooked in my opinion. The first is to tune up and maintain your skis and snowboards. The second is to get into shape by participating in a strength training program specific to skiing or snowboarding.